Rohingya Crisis
Human life is priceless and has no substitute. There is a need, therefore, to incline all spheres of human activities, whether economic, political, social, or cultural activities towards safeguarding and sustaining life. Breaking out of human conflicts is among the leading and ruinous causes of widespread suffering of people as well as death. Establishment of international bodies such as the United Nations is very imperative in the pursuit of amicable solutions to ending violence. However, in some cases, the United Nations and other international bodies have been slow at ending conflicts, thus resulting in the escalation of violence to cataclysmic levels. Therefore, the Rohingya crisis is one such type of a conflict that despite several control bodies being in place was able to reach harmful levels.
Brief History of the Rohingya People
According to Beyrer, Chris, and Adeeba-Kamarulzaman, “the Rohingya people are primarily a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who occupy the Rakhine State in Myanmar” (4). Before the outbreak of the 2016 to 2017 crisis, the United Nations estimated a total of about 1 million Rohingya people to be living in Myanmar. Most Rohingya are Muslims, but a small fraction adheres to Buddhism and Hinduism. In the year 2013, the United Nations described the Rohingya to be among the most victimized minority groups globally. According to the 1982 Myanmar nationality law, “the Rohingya people are considered not to be among Myanmar citizens” (Cumming-Bruce 7). Thus, the Rohingya people have no nationality in Myanmar and therefore cannot access most of the government’s services such as health, education, and employment.
Causes of the Rohingya Crisis
The prime cause of the never-ending violence between the Rohingya people and the government of Myanmar is chiefly the existing ethnic and religious identity differences. British colonization of Myanmar began in the 1800s, and it is under their rule that the Rohingya Muslim population in Rakhine double rapidly. Breakout of the Second World War left the region extensively divided along ethnic and religious boundaries. The Muslims supported Britain and her allies, whereas Rakhine Buddhists favored the Japanese. Ultimately, the Second World War came to an end in 1948, and Myanmar obtained her independence. However, the Rakhine State Muslim population immediately staged an uprising demanding for equality of human rights and their autonomy. The Myanmar government subdued the rebellion thus, cementing an evidentially divided, negatively stereotyped and discriminated Rohingya population.
History of the Rohingya Crisis
Nevertheless, before the outbreak of the violence, Bangladesh was already home to more than 2000,000 Rohingya refugees. The initial batch of refugees had fled the ancient epochs of persecution and violence. The Rohingya crisis can be traced from several years ago. Different factors, in most cases, trigger the tensions to higher levels hence forcing the Rohingya to flee from their homes. Conversely, several years have been recorded when the Rohingya were subjected to brutal conflicts and attacks that brought out their plight on the limelight.
In the year 1962, the whole of Myanmar was submerged into strict military rule and law. Therefore, Rakhine State’s Muslim population was subdued by the Buddhist majority and the militants. As a consequence, Rohingya refugees sought safer heavens in neighboring Bangladesh. Within Myanmar, the military government crackdowns compulsorily dislodged other nationals apart from the Rohingya. More so, Holmes state in the year 1982, “the Myanmar government made public a declaration of its 135 nationwide identified ethnic groups” (19). Among the 135 ethnic groups, the Rohingya population was excluded, thus leaving them without neither citizenship nor a state.
Moreover, in the year 2012 as from June to October, a vast Rohingya population was adversely affected by a series of religious persecutions in the State of Rakhine. As a result, an estimate of people surpassing 200 lost their lives. On the other hand, more than 150,000 individuals were left homeless. Come the year 2012, the government of Myanmar conducted its first ever official census after several decades. Surprisingly, the Rohingya people were excluded from the census.
Besides, the first democratic elections were held in Myanmar in 2015 in November. Again, the Rohingya population is prohibited from partaking either as voters or election candidates. On the 9th of October, 2016, there was a breakout of an armed struggle in the state of Rakhine. As a result, close to 100, 000 Rohingya cross the border to Bangladesh. As if not enough, in 2017 on the 25th of August, an eruption of violence characterized by a series of attacks and deaths on either side is reported. The 2017 violence is the primary catalyst of the present Rohingya people movement into refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. On the 23rd October, the same year, the destruction of Rohingya villages in Rakhine states push slightly above 600,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh. Currently, it is estimated that more than 781,000 Rohingya refugees live in nine camps in the Cox’s Bazar settlements.
Atrocities Committed in the Rohingya Crisis
According to, Holmes, “the Rohingya crisis is considered to be among the leading refugee crises in the globe yet a relatively large number of people is less informed of the atrocities committed against the Rohingya people” (17). It is very distressing to point out that individuals below the age of 18% comprise more than 50% of the Rohingya refugees. Hence, the most affected people by the violence are the children. The atrocities committed against the Rohingya people are very horrific. Ruthless Myanmar government soldiers have raped several women and young girls. The killings are not specific to the militias since several innocent people have been killed from door to door. Villages belonging to the Rohingya populations have been razed down deliberately. Therefore, the Rohingya crisis is indeed an ethnic cleansing as classified by the United Nations due to the gravity of the atrocities committed.
Nevertheless, there is a relatively vast similarity between the Rohingya crisis and the Cambodian genocide. The resemblance is evident in the sense that both regimes showcase hostility towards the opposition. The Rohingya population is persecuted mostly because of its dissimilarity to the Buddhist dominant Myanmar government. Demand for autonomy and human rights is received with hostility by the Myanmar government. On the same note, “the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia whose focal point was the implementation of the communism persecuted anybody who was against the communist ideology” (Cumming-Bruce 27). In essence, both scenarios point out a situation whereby there is no tolerance for opposition. Instead, any aspect of resistance is dealt with excessive force.
More to the point, the core difference lies in the position that in the Rohingya crisis, persecution is directed to a specific ethnic group. However, Beyrer, Chris, and Adeeba-Kamarulzaman state that “the Cambodian genocide was not specific but targeted anybody that showed any aspect of opposition to the Khmer Rouge communist agrarian utopia ideology” (37).
In winding up, the Rohingya people have suffered for several decades. As a result, an amicable solution needs to be reached that will put safer heaven on top of the Rohingya people heads. Human suffering is a tragic phenomenon that nobody should be subjected to. More so, the Rohingya crisis has reached a catastrophic stage because as at the end of the most recent 2017 crisis, Myanmar’s Rohingya population recorded a significant reduction.
References
Albert, Eleanor. “The Rohingya Crisis.” Backgrounder, Council on Foreign Relations (2017).
Beyrer, Chris, and Adeeba Kamarulzaman. “Ethnic cleansing in Myanmar: the Rohingya crisis and human rights.” The Lancet 390.10102 (2017): 1570-1573.
Cumming-Bruce, Nick. “Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar Is ‘Ethnic Cleansing, UN Rights Chief Says.” The New York Times, (2017).
Holmes, Oliver. “Myanmar blocks all UN aid to civilians at the heart of the Rohingya crisis.” The Guardian, retrieved from https://www. The Guardian. com/world/2017/sep/04/myanmar-blocks-all-un-aid-to-civilians-at-heart-of-Rohingya-crisis (2017).