Shouldn't Pakistan be doing more to aid the persecuted Rohingyas?

[Muhammad10]

As an Islamic Republic, isn't it Pakistan's responsibility to take a stand on this issue? Perhaps, we can help to alleviate their suffering by calling on our allies in China to pressure Myanmar's leadership to stop committing brazen atrocities.

Our government seems fairly silent on this matter. Is it more important for Pakistan to stay away from this issue in order to preserve its national interests and maintain cordial relations with China?

Discuss.

 

[PakLFC]

No! Other Muslim countries should do something for a change in particular neighbouring Bangladesh should take them in. Yes we can take political steps in trying to help them as well as financially contributing whatever we can afford. We can not and must not invite them to live and settle in Pakistan like we did the Afghan's. If by "aid" you mean helping them financially and politically like Turkey then I am all for it. If you mean taking them in then no way. It's Pakistan, not refugeestan! Other Muslim countries can easily share these people between themselves. They wanted to join Bangladesh or East Pakistan in the old days, let them deal with it.

 

[MenInG]

We sent our top agent Aamir Liaquat Hussain - good results expected

 

[Pakistanian]

Heck yeah!

 

[Slog]

There's already almost 500,000 rohingyas in Karachi

How many more do you want?!?

We are a poor country ourselves

All we should offer is dua

 

[Eagle_Eye]

There's already almost 500,000 rohingyas in Karachi

How many more do you want?!?

We are a poor country ourselves

All we should offer is dua

That's an incredible number.... did they all arrive recently or over the years. But why do they choose Pakistan which is considerable distance away....

 

[Slog]

That's an incredible number.... did they all arrive recently or over the years. But why do they choose Pakistan which is considerable distance away....

Many of them came in 60s and 70s

Apparently (what I've been told - don't know whether there's even a way to check this other than word of mouth) in the 1960s and 1970 or so there was state sponsored genocide of sorts against the rohingyas in Myanmar and back then there was s huge refugee crisis. They came to Pakistan then

At the time Bengalis from east Pakistan were in Karachi in large numbers as well so they just passed as Bengalis. Many even got citizenship later as Bengalis who stayed back in west Pakistan were offered that post 1971

 

[Slog]

I didn't even know about till a few months ago. I knew there was a Burmese community but hadn't ever bothered to find out about origins. Incredibly I found out that this watch guy I used to go in Saddar is rohingya. He says he is from Bangladesh though and tbh I'm sure most people couldn't tell the difference between a Bengali and a rohingya

 

[Slog]

[MENTION=44089]Eagle_Eye[/MENTION] - surprisingly there ARE articles on the web about this.

Karachi’s Rohingya community comprises migrants from an earlier era of displacement dating back to the 1960s and ‘70s. Despite decades in a foreign land, they have stayed in touch with family back home, especially in recent years through mobile phones and social media.
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The older members of Karachi’s Rohingya community fled from a repressive military regime that took power in 1962, escaping on foot or by boat to Bangladesh, which was then East Pakistan. Eventually, they made their way to Karachi.

Most of the people living in the slum called Arakanabad were born in Pakistan, or fled violence in their homeland decades ago. It’s named for Arakan, which was what Rakhine used to be called.

Raheela Sadiq, a more recent migrant who came to Pakistan 15 years ago, said she has been unable to contact relatives in Rakhine via mobile phone for nearly two weeks.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...n-fear-for-relatives-in-myanmar-idUSKCN1BL0B4

According to an estimate of the National Alien Registration Authority, there are about half a million Rohingyas in the city. But experts and community leaders believe their number is higher as the illegal immigrants are seldom counted in national census while the last time a census was held in Karachi was in 1998.

Experts say that migration of both Bengalis and Burmese started in 1980s, which had continued intermittently until 1998. “Because of a liberal policy towards migrants and refugees during Gen Ziaul Haq’s military regime, major Rohingya exodus took place (to Karachi),” said Zia Ahmed Awan, a lawyer who worked extensively on issues of illegal immigration and human trafficking.

During Zia’s regime, they were brought to Pakistan for two purposes - study in madresshas and participate in Afghan jihad. “Zia offered them residence permits in Pakistan and thousands landed in Karachi. But they were never granted citizenship,” said Mr Awan.

Interviews with a number of community leaders in Arakan Abad, which was named after the Arakan province in Myanmar, suggest that non-issuance of national identity cards is the biggest problem the community faces.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1165299

 

[Eagle_Eye]

Thanks. So it's been an ongoing migration pattern since the 60s.

It's a shame that the so called stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh which make up around similar number of 500,000 have not been repatriated

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

There's already almost 500,000 rohingyas in Karachi

How many more do you want?!?

We are a poor country ourselves

All we should offer is dua

Pakistan could also offer public support. If they have accepted 500,000 Rohingyas down the years then they should make that public knowledge if only to shame other countries to do their part.

 

[MenInG]

For a start, they should cutoff diplomatic ties.

 

[shortbread]

For a start, they should cutoff diplomatic ties.

How exactly does that benefit Pakistan or discourage Burma?!

What really need to be done is for Saudi funded vermin not to use Pakistan as a training base! They simply gave Burma to start another round of ethnic cleansing!

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news.php?id=96927&sid=6

 

[vagabond007ti]

Only way Pak can really help is by asking China to put pressure on Myanmar. Cutting Pak's diplomatic ties with Myanmar etc won't make any difference to them.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Only way Pak can really help is by asking China to put pressure on Myanmar. Cutting Pak's diplomatic ties with Myanmar etc won't make any difference to them.

China has already condemned Burma officially and openly in the UN. Earlier Aung San Suu Kyi has made slightly better statements promising to protect civilians, mostly due to international pressure including from China.

As for Pakistan, yes it should let people in. A country the size of Pakistan with already 200 million population wont be devastated by a allowing people suffering to stay in a safe place.

 

[vagabond007ti]

China has already condemned Burma officially and openly in the UN. Earlier Aung San Suu Kyi has made slightly better statements promising to protect civilians, mostly due to international pressure including from China.

As for Pakistan, yes it should let people in. A country the size of Pakistan with already 200 million population wont be devastated by a allowing people suffering to stay in a safe place.

Do you honestly think that is enough? Will it make Rohingyas feel any safer?
Imagine if just China just condemning can make Myanmar feel pressured, China threatening them can do much more.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Do you honestly think that is enough? Will it make Rohingyas feel any safer?
Imagine if just China just condemning can make Myanmar feel pressured, China threatening them can do much more.

China wont as since the military rule is no longer the same and Suu Kyi is close to the US, they are worried another local nation will become pro-US causing them issues. Im not saying this is a good excuse and yes I would like China to help stop this but we also have to be realistic.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Only way Pak can really help is by asking China to put pressure on Myanmar. Cutting Pak's diplomatic ties with Myanmar etc won't make any difference to them.

Perhaps Pakistan and India should make a joint case for accepting Rohingya refugees back to the lands they originated from? It seems to be a subcontinent problem, why should China be expected to fix it?

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Pakistan can't protect/aid their own (incl. minorities) so how do you think they can for the persecuted Rohingyas.

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

here is something tangible Pakistan can do - Halt any JF 17 sales to Mynamar

Problem is China sees Mynamar as a country of strategic importance, and thats why Pakistan has not been as vocal

 

[CanadianG00se]

Perhaps Pakistan and India should make a joint case for accepting Rohingya refugees back to the lands they originated from? It seems to be a subcontinent problem, why should China be expected to fix it?

No thanks. In 1970s we let some in and in the end 20M+ stayed back and have been causing problems for past 4 decades, not to mention in some states they have literally changed the demography.

So, thanks but not thanks. We have many poor to feed and we cant afford to take in anymore. That is Myanmar's problem, not ours(India).

 

[DW44]

Not selling them hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military equipment, something Pakistan is trying tooth and nail to do right now, would be a good start.

 

[vagabond007ti]

Perhaps Pakistan and India should make a joint case for accepting Rohingya refugees back to the lands they originated from? It seems to be a subcontinent problem, why should China be expected to fix it?

So you prefer applying band aid rather than resolving root cause of the issue?
If you take refugees, Myanmar will be more motivated to discriminate against Rohingyas. I mentioned China as it can influence the most of Myanmar military and civilian leadership.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

So you prefer applying band aid rather than resolving root cause of the issue?
If you take refugees, Myanmar will be more motivated to discriminate against Rohingyas. I mentioned China as it can influence the most of Myanmar military and civilian leadership.

You mentioned China because you wanted to push the onus back onto Pakistan as it is supposedly China's ally. But in such a matter Pakistan would have no influence at all as Pakistan is very much the junior partner in that alliance so your proposal was facetious at best.

But you are right that the Burmese shouldn't be rewarded for ethnic cleansing and that is a point I made in another thread, one of the problems of accepting refugees is legitimising the ethnic cleansing.

 

[Jadz]

There are 50+ Muslim countries, what are they doing - collectively - to assist Rohingya Muslims, to help Bangladesh? Muslims must help each other, and not rely upon the international community to rush to the aid of Rohingya Muslims. Each Muslim ought to donate to charities, how ever much they are able to.

If Arabs and Muslims continue to kill each other - for whatever reason - non-Muslims will do likewise. Also, the word 'terrorist' has forever become associated with Muslims, which means that minority Muslim sects, like Shi'as in Saudi Arabia, can easily be designated as a 'threat' to national security, as 'terrorists' and, thereby, be discriminated against, arrested, jailed, even killed. And this truth applies to all countries on the planet, whether Muslim or not.

 

[MenInG]

There are 50+ Muslim countries, what are they doing - collectively - to assist Rohingya Muslims, to help Bangladesh? Muslims must help each other, and not rely upon the international community to rush to the aid of Rohingya Muslims. Each Muslim ought to donate to charities, how ever much they are able to.

If Arabs and Muslims continue to kill each other - for whatever reason - non-Muslims will do likewise. Also, the word 'terrorist' has forever become associated with Muslims, which means that minority Muslim sects, like Shi'as in Saudi Arabia, can easily be designated as a 'threat' to national security, as 'terrorists' and, thereby, be discriminated against, arrested, jailed, even killed. And this truth applies to all countries on the planet, whether Muslim or not.

Problem is we cannot support ALL causes ALL the time!

There are many factors and so we choose a cause which appeals to us for whatever reason. This is the same story now. To many the Palestinian cause is all consuming, to others the cause of Kashmiris and the rest are rallying around the Myanmar Muslims.

We cannot blame or castigate anyone for helping in any just cause.