Ethnic Conflict
”Coronavirus is emboldening Myanmar military to carry out ‘war crimes’ says UN expert” article written on 30th April 2020 by Rebecca and up Wright and Ivan Watson and updated at 0718 GMT describes a UN special rapporteur, Yanghee Lee experience in Myanmar. It discusses further the violence history in Rakhine state, which is a state in Myanmar neighboring Bangladesh and the war crime investigations. This article uses interviews to gather information concerning war crimes. The Human Rights Watch deputy director of Asia Phil Robertson was among the interviewees. According to the report, the United Nations (UN) had to help carry out the investigations since 2018.
The Myanmar Military, which was given the responsibility to fight the corona pandemic, began committing crimes against humanity. The Myanmar army carried out war crimes against ethnic minorities like Rakhine Buddhist civilians from the western state. Lee stated to CNN that the Rakhines experienced tortured, the monastic attacked, houses burnt, and bodies decapitated. All this was during the Rakhine Buddhist attack with the Arakan Army. The Arakan Army is an armed group that functioned in Myanmar; it represented the ethnic Rakhine, which was the majority population in Rakhine state but an ethnic minority in Myanmar. The two have been fighting since 2018. Phil Robertson said that the government and the military were committing crimes against humanity against the two ethnic groups by even kidnapping civilians and parliamentarians. The government, however, refutes these claims. This article highlights the struggle of the people who experience ethnic conflict in the name of protection from the Covid-19 pandemic and the effect it has on the globe.
Impact of Ethnic Conflicts Globally
Ethnic conflicts affect international relations and foreign policy. Some of the factors that may affect the global community include;
Refugees
In the process of conflict, there are military and innocent civilians. Conflicts lead to bloodshed, and in most cases, people flee to neighboring countries to seek refuge.
Economic Issues
Trade between the neighboring countries is affected. Fields may remain uncultivated for months, transport, communication, and other means of business come to a standstill, and those who depended on that country in conflict for export tend up in a crisis. There arises unemployment, and the labor force is taken to other states to find refuge. Refugees increase, which stains international resources (Stavenhagen,1996).
War
When refugees migrate to a neighboring country, the host country might feel threatened. They, therefore, sent the military to defend their territory, and this might, in turn, intensify. A World Health Organization driver got killed in the crossfire if the UN was not a peaceful organization; the war would occur.
Military Clashes
To protect its country from external threats, the country that neighbors the one in clashes might carry out anti-territorial operations on the border to destroy and separatists and terrorist groups this operation might be misinterpreted by the country close and cause military rattles. In this instance, the military was setting up roadblocks in Rakhine State.
Outside Influences
Humanitarian intervention
When conflicts in a given ethnic community go against the universal values and norms, it attracts the attention of international bodies. Foreign intervention arises from humanitarian organizations; for example, United Nations(UN), European Union(EU), NGOs, human rights organizations, philanthropic organizations, for instance, Borderless Doctors, Borderless Journalists, and Greenpeace came into play. These organizations go to the battlefield, but they help reduce peoples suffering by maybe feeding and clothing the victims of war. They maintain peace amicably through dialogue. In this case of Myanmar, the UN was involved, and 29 other organizations Amnesty international. The UN called for investigation while the other organizations asked the government to lift internet restrictions to protect the civilians by enabling communication.
Neighbor Intervention
In most countries, the relations of the neighboring state are close to those in conflict; they may have a common ancestry. Neighboring states may opt to support their ethnic minority, not in self-defense, but to protect their own. Their intention for intervention may be biased, but at least it maintains peace. An example is the Asian Human Rights Watch that backed up Lee’s claims.
Defensive intervention
A neighboring state may intervene for self-defense to prevent the spread of hostilities brought about by the refugees. This type of intervention is associated with the national interest of the state or intergovernmental organizations represented by a group of countries, but it still does the work.
Conclusion
The article is not neutral. The writer of the report did not get the government to tell its side of the story. The only details available are those provided by Lee and Robertson. The details they got from the leader of defacto Aung San Suu Kyi were vague and very brief. They later add that Rakhine has and a history of violent military crackdowns, yet all the data they can offer is of 2017-2018.
References
ATMACA, A. Ö., & ISMAYILZADA, T. INT 635 MIDDLE EAST POLITICS.
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2020/04/30/myanmar-military-coronavirus-war-crimes-yanghee-lee-intv-nr-intl-hnk-vpx.cnn