The Rohingya Muslims in the Rakin State of Myanmar are experiencing a genocide. The Myanmar government has denied all claims of genocide, however there is sufficient evidence that a genocide is occurring. Article 2 of the UN Convention on Genocide is as follows:
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The Rohingya Muslims are a religious and ethnic minority within Myanmar, living amongst a Buddhist majority. They are a hated population in Myanmar, which helps explain what is fueling the genocide.
Using the UN’s definition of genocide, it is clear that a genocide is occurring. According to Al-Jazeera, Myanmar’s security forces have perpetrated mass killings, burned down villages and committed gang rapes since October. Evidently, the Myanmar government has targeted members of a religious group.
The security forces were also accused of “massive and systematic rape and sexual violence; [and] deliberate destruction of food and sources of food. The security forces were also complicit in ” Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.”
The Rohingya live in apartheid like conditions within Myanmar. One major city, Yangon refuses to acknowledge the status of the Rohingya as an ethnic minority. They classify them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. This is extremely harmful as the Rohingya have been in Myanmar have a long history within Myanmar and it strips them of their identity. It is purposefully disadvantageous to the Rohingya Muslims and intended to lower their quality of life.
The condition of the Rohingya people is appalling and it has garnered little or no attention from the media. There must be more awareness spread about the plight of the Rohingya people and pressure on the international community to protect the Rohingya people.