International media takes three weeks to report on Rohingya crisis

Except for the BBC, which has a good presence in Bangladesh, most international media have taken almost three weeks to start reporting on Rohingya crisis which now has turned into a humanitarian catastrophe.

The Al-Jazeera was not far behind as it often covers Muslim issues across the globe more than any other mainstream international media.

Internationally reputable publications like The Washington Post and The New York Times carried stories on Rohingyas in past three days.

The carnage began on Aug 25, when Myanmar security forces launched the brutal campaign against the Rohingya population following attacks on police posts and army camp by the militant groups in Rakhine State.

According to media experts, 'proximity and magnitude' are two major news elements most media follow in selecting stories, and there was no exception in taking up Rohingya issues as news stories for international media.

Two elements that drew international media attention were those when UN agencies said "370,000 refugees" crossed the border into Bangladesh border for safety and called the security operation in Rakhine "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing". 

On Sunday, NYT weekend briefing covered southeast Asia as "400,0000 Rohingya Refugees have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh in recent weeks. More than half are children, and many are without their parents". It used a picture of refugees making the trek.

Farid Zakaria on CNN covered the issue with a similar analysis on Rakhine history and Aung San Suu Kyi's role in the crisis. The Nobel Peace laureate has largely been criticised in most international media as The New Yorker called her "the ignoble laureate."  

In Canada, the Rohingya issue became more visible on media from Saturday when hundreds of people gathered in Toronto’s Queen’s Park to protest the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.

“Nothing breaks me more inside than seeing dead human bodies lying everywhere,” organiser Huwaida Pervez-Khan told CTV Toronto. “We are all entitled to live on this planet.”

Roughly 40 percent of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim population -- some 400,000 people -- have sought refuge in Bangladesh in recent weeks, fleeing violence widely blamed on Myanmar’s military that has seen entire villages razed and countless people killed, the CTV report said.

The United Nations has called the longstanding crisis in Buddhist-majority Myanmar a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.   

The demonstrators demanded that Suu Kyi's honorary Canadian citizenship be rescinded.

Canada’s foreign affairs minister said, "The government is very concerned about the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and plans to speak up on their behalf."

Christia Freeland said she and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plan to “focus” on the issue at next week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York.

She did not elaborate on the specific actions she or Trudeau plan to take. 

The CBC news, City News, National Post and other news media also carried the news.

On Sunday, most international headlines read "Bangladesh to build massive camp to shelter thousands of Rohingya refugees." Both the Toronto Star and NYT carried the same headline.

The report said, Rohingyas will not be permitted to leave the camp, even to live with family or friends.

They will also be barred from travelling by vehicle in Bangladesh, and landlords will be prohibited from renting to them.

Media pundits believe that more and more coverage in international media would help put pressure on Myanmar regime to stop systematic violence and persecution by the security forces on Rohingyas in Rakhine state.