South Asia Terrorism Portal

Failed Repatriation
S. Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

Following two failed attempts to repatriate the Rohingyas, Bangladesh officials stated, on October 3, 2019, that Bangladesh would not make a third, to begin the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas sheltered in the Cox's Bazar District, along the Bangladesh-Myanmar International Border. An unnamed Foreign Ministry official stated,

Another Foreign Ministry official elaborated,

Both officials also reiterated that the two repatriation attempts of November 15, 2018, and August 22, 2019, did not materialize due to Myanmar's failure to create the necessary conditions for the return of their own people. Indeed, the Rohingyas have said that they want to go back to their homeland, but only after the Myanmar Government meets their five demands, which, they stressed, are a prerequisite for their return. These demands are:

Interestingly, referring to the use of 'Rohingya', U Kyaw Tin, Myanmar's Union Minister for International Cooperation, speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-United Nations (UN) Ministerial Meeting on September 28, 2019, pointed out,

Not surprisingly, reiterating that Bangladesh is not receiving the response expected from Myanmar over the repatriation of Rohingyas, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated, on October 3, 2019,

According to a bilateral instrument signed by Bangladesh and Myanmar on November 23, 2017, the repatriation was supposed to begin from January 22, 2018, and to be complete by January 22, 2020. But, not a single Rohingya has yet been repatriated.

The first batch of Rohingyas came in 1977 when an estimated 300,000 Rohingyas fled persecution by the Myanmarese Army in the Arakan region. None of them are believed to have returned to Myanmar from their refuge in Bangladesh. The situation worsened in August 2017, when an armed group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), carried out attacks  against Police posts in the northern Rakhine State. These incidents were followed by a massive clearance operation by the Myanmar army, during which Rohingya homes and villages were systematically burnt down and, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), at least 6,700 Rohingyas were killed. These events prompted an unprecedented exodus of an estimated 730,000 Rohingyas to neighboring Bangladesh. Indeed, Bangladesh is presently hosting over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees.

Rohingya militants are active in Bangladeshi refugee camps. The International Crisis Group (ICG) report “Building a Better Future for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh” released on April 25, 2019, claimed ARSA militants and gangs mostly control the camps and often commit violence against the residents. Separately, the Deutsche Welle on September 24, 2019, reported that a man claiming to be an ARSA cadre told Deutsche Welle that some 3,500 fighters were sheltering in the refugee camps in Bangladesh and that groups of several hundred fighters secretly crossed to neighboring Myanmar for military training. But, he conceded, there was little scope for any large-scale attacks, given that the group lacked weapons and ammunition.

Urging the international community to understand the gravity of the situation, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, while addressing the 74thsession of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 27, 2019, observed,

Uncertainty over Rohingya repatriation is likely persist as conflict between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine has escalated since early January 2019. On July 2, 2019, a United Nations (UN) investigator claimed that Myanmar security forces and insurgents were committing human rights violations against civilians in the restive western states, and that these may amount to fresh war crimes. According to the UN investigator, the remaining 600,000 Rohingya in Rakhine still face the threat of genocide. They are subjected to ongoing discriminatory policies and practices, and systematic violations of basic rights, while tight military controls are in place limiting access to aid agencies and media in Rakhine.

For Bangladesh, the situation creates challenges as tension between the host communities and the Rohingyas and the risk of Rohingyas radicalization rise, amid a fund shortage. No sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis appears possible unless the basic causes of the crisis, including recognition of Rohingya citizenship in Myanmar and of the basic rights of the Rohingya people, are addressed. The culture of impunity under which the Myanmar military operates, as well as the continuing militancy of ARSA and AA are also obstacles to any resolution. In the immediate future, the international community needs to address the humanitarian crisis in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, even as pressure is built on Myanmar to secure a more enduring resolution of the issue.

Maoists: Disrupting Road Networks
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

On September 26, 2019, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres set ablaze a JCB machine and a dumper truck engaged in road construction in Bhainsadohar village under Chakarbandha Police Station limits in the Gaya District of Bihar. A 10-kilometre road connecting Bhainsadohar village to State Highway-69 was under construction. Chandan Kumar, the driver of the JCB vehicle disclosed, "Around 7-8 armed Naxalites [Left Wing extremists, LWEs] came and pushed me down the JCB vehicle. After that they torched it." The Maoists also threatened others present at the construction site. The reason behind the attack was non-payment of ‘levy’ (extortion money) by the construction company as demanded by the Maoists.

On September 15, 2019, CPI-Maoist cadres set ablaze one tractor and a JCB machine of a company engaged in road construction in Kutipi village under the Sonua Block (administrative unit) in the West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand. Some posters opposing the road construction were recovered from the spot.

On July 24, 2019, CPI-Maoist cadres attacked the temporary camp of a private road construction firm and killed one of its drivers, identified as Hiralal Baitha, at Khaira Chowk under the Jaitpur Police outpost in the Muzaffarpur District of Bihar. Police disclosed that a group of 10 suspected Maoists barged into the camp office of the road construction firm, which was working on a project for the widening of a stretch of road between Damodarpur village in Kanti Block and Deoria village in Paroo Tehsil (revenue unit) in the Muzaffarpur District, and killed Baitha. The Maoists had demanded ‘levy’ from the construction company.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP, at least 28 such incidents have been reported from across the country since the beginning of 2019 (data till October 6, 2019). Since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data, at least 254 such incidents have been recorded in the country (data till October 6, 2019).

Disturbingly, out of the 28 such incidents recorded this year at least five resulted in the death of persons engaged in construction or of Security Force (SF) personnel or both. 20 persons have been killed in such incidents: five civilians and 15 SF personnel. Significantly, since March 6, 2000, 16 such incidents resulted in 36 fatalities: 16 civilians and 20 SF personnel. Moreover, of these 16 incidents, at least three were major (each involving three or more fatalities), resulting in 23 fatalities (three civilians and 20 SF personnel). The worst incident took place on May 1, 2019, when CPI-Maoist cadres first set ablaze at least 36 vehicles belonging to a private road construction firm, involved in the construction of a 36 kilometres-long tar road between Purada village in Kurkheda Taluka (revenue sub-division) and Yerkad village in Dhanora Taluka, passing through Dadapur near Lendali Nullah in Jamburkheda village under the Kurkheda Police Station limits in the Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra. When a Quick Response Team (QRT) of C-60, the Maharashtra Police counter-insurgency commando force, reached the place, the Maoist ambushed the team, killing at least 15 SF personnel of the QRT, and a civilian driver.

Alarmingly, the trend data suggests that the number of attacks as well as the resultant fatalities have been highest in the current year. The primary reason for this significant surge is the Maoists’ fear that widening of the road network to far flung areas will increase the Government’s presence in these areas. The Maoists believe that an expanding road network will make such areas better governed and help the State’s outreach.  It would, consequently, result in the further weakening of the Maoist movement, as the rebels lose local support.

Indeed, Director General of Police (Anti-Maoist operations) D.M. Awasthi stated,

In order not to be seen as 'anti-development', the Maoists have consequently always alleged that the Government would use this road connectivity to 'loot' the tribals. Maoists' 'spokesperson' for the 'Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC)' Vikalp, in an audio clip released on April 27, 2017, declared,

On March 11, 2019, after killing one Gupta Swain, a contractor who had bagged the tender for construction of a road from Kukurkund to Temrupalli under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Kukurkund village under Maithili Police limits in Malkangiri District of Odisha, Maoists of the ‘Bastar Divisional Committee’ of CPI-Maoist, had left some posters voicing their protest against construction of the road. They alleged the Government was constructing the road to loot minerals from the area.

Meanwhile, the Union and State Governments have been making efforts to expand the road network in the Left Wing Extremism [LWE]-affected region, for improving road connectivity in LWE affected States, and to bring development to under developed areas across the country.

According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) website, Road Requirement Plan-I (RRP-I) Scheme is being implemented by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways for improving road connectivity in 34 LWE affected Districts of eight States i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. This scheme, approved on February 26, 2009, envisaged construction of 5,422 kilometres roads lengths in LWE affected States, of which 4,825 km roads had been completed as of July 31, 2019. The website also discloses that RRP-II, now known as Road Connectivity Project for LWE Areas (RCPLWEA), scheme was approved by the Government on December 28, 2016, for further improving road connectivity in 44 Districts of nine LWE affected States. This Scheme envisages 5,412 kilometres of roads and 126 bridges. The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) is the nodal Ministry for this project. The roads included under the Scheme have been identified by the UMHA in consultation with the State Governments and the security agencies. 845 kilometres of road had been constructed under the scheme till July 31, 2019.

Road construction enables SFs to penetrate deep into the Maoists’ erstwhile ‘safe areas’, even as it allows Government to reach out with improved civil governance and developmental services. It constitutes a complex and potentially terminal threat to Maoist influence in these areas, and will be vigorously resisted. These are precisely the reasons why it is imperative that these projects continue at an even more accelerated pace.