The civil war raging through Burma is the longest running war in history, and began in 1948 after they gained their independence from the British. As a consequence, ‘Burmisation’ began and this has affected the minority communities in Burma. However, it has not gained international recognition, largely because the nature of the killings is far more subtle and indirect than those of genocides such as Rwanda in the 90’s. Until 2011 Burma was ruled by a military junta, following a general election in 2010 which was the first to take place in 20 years.
Amnesty International has stated that the Muslim Rohingya have suffered human rights violations since 1978, and consequentially many have escaped to Bangladesh. The Rohingya are a Burmese ethnic minority living in the west. They face both religious and ethnic discrimination because they are not recognised as Burmese citizens. Despite having lived in Burma for centuries, they are considered to be illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, yet in spite of this Bangladesh also refuses to acknowledge them as their citizens.
Due to the regime’s refusal to legally recognise the Rohingya, they are denied the fundamental freedom and rights that other, recognised ethnic groups enjoy. Thus, they are a vulnerable population consistently facing human rights violations at the hands of the military. Examples of this are the Rohingya are prohibited from enrolling in any form of higher education, they are refused land and property rights and ownership, they are limited to two children per couple and they have curfews imposed on them.
Their population is totally dehumanized and persecuted, and despite many attempting to leave Burma and go to Malaysia or Bangladesh they are not granted the rights of refugees. Furthermore, many do not even make it to those countries as they drown in the attempts to cross over.
The government claimed that the Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world and Genocide Watch has issued a Genocide Emergency Alert on their behalf.
They recommend that the Burmese Parliament ought to grant citizenship to the Rohingya, and to give them all of the rights that other ethnic groups enjoy. They also have been advised to dissolve the camps that have sprung up as a consequence of the Rohingya people being displaced, and ought to stop committing human rights violations against them. Bangladesh has also been targeted and told that they should observe the UN Convention on the Protection of Refugees and accept the Rohingya refugees into their country and allowing them to settle in camps until they can be repatriated in Burma.
Yet in spite of being one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, the Rohingya have had little international recognition. Only recently have people began to be aware of what is really going on in Burma, and the utter destitution in which the Rohingya live is only just being realised.
Picture credits: presstv.ir, wordpress.com, demotix.com
Sources: wikipedia.org, english.alarabiya.net, genocidewatch.org