The Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Ethnic Cleansing In Myanmar
According to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner, being human imbues us with certain rights, and these rights are not diminished due to our race, ethnicity, religion, sex, or any other factor. They are “interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.” (1) While these principles would seem obvious, even a cursory examination of human history reveals what seems to be a general disregard for human rights. As Americans, we live in a country founded on the idea that all men are created equal, yet our history is tarnished by slavery, eugenics, racism, gender discrimination, and division. In the wider world, humanity’s record is even worse: the Holocaust, Rwanda, the Sudan, ISIS, the Armenian genocide, and the untold millions destroyed by the -isms of the 20th Century. The list of atrocities goes on and on.
Among the numerous ongoing humanitarian crises of the 21st Century, one of the most notable is an escalating situation in the southeast asian country of Myanmar. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is a country of about 54,000,000 people and is bordered by India, China, Bangladesh, Laos, and Thailand. The people are of diverse ethnicity and practice numerous religions. The great majority are Buddhist, but there are also Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and others. Persecution isn’t widespread among most of the religious groups, although some Christians do face persecution. However, one particular group, the Rohingya Muslims, have consistently faced violation of their human rights (2).
There are over a million Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine State in western Myanmar. Because they aren’t recognized as citizens by the primarily Buddhist government, which labels them as “illegal immigrants,” they are denied access to education and employment. Their freedom of movement is limited, and they lack basic private property rights (3). Recently, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been fleeing violence that is apparently perpetrated by government forces. According to Amnesty International’s Tirana Hassan:
Myanmar’s security forces have brutally meted out revenge on the entire Rohingya population of northern Rakhine State, in an apparent attempt to permanently drive them out of the country. Exposing these heinous crimes is the first step on the long road to justice. (4)
Myanmar’s government forces claim to be engaging members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which they blame for the deaths of 12 police officers in a series of attacks on police stations (5). The official narrative is contradicted by human rights organizations and the United Nations, who claim that the government is engaging in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. In the publication “Massacre By The River: Burmese Army Crimes Against Humanity In Tula Toli,” Human Rights Watch documents the atrocities perpetrated against one particular village in August 2017. According to one woman who escaped into Bangladesh:
The advancing soldiers trapped several hundred unarmed Rohingya Muslim villagers, including Hassina, on the large bank of the river, which surrounds Tula Toli on three sides. As they approached, some fired at the crowd, others toward people trying to flee. While some Rohingya managed to escape, swimming across the fast-moving river or dashing to the surrounding hills, many terrified villagers could not run away or swim. Families with young children had no chance to flee.
The fate of those unable to escape was almost indescribable in its brutality:
The soldiers then turned to the women and children. Soldiers took some women and children away as soon as the men were killed, and others while the soldiers were still digging the pits and disposing of the bodies. They began killing some of the children at the beach, tossing young children into the river.
Women and girls were raped, and many were burned alive when the government forces set fire to the entire village (6). An analysis by the BBC includes maps and satellite images showing dozens of other villages that have been razed, or that are currently burning. Almost 7000 people have been killed, including hundreds of children (7)
The result of the arson, murder, sexual violence and other atrocities taking place in Rakhine State has been the mass exodus of thousands of Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh. This has led to a massive humanitarian crisis. According to Sky News, at least 600,000 people have entered Bangladesh from Myanmar, swelling the Rohingya population there to nearly 1,000,000 (8). Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian charity organization working to provide relief for the refugees, reports that conditions for these displaced people are very poor, with diphtheria spreading among the 800,000 refugees crammed into a camp called Kutupalong (9). Even getting to the camps has been harrowing and often deadly, with refugees facing attacks and the risk of landmines. Many have also drowned (10).
Back in Myanmar, the government denies any abuses. They have convened “investigative commissions,” but these are thought to be shams. Human rights groups hoping to engage in fact-finding missions have been denied access (11). There is an international panel investigating the crisis, but U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson recently quit the panel, calling it a “whitewash” (12). The governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh have attempted to reach an agreement that would lead to forced “repatriation” of at least some of the refugees, however the refugees themselves feel that conditions would be dangerous for them if they returned. There are certainly no guarantees for them. According to the NY Times:
…serious obstacles remain to any repatriation. For one, it’s not clear whether Myanmar’s military, which largely succeeded in ridding a Buddhist-majority country of a hated Muslim minority, would accept a proof of their residence if returning Rohingya were even able to offer it. Many fled without any papers. Others never had any. (13)
In the end, the fate of the refugees remains in limbo while they suffer often deplorable conditions in Bangladesh.
Looking at the magnitude of this faraway crisis, nobody could blame the average person if they concluded that there was nothing they could do to help this situation, but is that actually the case? The answer is that several organizations are offering aid to these refugees and need financial support:
1. Samaritan’s Purse is contracting a Diphtheria Treatment Center in Kutupalong. Donate Here
2. Human Rights Watch (HRW) documents and fights human rights abuses, including those involving the Rohingya. Donate Here
3. Care provides aid to Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazaar region of Bangladesh where 300,000 women and children are in need. Donate Here
4. Doctors Without Borders is providing medical aid to the Rohingya (and has been for many years). Donate Here
5. International Rescue Committee is providing food, water, and medical care. Donate Here
6. If you can’t donate to one of the many organizations providing aid, you can do the following
• Pray for the Rohingya
• Pray that the Governments of both Myanmar and Bangladesh would have compassion on these people.
• Educate others about this crisis and encourage them to help.
• Doctors and nurses can volunteer for 4 week deployments with Medical Teams International.
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Sources:
1. The United Nations Office Of The High Commissioner. “What are human rights?” ohchr.org
2. Wikipedia
3. CNN. “The Rohingya Crisis.” cnn.com
4. Amnesty International. “Myanmar: Crimes against humanity terrorize and drive Rohingya out.” amnesty.org
5. cnn.com
6. Human Rights Watch. Massacre by the River Burmese Army: Crimes against Humanity in Tula Toli. Human Rights Watch, 2017
7. BBC News. “Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know about the crisis.” bbc.com
8. Mercer, David. “Explained: The Rohingya Refugee Crisis.” Sky News, news.sky.com
9. www.samaratinspurse.org
10. Mercer
11. Human Rights Watch. World Report 2018. Human Rights Watch, 2018
12. Lee, Yimou. “Richardson denies being asked to leave Myanmar advisory panel on Rohingya crisis.” Reuters, 25 Jan, 2018
13. Beech, Hannah. “Deal on Rohingya Repatriation Inches Forward, but Hurdles Remain.” NY Times, 23 Nov, 2017