Myanmar, a country bordering Bangladesh in Southeast Asia, has long been disregarded as a country in crisis by the general public of the United States. Such a small nation in a seemingly-peaceful area has slipped under the radars of the “woke” human rights activists of the 21st century. But under the facade of freedom and governance by peaceful Buddhist virtue lies an extremely nuanced and violent history, built in deep religious and ethnic sentiments from those living in the country. And the country’s Nobel Prize recipient of a leader has the blood of thousands on her hands.
Modern-day Myanmar was first established as the Arakan Kingdom (Burma) in 1057 by King Anawratha, who adopted Theravada Buddhism as the nation’s official religion. Theravada Buddhism is one of the oldest and most orthodox of Buddhism’s three main sects and is regarded as the system of beliefs most closely resembling the teachings of the Buddha himself. Those who identify as Theravada Buddhists stress spirituality, individual enlightenment, self-discipline, monastic life, and pure thought. It emphasizes that the individual is responsible for their destiny.
Years after the establishment of the Arakan Kingdom, a small group of Muslim settlers first came into contact with the Burmese government and people. 1430 marked the beginning of the Rohingya population within present-day Myanmar as well as the beginning of a long period of tension, conflict, and persecution of the new religious group. Holding the United Nations title of “the most persecuted minority in the world,” the Rohingya people still inhabit the predominately-Buddhist state, which has made many efforts to oppress and exterminate them from their homes and living spaces and has led the entire region to suffer from the effects of the government’s inhumane actions.
Since the beginning of the eighth century, the Rohingya have inhabited Arakan, a sacred part of what is now Myanmar. Their first encounter with Islam occurred sometime between the ninth and fourteenth century through trading and ever since then, they’ve had a clear-cut tie to the religion. But in 1784, the Burman King Bodawpaya conquered the area, generating the first mass-exodus of the Rohingya to Bengal. Seeing the attack the Rohingya were facing, in 1790 the British set up a small colony for the Muslims to live in. They then proceeded to take over the entire area in 1824 and make it part of what was then British India. In general, the British tended to side with the Rohingya people on most matters and thus when the Japanese invaded Myanmar in 1942, the Rakhine (Theravada) Buddhists rejoiced. Already, the colonial influence on the country had driven a deep wedge between the two religious groups. And when Myanmar was officially declared an independent state in 1948, the Rakhine Buddhists in power excluded the Rohingya from citizenship within the country. The religious group was completely left without rights in the land that they were indigenous to.
The modern-day conflict between the Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine (Theravada) Buddhists can also be traced to 1946 upon the creation of North Arakan Muslim League in Akyab, present-day Sittwe, capital of Rakhine State. When Arakan leaders requested Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, to annex the region, he refused, not wanting to interfere with Myanmar’s internal matters. Upon his refusal, the Rohingya proposed the concession of Akyab to Pakistan, a proposal further rejected by the Burmese government.
This rejection sparked an insurgency amongst the Rohingya, who were adamant in their unwillingness to submit to the Burmese government’s refusal. Consequently, some Rohingya gathered local jihadists to join together and fight the Burmese government. With the jihadists increasingly gaining larger territorial control, the Burmese government resorted to declaring martial law, sending the 5th Battalion of Burma Rifles and the 2nd Chin Battalion to liberate the entire area of northern Arakan, of which the jihadists had possession over. The Burmese government, however, lost control of all of the area except for the city of Akyab. Following months of intense conflict, the Burmese forces violently pushed the jihadists back to the country’s western border.
Two years following the Burmese government’s declaration of martial law, Pakistan decided to provide assistance to the Rohingya people. Upon receiving this communication, Former Prime Minister U Nu of Myanmar immediately sent Muslim diplomat Pe Khin to Pakistan, successfully negotiating a memorandum of understanding leading Pakistan to discontinue their alliance with the jihadists. Many jihadists were either arrested or surrendered to the Pakistani government. The remainder of Muslims in northern Arakan were dealt with through several violent Burmese military operations. While several jihadists surrendered to government forces, many also began fighting against their oppressors by attacking local authorities and soldiers. The attacks met immense disapproval from many citizens of Rakhine State, who protested by participating in mass hunger strikes in order to draw the attention of the Burmese government.
Even though Jihadist opposition died down in the 1950s, Operation Monsoon, described as the Burmese army’s final initiative to defeat the jihadist insurgency, was launched in 1954. After capturing rebel strongholds on the East Pakistani border, there was still struggle between the Buhddist government and the jihadist rebels, but that overt conflict came to a close in 1961 with a ceasefire. 1962 marked a coup led by General Ne Win and his Burma Socialist Programme Party, which resulted in government-madated practices and policies that were even more discriminatory and harsh towards the Rohingya.
Accompanying the rise of many pan-Islamic movements around the world in 1974, the Rohingya Patriotic Front was created. The group, though not responsible for any major movements, split into three other groups and was enough to spark government suspicion. In 1977, the regime began Operation Nagamin (Dragon King), which caused 200,000 Rohingya to flee the country, mainly to neighboring Bangladesh under allegations of army harassment and violent misconduct. The government labeled their actions as an initiative to screen the population for foreigners and the army denies all allegations of misconduct.
The late 1970s to late 1980s was riddled with UN-brokered immigration deals that eventually resulted in many Rohingya refugees returning to Myanmar. But shortly after in 1991, another mass exodus of 250,000 Rohingya Muslims occured, this time under the premise of forced labor, rape, and religous persecution. Another repatriation agreement marked the return of around 230,000 Rohingya Muslims to Arakan, now named Rakhine (in Myanmar) from the years of 1992-1997.
The conflict seemed to die down between the Rohingya and the oppressive regime until around 2012, which marked the rioting of Rohingya against Rakhine Buddhists, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people and the exodus of tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh, yet again. Nearly 150,000 Rohingya were forced into camps in Rakhine. Another mass exodus of 25,000 people was cited in 2016, under the pretense of killing, rape, and arson-- all allegedly perpetrated by the government and the army.
A year later in 2017, a group of Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar’s army near the border of Bangladesh, which led to mass conflict and the fleeing of an astronomical 723,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh, many settling in the Kutupalong refugee camp. Kutupalong, now named the world’s largest refugee settlement, now holding over 800,000 refugees, suffers from frequent supply shortages and is at a tremendous risk of monsoons. Approximately one million refugees in Bangladesh are in need of assistance.
Refugees in Bangladesh live in constant fear of being sent to a detention island, Bhasan Char, where over 300 refugees are held under uninhabitable living circumstances, determined by many humanitarian experts who have visited. The island, made out of silt and located in the middle of a monsoon sea is notorious for the lack of safe drinking water, food, medical supplies, and education for the children there, as well as the atrocious tourture and beatings that occur at the hands of Bangladeshi officials. A child that was once held on the island shared that he was accused of being an illegal smuggler of refugees out of Myanmar and for that, he was beaten severely. “I still cannot walk properly and feel the pain of torture in my body.”
The governments of China, Bangladesh, and Myanmar have negotiated repatriation solutions, but Myanmar has yet to accept responsibility for any of the refugees that left in 2017. The Rohingya people still living in Myanmar are recognized as illegal immigrants. They do not have access to social services or education and rarely are able to leave the country. Some are not allowed to marry, and those that are are confined to small villages in which they are allowed two children. The UN has accused the government of ethnic cleansing and despite immense international pressure on the country to both change their policies regarding the Rohingya and claim responsibility for those that left, the government refuses to acknowledge, let alone reform, their oppressive practices.
The Rohingya people have faced immense persecution since the dawn of their existence. Their basic human rights, those that are supposed to be inalienable, have been stripped away from them and their right to live is challenged from the moment they enter the world. They are trapped in a region that does not regard them as human. Those in Myanmar have the choice of either staying in a country that aggressively denies them their right to exist and access to basic necessities, or migrating (if they can even leave) to a place in which they have the possibility of being beaten and tortured, as well as denied access to clean drinking water, food, medicine, and education.
Yet many do not even know they exist, or refrain from talking about the conflict because of its religious implications. But this goes way beyond a religious conflict. This is a humanitarian crisis. The Rohingya Muslims are under blatant attack in every aspect. They deserve our attention. They deserve our passion and our care. They deserve our anger and action. They deserve the basic human rights they have been denied for almost their entire existence as a people.
How to help:
BRAC was rated the #1 NGO assisting in the areas of Myanmar and Bangladesh. It was founded in Bangladesh and provides families with critical needs, such as food, water, shelter, sanitation, health care, and education. https://support.bracusa.org/page/contribute/rohingya
The International Rescue Committee is currently helping those in need within Myanmar (it is one of the only groups that does so) and it provides medical care and emergency services.
IOM is the UN’s migration agency, which manages refugee camps and provides them with basic necessities. They also employ some Rohingya refugees and are dedicated to helping women and children that are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. https://www.iom.int/rohingya-response
Doctors Without Borders has been working in Bangladesh for quite awhile and have recently been treating Rohingya people in need of medical care-- specifically sexual assault survivors, people suffering with dehydration, people suffering injuries from violence, and diahhreal diseases. https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/onetime.cfm
Sources