The Rohingya Crisis

This book discusses the current reality and the future of ethnic Rohingyas in Myanmar. It presents Myanmar’s history, ‎policy, politics and, most ‎importantly, while focusing on Rohingya ethnic conflict, presents a resolution by looking at ‎the global and regional policies ‎and politics of South Asia and ‎South-East Asia. The recent coup unfolded in Myanmar and the detention of the democratic ‎leaders has surprised the ‎world with its subsequent emergency declaration in 2021, thus making this ‎book ‎relevant and well-timed. ‎ Eventually, the book offers an account of a previously ‎little ‎known, yet much-discussed role of media, ‎international actors, human trafficking, ‎and ‎humanitarian-based resolution for Rohingya refugee crisis. It shows a new perspective ‎in the post-Rohingya influx era of Bangladesh and the neighbouring countries.

Myanmar’s security forces have conducted clearance operations in the Rakhine State since August 2017, driving a mass exodus of ethnic Rohingyas to neighboring Bangladesh. In The Rohingya Crisis: Analyses, Responses, and Peacebuilding Avenues, Kawser Ahmed and Helal Mohiuddin address core questions about the conflict and its global and regional significance. Ahmed and Mohiuddin identify the defining characteristics of Rohingya identity, analyze the conflict, depict the geo-economic and geo-political factors contributing to the conflict, and outline peacebuilding avenues available for conflict transformation at the macro-, meso-, and micro-level. This book is recommended for students and scholars of anthropology, sociology, peace and conflict studies, political science, and Asian studies.

Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country to face the Rohingya crisis since the late 1970s and it is a continuous disturbing issue between Bangladesh and Myanmar that affecting their bilateral relations. But, in 2017, the last persecution against the Rohingyas in Myanmar have forced more than half a million people to flee into Bangladesh who are still living here creating various problems for the local community as well as for the whole country. This chapter aims to focus on the socio-political impacts of Rohingya crisis on Bangladesh as now more than one million Rohingya people are staying in the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar district and also as unregistered refugees. This study analyzes secondary sources by using qualitative method to present different social and political impacts of this long-standing crisis on Bangladesh such as increasing of trafficking, criminal activities, prostitution and other illegitimate works in the local areas which have a bad impact on the whole country. It also analyzes the recent vulnerable situation of local host communities regarding this crisis.

The Rohingya are a Muslim group who live in Rakhine state (formerly Arakan state) in western Myanmar (Burma), a majority Buddhist country. According to the United Nations, they are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. They suffer routine discrimination at the hands of neighboring Buddhist Rakhine groups, but international human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) have also accused Myanmar's authorities of being complicit in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslims. The Rohingya face regular violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, extortion, and other abuses, a situation that has been particularly acute since 2012 in the wake of a serious wave of sectarian violence. Islam is practiced by around 4% of the population of Myanmar, and most Muslims also identify as Rohingya. Yet the authorities refuse to recognize this group as one of the 135 ethnic groups or 'national races' making up Myanmar's population. On this basis, Rohingya individuals are denied citizenship rights in the country of their birth, and face severe limitations on many aspects of an ordinary life, such as marriage or movement around the country. This expose of the attempt to erase the Rohingyas from the face of Myanmar is sure to gain widespread attention.

This book provides a history of the ethnic persecution of the Rohingyas in Myanmar and their disputed ethnic and national identity. It focuses on how the crisis has morphed into a geopolitical encounter among Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar. It further explores the moral, ethnographic, and public policy issues in the humanitarian response to the crisis of the Rohingya people. The volume analyzes the question of citizenship for the Rohingyas by analyzing historical documents and interviews which chronicle the status and identity of the community and their past involvement in the government and politics of Myanmar. The authors focus specifically on the changing geopolitical context of state formation in South Asia and the tense relationships between Myanmar and its neighbours – Bangladesh, China, and India. The book examines the alliances and disputes in the South and Southeast Asia region, which are predicated on economic and strategic gains, and their impact on the Rohingya crisis. It also looks at the failure of bilateral and multilateral negotiations among these countries to adequately address or alleviate the plight of the stateless Rohingyas. This volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of international studies, peace, human rights and conflict studies, sociology, ethnic studies, border studies, migration and diaspora studies, discrimination and exclusion studies, public policy, and Asian Studies. It will also be useful for professionals working in the media, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, and policy makers, as well as general readers interested in the history of the persecution of the Rohingya people.

The plight of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims has made international news in recent years. Reports of genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are commonplace. The Rohingyas have been denied citizenship and are widely discriminated against. Hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced by violence, or have sought refuge in neighbouring or friendly Muslim countries. This conflict has become a litmus test for change in this country in transition, and current assessments are far from positive. Whitewashing by the military, and a refusal by Aung San Suu Kyi's government to even use the name 'Rohingya', adds to international scepticism. Exploring this long-running tripartite conflict between the Rohingya, Rakhine and Burman ethnic groups, this book offers a new analysis of the complexities of the conflict: the fears and motivations driving it and the competition to control historical representations and collective memory. By questioning these competing narratives, offering detailed sociopolitical analysis and examining the international dimensions of the conflict, this book offers new insights into what is preventing a peaceful resolution to this intractable conflict.

Organization of the Book -- Background History of the Rohingyas in Arakan: From the Kingdom of Arakan to the Colonial Era -- Relevant Burmese Modern History -- To Define the Rohingya Problem -- Strategic Significance of the Area -- 1974 Constitution: A Turning Event in Myanmar History? -- Role of the Monks -- What Genocide/Crime against Humanity/Ethnic Cleansing Entails -- Can the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecute the Perpetrators? -- Geopolitics Involved -- Possibility of Local Insurgency Getting Entrenched -- Possibility of Rohingya Going back to Myanmar this Time Round -- Plight of Bangladesh in Sheltering the Rohingyas -- Scenario Development -- Suggestions: Few Doable.

Widely-known as the world’s most persecuted minority group, the Rohingya in Myanmar are now facing extinction. Denied citizenship rights, denied their very ethnic identity, hundreds of thousands have fled Rakhine State in Myanmar over the border into Bangladesh, where they face squalid conditions. Many have witnessed death, mutilation and rape, as well as whole villages, what they called home, burning to ashes. Leading British Muslim fi gure Muhammad Abdul Bari has no doubt that what the Rohingya have been subject to, is genocide. In this concise but powerfully argued book, he brings to light the scale and barbarity of their suff ering and argues that the international community, through the UN, must ensure their full repatriation with full citizen rights to their homeland.