Rohingya Tragedy
About Rohingya:
The controversy surrounding Myanmar's Rohingya people (Muslim) is evident in conflicting stories about the ethnic group's origin. Rohingya people are a stateless Indo-Aryan people from Rankine State Myanmar. The majority are Muslim, while a minority are Hindu. Rohingya Muslims numbers more than a million today in Myanmar.
The Burmese government and Burmese Historians argue that the Rohingya are actually Bengali Muslims, refusing to recognize the term "Rohingya". They do not consider the Rohigyas as their citizens and consider them to be immigrants who brought in from Bangladesh during the British Colonial Era of 1824-1948.
Majority of Rakhine Buddhists believe that "Rohingya" is a fabricated religious identity. They go on to cite historical document to claim that the Burmese past never had a community called Rohingya and that those who refer to themselves by the name are basically immigrants from modern day Bangladesh who were brought in by the British.
The Rohingya Muslim on the other hand, are of the strong belief that their community had deep rooted existence in Burmese past and they are indeed original inhabitants of Rakhine.
Whatever may be the case but the truth is that the passing around of the responsibility of the Rohingyas from one state to another has resulted in this group of more than one million floating in mid air to be coined 'stateless' by the UN. Today they are the people with no home and citizenship.
Clash between Rohigyas and government:
It is not the first time that such a clash is happening between the Rohingyas and the government of Myanmar. Killing of 9 Border Police in Oct, 2016 resulted in pouring of troops into the villages in Rakhine state. The government blamed what it called fighters from an armed Rohingya group. During the crackdown, the government troops were accused of an array of human right abuses, including extrajudicial killing rape and arson - allegations the government denied. In Nov, 2016, the UN official accused the government to carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya. It was not the first time such an accusation has been made.
More recently Myanmar's military has imposed a crackdown on the country's Rohingya population after a police post and the army base were attacked in late August. After that the troops started firing indiscriminately at unarmed Rohingya men, women and children. Since the violence erupted fires were burning in many areas of Myanmar. Tensions between Buddhists and Muslim in Myanmar continue to be high, and any minor dispute could lead to another eruption of violence.
More than 500,000 people have fled the violence with thousands trapped in a no-man's land between the two countries (Myanmar and Bangladesh), according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). According to a study, since late 1970s, nearly one million Rohingya have fled Myanmar due to widespread persecution.
The ongoing ethnic conflict in Myanmar qualifies as the World's longest running civil war. Mistrust between the government and ethnic groups has been in effect since colonial times. Ethnic groups feel that they must protect their culture, language, land and resources from the Burmese government. The government fears that the ethnic groups will destabilize or even cause breakups of the Union of Myanmar.
Myanmar is ethnically diverse, with 135 officially recognized races, and at least a few more that are unrecognized (like the Rohingya). The majority ethnic group is the Bamar, who make up 68% of the population (distinct from the term "Burmese" which refers to all citizens in Myanmar). Bamars reside primarily in the central geographic region of the country. Other ethnic groups, such as the Kachin, Chin, Rakhine, Shan, and others, reside primarily in the outside borderlands of the country, also called the Frontier Areas. Many of these minority ethnic groups live on both sides of Myanmar’s border with neighboring countries.
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina visited a refugee camp in September and called on UN and the International Community to pressure Myanmar's government to allow the return of hundreds of Rohingya refugees. She said Bangladesh would offer the refugees temporary shelter and aid, but that Myanmar should soon "take their nationals back".
International Community: International Community has called the Rohingyas the "most persecuted minority in the World".
The controversy surrounding Myanmar's Rohingya people (Muslim) is evident in conflicting stories about the ethnic group's origin. Rohingya people are a stateless Indo-Aryan people from Rankine State Myanmar. The majority are Muslim, while a minority are Hindu. Rohingya Muslims numbers more than a million today in Myanmar.
The Burmese government and Burmese Historians argue that the Rohingya are actually Bengali Muslims, refusing to recognize the term "Rohingya". They do not consider the Rohigyas as their citizens and consider them to be immigrants who brought in from Bangladesh during the British Colonial Era of 1824-1948.
Majority of Rakhine Buddhists believe that "Rohingya" is a fabricated religious identity. They go on to cite historical document to claim that the Burmese past never had a community called Rohingya and that those who refer to themselves by the name are basically immigrants from modern day Bangladesh who were brought in by the British.
The Rohingya Muslim on the other hand, are of the strong belief that their community had deep rooted existence in Burmese past and they are indeed original inhabitants of Rakhine.
Whatever may be the case but the truth is that the passing around of the responsibility of the Rohingyas from one state to another has resulted in this group of more than one million floating in mid air to be coined 'stateless' by the UN. Today they are the people with no home and citizenship.
Clash between Rohigyas and government:
It is not the first time that such a clash is happening between the Rohingyas and the government of Myanmar. Killing of 9 Border Police in Oct, 2016 resulted in pouring of troops into the villages in Rakhine state. The government blamed what it called fighters from an armed Rohingya group. During the crackdown, the government troops were accused of an array of human right abuses, including extrajudicial killing rape and arson - allegations the government denied. In Nov, 2016, the UN official accused the government to carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya. It was not the first time such an accusation has been made.
More recently Myanmar's military has imposed a crackdown on the country's Rohingya population after a police post and the army base were attacked in late August. After that the troops started firing indiscriminately at unarmed Rohingya men, women and children. Since the violence erupted fires were burning in many areas of Myanmar. Tensions between Buddhists and Muslim in Myanmar continue to be high, and any minor dispute could lead to another eruption of violence.
More than 500,000 people have fled the violence with thousands trapped in a no-man's land between the two countries (Myanmar and Bangladesh), according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). According to a study, since late 1970s, nearly one million Rohingya have fled Myanmar due to widespread persecution.
The ongoing ethnic conflict in Myanmar qualifies as the World's longest running civil war. Mistrust between the government and ethnic groups has been in effect since colonial times. Ethnic groups feel that they must protect their culture, language, land and resources from the Burmese government. The government fears that the ethnic groups will destabilize or even cause breakups of the Union of Myanmar.
Myanmar is ethnically diverse, with 135 officially recognized races, and at least a few more that are unrecognized (like the Rohingya). The majority ethnic group is the Bamar, who make up 68% of the population (distinct from the term "Burmese" which refers to all citizens in Myanmar). Bamars reside primarily in the central geographic region of the country. Other ethnic groups, such as the Kachin, Chin, Rakhine, Shan, and others, reside primarily in the outside borderlands of the country, also called the Frontier Areas. Many of these minority ethnic groups live on both sides of Myanmar’s border with neighboring countries.
Stand of different countries:
Myanmar: State chancellor Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who is the de-facto leader of Myanmar, has refuged to really discuss the plight of the Rohingya. Aung San Suu Kyi and her government do not recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group and have blamed violence in Rakhine, and subsequent military crackdown, on those they called "terrorists"
Bangladesh: There are more than half a million Rohingya living in mostly makeshift camps in Bangladesh. The majority remained unregistered. Bangladesh considers most of those who have crossed its borders and are living outside of camps having "illegally infiltrated" the country. Bangladesh has often tried to prevent Rohingya refugees from crossing the border.
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina visited a refugee camp in September and called on UN and the International Community to pressure Myanmar's government to allow the return of hundreds of Rohingya refugees. She said Bangladesh would offer the refugees temporary shelter and aid, but that Myanmar should soon "take their nationals back".
International Community: International Community has called the Rohingyas the "most persecuted minority in the World".
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