The Rohingya Genocide is not as simple as the media is claiming (shocker, I know). Without any investigation I was even fooled into assuming it was truly a state vs innocent people issue. This is far from the truth, and while I still don’t appear to have all of the information, a few hours of reading has helped shed some light on the issue. I hope I can forward some of that enlightenment to you, before throwing your hats into the ring as the cliche goes. Hopefully this piece will compel you to do some more investigating of your own.
Where to begin? Well, I suppose we should start with some history. While there are echoes of the Rohingya being in Rakhine since as early as 900 ad, it is well accepted that they were there at least since the early 1700’s. In the 1800’s, Myanmar was under British colonial rule, and their immigration from India and Bangladesh was often encouraged in order to take advantage of their labor on the fertile land (1). There was even a small period between 1948 -1962 where the Rohingya were considered actual citizens by the Burmese government (following the formation of a republic and established independence from the British) (1). But this all changed with the coup d’etat by the army chief of staff Ne Win, forming a socialist authoritarian regime under his control as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council (which he later dissolved in favor of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma in 1972) (2). During this time, the citizenship of the Rohingya was stripped away, and state laws passed in 1982 declared them ineligible (1). Additionally, they have not been recognized as one of Myanmar’s 135 ethnic groups (5). Though it does beg the question why, considering they do recognize 135 other groups (a rather large number if you ask me).
The migration of Rohingya has to do with many forms of oppression, including economic (78% poverty rate) and state legislature. Discriminatory state laws have passed including:
i) Allowed maximum of 2 children
ii) Government Approval of Marriage, with such requirements as photo ID (unveiled wives, and clean shave grooms; contradictory to muslim traditions)
iii) Government Approval for home purchases and travel
- Note, I don’t actually have a problem with these (aside from the restrictions on freedom which I would oppose generally), but the Rohingya certainly do. The real problem here is that marriage should never be state legislated at all, but that’s for another thread.
As far as I can tell, the real reason for the exodus to Bangladesh has to do with reprisal for many complex reasons. First, the Buddhist Nationalists believe that the Rohingya are an invasive and aggressive force. This has led to extreme violent responses against the entire Rohingya populace whenever some of their members were involved in criminal behavior. Consider the well known accusations of rape of a Buddhist woman in 2012 by a group of Rohingya men (3). Regardless of whether or not the accusations were legitimate, the response was to kill ~ 280 Rohingya people and burn down many homes leaving tens of thousands homeless (3). No matter what I think of the rape accusations, that kind of response seems extremely unjust. However, considering the infamous Rotherham scandal (4), one must keep in mind the context. It could be that there is far more going on here than we realize.
- I must insist however, that one must never hold accountable an entire group for the actions of an individual, or criminalize an individual for the actions of a group they have been assigned to. Neither of these will ever be just. The individual is only responsible for his own actions.
After the violence in 2012, the homeless Rohingya were forced into refugee camps or turn to smugglers for emigration. There is countless horror stories involving the smuggling of refugees. I won’t share any with you here. Any effective search engine will provide you with more than enough details should you feel so inclined.
Another eruption of violence occurred in 2015 when 9 border police officers of Myanmar were killed; claiming responsibility was the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). This again caused tens of thousands to be displaced from homes (6).
Was there a rape? Was there an attack on border police officers? There are many who speculate that these were lies in order to move the populace to an emotional response (WMD’s anybody?). But to add some interesting perspective, there are massive #’s of accounts of Rohingya refugees talking about such things as group rapes by the Burmese militia at gun point. Once again, should you be so inclined just use a search engine.
- I’ll reiterate that it doesn’t matter if there was a rape, this kind of collective emotional response can never be justified.
So is it all just a cut and dry genocide of the Rohingya people by a socialist regime hell bent on their extermination? I am far from sold on this perspective, in part because the socialist regime was overthrown in 1988 by the Oxford Burma or ‘8888’ uprising (8), later by the Saffron Revolution in 2007 (9), and finally turned over into a republic in 2015 (10). But also because many parallels can be drawn in Burma with what is happening in other parts of the world involving Islamic radical groups. There are many interesting perspectives on the role and aims of the Rohingya in Burma. They should not be so quickly dismissed. As mentioned earlier, there are many Buddhist nationals that see the Rohingya as an invading force. This sputnik article helps shed some light on some of the potential influences (7). Would you believe George Soros may have a hand in degrading Myanmar while shorting some of their major industries? What a shock that would be (rolls eyes).
In spite of this controversy, there are some very strong nobel peace laureate activists calling this ‘’Nothing less than Genocide’. These include Desmond Tutu (catholic bishop) (11), Shirin Ebadi (Muslim, first Iranian women judge, prior to Islamic Revolution of 1979) (12), Timor-Leste President Jose-Ramos-Horta (East Timor resistance) (13). I don’t care much for the nobel peace prize these days (if Obama can be awarded one, what value do they really have?). But a bit of research into these people’s past looks pretty legitimate to me (especially the Iranian woman Shirin Ebadi, quite impressive biography!). Even if they weren’t legitimate, statements like ‘Nothing less than Genocide’ should not be taken lightly. Our race has seen way too much of that in the past 100 years.
After a day of research, it is clear to me that this conflict is far from a simple matter. While I’m very concerned for the Rohingya people, and the violence that has been erupting on both sides. I think the worst can be behind them if they put aside their ideological differences, AND the Rohingya assimilate into Myanmar culture properly (no more spatial and economic discrimination, or core value differences). The Myanmar people (including Rohingya) no doubt suffered terribly under the socialist dictatorship of the BSPP, but those days are finally behind them (fingers crossed); as a new era under a Republic has arisen, thanks in large part to a woman by the name of Aung San Suu Kyi. Thus I will leave this piece with a quote she had on the bbc:
[ "Muslims have been targeted but Buddhists have also been subjected to violence.
"This fear is what is leading to all this trouble."
"This is the result of our sufferings under a dictatorial regime. I think that if you live under a dictatorship for many years people do not like to trust one another - a dictatorship generates a climate of mistrust," ] (14).
I hope they learn to trust each other. But for that it will take time, and an open invitation to assimilate into Myanmar society once and for all.
Thanks for reading, I hope you learned something! Feel free to comment below, I welcome any and all feedback.
<= References =>
- CSIS Fact Fiction Myanmar Rohingya:
https://www.csis.org/analysis/separating-fact-fiction-about-myanmar%E2%80%99s-rohingya - Ne Win History:
http://www.oxfordburmaalliance.org/1962-coup--ne-win-regime.html - The Rohingya Migrant Crisis:
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/rohingya-migrant-crisis - Rotherham scandal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal - 135 Ethnic Groups:
http://www.embassyofmyanmar.be/ABOUT/ethnicgroups.htm - BBC 9 Police dead in Rakhine:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37601928 - Sputnik’s speculations on Myanmar crisis:
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201709051057098493-myanmar-rohingya-energy-china-soros/ - 1988 Burmese Uprising:
http://www.oxfordburmaalliance.org/1988-uprising--1990-elections.html - Saffron Revolution:
http://www.oxfordburmaalliance.org/saffron-revolution.html - Myanmar General Election 2015:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar_general_election%2C_2015 - Desmond Tutu:
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-bio.html - Shirin Ebadi:
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2003/ebadi-bio.html - Jose Ramos-Horta:
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1996/ramos-horta-facts.html - Aung San Suu Kyi quote:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-24651359