Asean must secure solid guarantee on Rohingya

Hopes for a resolution to the Rakhine crisis were boosted this month when an Asean emergency response and assessment team gained access to Myanmar’s strife-torn state. We can only pray that the grouping now builds on this progress, as Asean engagement is the key to ending this slow-burning catastrophe. 
The team was in Rakhine from March 4 to 13 and is expected to report its findings by the end of the month. 
Asean has faced criticism for doing too little, too late in response to the Rakhine crisis, which saw more than 700,000 Rohingya flee violence after an August 2017 crackdown by Myanmar troops and local vigilantes.
The crisis is rooted in Myanmar’s refusal to recognise the Muslim Rohingya as citizens. Myanmar authorities call them Bengali, claiming they are interlopers from Bangladesh, a designation supported by the majority of the predominantly Buddhist society. 
The Rohingya were forced out of their homes when the Myanmar military used an attack on Rakhine outposts by militants as a pre-text to launch “clearance operations” that are believed to have killed thousands.
While fleeing to camps in Bangladesh, Rohingya suffered atrocities including arson, torture, murder, gang rape and massacres. Those actions constituted “genocide”, according to reports by the United Nations and Western countries, as well as international human right defenders. 
While the UN human rights agency insisted the case be referred to the International Criminal Court, Asean limited its role to a humanitarian one.  
Leaders of the bloc meeting in Singapore late last year finally agreed to do more by taking a role in repatriating Rohingya to Rakhine. 
Prior to the Asean summit, Myanmar and Bangladesh last year reached an agreement on bringing thousands of Rohingya back home. The first group was supposed to return on November 15, but the Rohingya refused to move until their safety could be guaranteed. The repatriation has been shelved since then. 
Asean attempted to kick-start the process when Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi and members of Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management visited Myanmar in mid December to set terms and references for the bloc to work for the repatriation. 
But an informal meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Chiang Mai in January was informed that the initial assessment team could not access the strife-torn state since Myanmar could not guarantee their safety. 
It took more than a month more before the Asean team finally got the green light to enter Rakhine. Now we wait for its assessment, followed by perhaps another Asean fact-finding mission in Rakhine.
Better late than never. The assessment, which must be deep and thorough, is crucial before repatriation can take place, since the Rohingya refugees’ fears are well founded. Preparedness to take back the refugees is not only about infrastructure and living facilities, but also social conditions and the perceptions of people and authorities in Myanmar. 
Asean should also ascertain whether authorities in Nay Pyi Taw are genuine in the welcome being extended to the Rohingya. The grouping must secure solid guarantees that the returnees are not being sent back into persecution. The issue of their citizenship and basic rights should be addressed clearly.
Thailand, which chairs the Asean this year, could play a meaningful and relevant role in the crisis by utilising its good relations with Myanmar, a fellow Asean member, to convince  its authorities and military that the problem must be tackled at its root cause.