It’s been almost a year; well, eleven months to be precise since the people in Rakhine were forced to leave their homes plus livelihood in the face of a calculated military crackdown by Myanmar and take shelter in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh now has over a one million displaced people who are terrified to go back and a repatriation agreement with Myanmar which appears to be just a travesty.
In between, international figures, from royalty to leaders of developed countries have come to Bangladesh, visited the camps, talked to the persecuted people, held solemn faces and, in most cases, uttered the same platitudes: such treatment is condemnable; this is a violation of human rights of the worst form, there must be international consensus to create more pressure on Myanmar.
The words ‘plight’, ‘ordeal’, ‘persecution’ have been used with impunity; in fact, they have been overused, leading to the words losing their impact.
At this very moment, the Rohingya issue seems more like a circus. Anyone who is someone makes a visit now and then, follows the ritual of going to the camps and after delivering some lines, carefully crafted by their spin doctors, fly away.
Tick box; they have done what was necessary. “I went and talked to the Rohingyas; their resilience is outstanding; let’s pour in more money, refrain from mentioning Aung San SuuKyi and that’s that.”
What are we getting from the visits?
Just recently, two UN officials came to Bangladesh: secretary general of UN and the president of the World Bank. They followed the same routine and then declared support. The point is, no one asked the visitors why it was necessary for them to come over all the way when the assistance could have been pledged from a distance.
Reportedly, the international community working here feels that once high profile visitors come here the focus on the suffering of the Rohingyas will not get lost.
Sorry, but what tangible change are these visits making? Since August last year, quite a lot of internationally acclaimed people came and visited the camp on the rationale that these visits will create pressure on Myanmar.
What a load of hogwash!
Myanmar seems unfazed by all this; her stance is still defiant, the flimsy civil administration which is the façade for a military dictated regime is least interested as to who is visiting Bangladesh and to be blunt, they can very well see (if they see that is) that these visitors are resorting to circumspect language when referring to Myanmar, which is an indication that no one wants to point fingers directly at the Nobel laureate - the master prevaricator.
During the recent visit, the same old lines of support were voiced with praise heaped on Bangladesh for opening her borders, though not a single line criticising the Myanmar administration for failing to prevent ethnic cleansing of the worst kind.
Not surprisingly, when local media went and tried to get the views of Rohingya people living in the camps about the potential impact of the recent visit, the reaction was lukewarm, to the point of being apathetic.
The fact remains: despite the visits, there has not been any change to the status of the Rohingyas; return to their homes in Rakhine seems impossible and ‘pressure’ on Myanmar is only another vacuous line, aimed at providing illusory consolation.
Myanmar couldn’t care less
Several reports during the visit quoted representatives of international development bodies saying unitedly that such high profile visitors will force Myanmar to soften her stance. Puzzlingly, no one asked the development bodies what made them entertain such a notion.
As a journalist, this line appears to be a justification to sustain the crisis so, with more aid being poured in, hordes of foreign development staff can come and make a swift buck.
Sounds cynical?
When no noteworthy progress has been achieved in 11 months in resolving the crisis, one cannot find any reason to be an idealist.
The unsavoury truth that development agencies keep on concealing from us is this: these people will possibly never be able to go back and no one will be able to hold Myanmar to account over the barbarism her army unleashed on the Rohingyas.
Myanmar had been a closed country for a long time and now offers her natural resources plus profitable markets for a wide variety of commercial products.
This is a tantalising pizza waiting to be sliced up and devoured.
Antagonising the military in Myanmar would result in lost business and if you haven’t realised as yet: commercial interests come first, business interest precede all considerations; humanity be damned!
Naturally, the word ‘damned’ won’t be used. The strategy is to refrain from slating Myanmar or Aung San Suu Kyi and carry on giving support to Bangladesh, so the Rohingyas are at least provided food and shelter.
Run with the hare and hunt with the hounds!
And the circus will go on
Some Rohingyas are exasperated, retelling the same tales of woe. Many openly express displeasure at the circus like arrangement whenever someone comes for a visit.
At a broader scale, the farce includes visitors talking of adopting a tough stance on Myanmar, which never materialises.
As we move towards the one year commemoration of the human tragedy, we should face the truth: no one will impose biting embargoes on Myanmar. Ever!
As time passes, more acclaimed people will come to Bangladesh, go to the camp and follow the drill.
This charade must continue, right?

Towheed Feroze is a News Editor at Bangla Tribune and teaches at the University of Dhaka.