The women at large

Coincidences are just that. When three women Nobel laureates descend on the Rohingya camps it warms the heart and brings with it questions. And when in the social media some women are decrying the fact that it is women rather than men that pile up hurdles in their way to empowerment, it's not surprising that the feedback comes from women and not men.

The three are the latest in a long line of glitterati that have visited the camps, tit-tutted at the deplorable conditions and shed tears that were without question genuine. But just as the social media debate highlights women's enemy, the Nobel laureates will probably serve better by travelling to Yangon and taking up the matter with a colleague in laureates, Aung San Su Kyi. Perhaps that is wishful thinking in the sense that Su Kyi cannot take the official helm of her nation and that the Burmese Army continue to accept only a façade of democracy. Su Kyi is therefore not just powerless, she has even toed the Army line. Way back in August, Su Kyi had said that the cause of the exodus from Rakkhine needs probing. It must be tough terrain, else why is it taking so long?

Diplomatically speaking, Myanmar have resisted all pressure buoyed by the comfort of Chinese backing that went as far as to vetoing a Security Council resolution. China is thinking global and so small hiccups are not worth worrying about. Myanmar has swallowed some pride. From denial, they have moved to a laconic indulgence that includes cashing in on a major faux pas by Bangladesh when its Food Minister travelled to Yangon to finalise a rice purchase deal. The world watched as first the country's Home Minister travelled and then the Burmese came to Dhaka. The beautiful bouquet presented to the Burmese was surely as vibrant as, with the return of its delegation to Burma, the Burmese authorities began an unthinkable two-pronged action. Razing Rakkhine land so as to obliterate all marks of crime and building a fence so as to prevent further exodus.

It was a form of genocide from eye-witness accounts and though Bangladesh can comment it has to be careful that it doesn't become an open haven. The numbers of refugees have swelled so as to outnumber the citizens living in the Cox's Bazar area. The inevitable leakage of refugees into mainstream Bangladesh has happened. Rohingya children, the most vulnerable, that have entered Bangladesh or been born here are issues that require delicate handling. So while the refugees are accommodated and the UN can't be stern, it is the European Union (EU) to which Bangladesh is looking for hard diplomatic censure. It's of no help that India too doesn't support hard and telling action on Burma. After all, they have their own axe to grind.

Which is why it has to be all living Nobel Laureates, not just the women who must forge unity, and for Rotary and aliens to combine their international muscle to alleviate a situation that threatens to spiral out of control.

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