China’s Solution to Rakhine Crisis Practical, Constructive

Posted by AsiaViews | Nov 27, 2017 | 0 |

China Daily

Nov 24, 2017
Will finger-pointing and the threat of sanctions help solve the crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state? Definitely not. Casting accusations at a sovereign government for how it has been handling its domestic affairs is not constructive in helping to navigate what is a complex issue anywhere near to a final settlement.

It is anything but sober-minded to point an accusing finger at any particular party. Whatever the root causes and immediate spark for the crisis, efforts are needed to get the parties involved to the negotiation table. It is important for all involved to realize that nothing could be more conducive to ethnic reconciliation and the well-being of the whole nation than the stability necessary for development in the region.

Being a neighbor and long-time friend, China has proposed a three-step way to resolve the crisis.

The first step is securing a ceasefire and restoring order, which is the precondition for the parties involved to engage in talks.

The second is working out feasible ways to solve the issue through consultations and implement as soon as possible the memorandum of understanding on repatriation signed by Myanmar and Bangladesh on Thursday. These address the current symptoms of the crisis.

The third step, which is development, aims to bring the crisis to a final settlement once and for all.

This is because, aside from historical reasons, poverty is the source of the conflicts between the ethnic groups in the north of the country. If the local economy remains underdeveloped and people there continue to live a hand-to-mouth existence, it will be impossible for reconciliation to be permanent.

China is the last to want its next-door neighbor to be in chaos. And it will do whatever it can to extend a helping hand.

What Myanmar and its people need most are peace, stability and development.

To these ends, Li Zuocheng, the chief of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission, speaking with visiting Myanmar Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Wednesday, said China is willing to maintain communication with the Myanmar military to promote peace and stability along the border and is willing to help its neighbor seize the opportunities offered by its development.

China believes that regional stability, with its neighbors in particular, can be better guaranteed by economic growth and social progress, and it has proposed a Y-shaped China-Myanmar Economic Corridor that would advance balanced development across Myanmar, a country that the UN listed as one of the least developed in a report it released on Thursday.

By working with China to build this economic corridor, Myanmar can actively facilitate its domestic development.

The international community should play its part by helping to create the necessary conditions to find a settlement to the current crisis.

(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2017-11/24/content_34924388.htm)

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

China’s Solution to Rakhine Crisis Practical, Constructive