A look at how Rohingya crisis escalated
Myanmar conflict exposes ‘the most friendless people in the world’
Who are the Rohingya? In a way, it depends on whom you ask — and that itself may be at the core of the conflict in western Myanmar, where violence erupted anew on Aug. 25. To most of the world (and the minority members themselves), the Rohingya are a Bengali-speaking and mostly-Muslim minority in Myanmar, a Buddhist majority nation in southeast Asia also known as Burma.
But the Myanmar government says the Rohingya do not exist. In fact, it objects to the very use of the word “Rohingya” at all, instead arguing that they are Bengali and entered what is now Myanmar during the time of the British Empire or later as immigrants, who entered the country illegally, after Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971.
More than 1 million Rohingya are estimated to live in the country, mostly in the northern part of Rakhine state along the border with Bangladesh and India, and almost as many live outside of it. Though the word “Rohingya” came to widespread use only in the 1990s, there are records of similar words being used to describe people in what is now Rakhine state as far back as the 18th century. Some Rohingya people say they are descended from an 8thcentury shipwreck that links them to Arabs or Persians farther west.
Why does this cause problems?
This dispute over the identity of the Rohingya has big consequences in Myanmar. The minority is not among the 135 officially recognized ethnic groups in the country, and despite the considerable Rohingya numbers and their local roots in Myanmar, they are not considered citizens and are denied access to government services.
The Rohingya long faced discrimination — in 2009, a United Nations spokeswoman described them as “probably the most friendless people in the world” — but there has been a marked deterioration in their situation since the Myanmar military began to relinquish power in 2011.
A growing nationalism in Myanmar, where 90 percent of the population identifies with Buddhism, has led to a number of laws on religion, including restrictions on interfaith marriage. There has also been major ethnic violence in Rakhine, most notably in 2012, when sectarian riots after a rape of a woman in the state led to large scale displacement of Muslims, with many moving into squalid internally displaced persons camps.
Why are so many Rohingya fleeing Myanmar now?
Rohingya have fled across the border into Bangladesh for decades, while some took even riskier journeys on boats to reach countries farther away. However, the surge in those escaping Myanmar now is unprecedented: The U.N. refugee agency said this week that 164,000 refugees have fled western Myanmar since Aug. 25.
The catalyst for this is a sudden surge in insurgent violence, in turn prompting a massive response from the Myanmar government. The first signs of this came in October, when nine police officers were killed by armed men who were said to be Muslims. In the ensuing violence, scores were reported dead and tens of thousands displaced.
Things grew worse still on Aug. 25, after a militant group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army mounted unusual coordinated attacks on security forces in northern Rakhine. The Myanmarese army said in response that it had killed 370 fighters tied to the group, though Rohingya activists said that many were not fighters and that the number of dead would rise.
There have also been significant attacks on property in the Rohingya areas of northern Rakhine. Human Rights Watch has released satellite images which appeared to show mass destruction of buildings in Muslim areas, though the government has said ARSA burned these villages.
What role has Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi played?
The de facto leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, was once considered a global human rights icon; a pro-democracy campaigner in the time of military rule, she was kept under house arrest for 15 years and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
Yet critics have assailed her response to the Rohingya crisis, with some demanding her Nobel Prize be revoked. Suu Kyi was virtually silent on reports of state violence against Muslims for years. Some supporters suggest she has done what she has to maintain Myanmar’s fragile democracy, though others contend she is simply reverting to an authoritarian streak she has long held privately.
Suu Kyi has downplayed the international outrage over the most recent violence in Rakhine, suggesting that “terrorists” were spreading misinformation. It may be true that misinformation on social media has influenced both pro- and anti-Rohingya sentiment. However, her own government has restricted access to Rakhine for foreign journalists and refused to allow U.N. experts access to investigate alleged abuses.
Who are the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army?
This particular armed Rohingya insurgency first emerged last year. According to a report from the International Crisis Group, it is led by a committee of Rohingya emigres in Saudi Arabia and appears to be well-funded and well-organized. The Myanmar government has called it a terrorist organization that is intent on establishing an Islamic state in Rakhine. The group has denied this.
How has Bangladesh responded?
Officially, Dhaka has pushed back against the flow of Rohingya. However, the sheer scale of the exodus, as well as the nature of the border with Myanmar, has meant in reality it has been difficult to stop people coming over. Some Bangladeshi Border Guards appear to have been personally moved by the situation and have become willing to let refugees into the country.
What about the rest of the world?
Though their plight is often said to be overlooked, there has been a remarkable global response to the flight of Rohingyas from Myanmar in recent weeks. The angst has been hardest felt in Muslim-majority nations: Malaysia recalled its ambassador to Myanmar, while Maldives announced it would break trade ties with Myanmar. There have also been major protests in a number of places, including Indonesia and the Russian Republic of Chechnya.