The Boomerang Model: How Transnational Advocacy Networks respond to Rohingya Crisis

In 2017, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) ensued in their assault on thirty police outposts and military camps in northern Rakhine state which added fuel to the fire that escalated the protracted conflict between the Myanmar army and the ethnic minority Rohingyas in the region. In violent retaliation, the Myanmar army proceeded to systematic killing, raping and looting villages that forced an estimated 700,000 people to seek safe refuge in nearby countries, most notably in Bangladesh . Historically, another dynamic of the Rohingya crisis stems from their origins. During the British ule from 1870s to 1948, population of Muslims from colonial India immigrated to Myanmar including modern day Bangladesh. It is not certain on the extent of numbers of Muslims that immigrated from colonial India in that period that settled in Rakhine State after Burma’s independence, however, the Rohingyas have been stigmatized as an existential threat to Rakhine Buddhists in the notion of creating the country’s sole Muslim-majority state.

Several attacks on the Rohingya population in history have been recorded such as the coup of 1962 by General Ne Win which carried out military operations to attack separatists from the Rohingya ethnic group and as well as ‘Operation Dragon King’ (Naga Min) in 1978 which displaced more than 200,000 to seek refuge in Bangladesh. To 1978, when the United Nations stated their mediations that the Myanmar government to accept Rohingyas immigrants for their repatriation back to Rakhine state on the basis of information by Amnesty International. The uncertainty of legal status of the Rohingya community is further deepened as the Rohingyas are not recognized as citizens of Myanmar and the risk of continuation continues to for the population as they do not have national protection or rights as legal citizens in any country which violates the concept of human rights.

The Boomerang Model

NGOs and Civil Society's have the ability to become more impactful actors in humanitarian crisis partly due its ability to bypass and penetrate through national borders and systematic blockages to enforce human rights and provide humanitarian aid in terms of basic needs and supplies. This is reflected by the Boomerang Model, first published in the book Activists Beyond Borders in 1998. The boomerang concept is highly referenced due to its fluid and open relation characteristic compared to state actions, which are limited due the circumstances in this case being the involvement on the matter of Myanmar sovereignty itself.

An real life case of this concept at work for the Rohingya crisis was through The Indonesian Humanitarian Alliance for Myanmar (AKIM). AKIM was initiated by the Indonesian Government through the Foreign Ministry to establish a coalition of 11 humanitarian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Indonesia to tackle the issue of the Rohingya crisis. This establishment can be attributed to Indonesian people who are predominantly Muslim being outspoken on their
support to their Muslim counterparts. Condemning the actions by the Myanmar government which prompted the Indonesian government to accept Rohingya refugees in 2015. As well due to the blockade by the Myanmar Government on humanitarian assistance channels, the Indonesian government formed AKIM in 2017. AKIM as an NGO receives humanitarian aid funding from both the government and civil society donations.

Transnational Advocacy Networks at work to support the Rohingya Crisis

The Indonesian government acknowledges that they are not permitted to interfere directly within the issue of the Rohingyas and the Myanmar government as it is an internal issue for Myanmar, given both of their status as ASEAN member states, they must comply with the principles agreed upon in the ASEAN charter. Thereby, AKIM has established several assistance programs with the main objective being the supplement of fundamental needs of the Rohingya people that were victims of the devastation and violation. The support programs have distributed the accumulated aids from various partners to the Ethnic Rohingyas through stages with a total grant of 26 billion rupiahs (estimated 314 million USD). The funds and grants were not only distributed to the minority Rohingyas in Myanmar however, but also towards Rohingya refugees that have fled to Bangladesh.

Networking with local Myanmar NGOs have catalyzed the support channel in the process of distribution of humanitarian aid, however there were obstacles that were identified. These challenges include; poor transport infrastructure, rejection from residents, and challenges by local authorities. To oversee these obstacles, AKIM cooperates with domestic Myanmar NGOs to disseminate supplies and aid and easier diplomacy with local authorities, as well as continuous coordination with partner NGOs such as ICRC branches in Myanmar. Additionally, the assistance was also offered to Hindu and Buddhist communities in conflict areas in Rakhine state to promote open access to distribution assistance towards the local community. Utilizing the identity of NGOs and CSOs allowed AKIM to perform their duties and enter and distribute humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya population in Myanmar which could not have been performed by a state. Keep in mind, that even the United Nations as an IGO were blocked by the Myanmar government from access, despite the forementioned obstacles, AKIM were able to gain access to the remote ethnic Rohingya population and pursue a role a state is unable to perform.