International Crisis: Overview of Burma and the Emergence of the Rohingya Crisis

Running head: INTERNATIONAL CRISIS
International crisis
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1INTERNATIONAL CRISIS
Overview of Burma
History of Burma mainly started from the end of 16th century when the Taungoo Dynasty
conquered a huge part of the South East Asia. In the much later stage, the main development in
the entire region started under the British rule. The main ethnic groups of Burma includes Bamar
constitute the majority portion with 68 percent. They are followed by the Shan community. They
constitute nearly 9 percent of the total population of Burma. Buddhism is the major religion
being followed in the country1. Nearly 87 percent of the total population follows Buddhism.
They are followed by 6 percent Christians and 4 percent Muslims. It is also to be noted that
Burma is strategically located between the Indian subcontinent and the South East Asian
countries. Thus, they serve as the gateway for the South East Asian countries. They are
surrounded by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. Bay of Bengalis is in their Southern
side. Myanmar is having favorable diplomatic relationship with their neighboring countries in
the recent past but in the recent time, they are having strained relationship with the some
countries such as Bangladesh and India.
Change in Name
In the late 1980s, the name of Burma got changed to Myanmar. This change was done by
general Saw Maung who came to power with the help of military coup. According to the military
government, the name was changed due to the reason that Myanmar as name is more inclusive of
all the ethnic groups especially the minority groups. On the other hand, Burma is derived from
the majority ethnic group of the country2. However, this change in name is still having
controversy with it and still many countries did not recognized the new name as official name.
1 Seekins, Donald M. Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar). Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.
2 News.Bbc.Co.Uk. News.Bbc.Co.Uk, 2018, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7013943.stm. Accessed 3 Apr 2018.

2INTERNATIONAL CRISIS
Emergence of the Rohingya crisis
Rohingya is the largest portion of the minority Muslims in Myanmar. They are majorly
based in Rakhine state of Myanmar. However, the issues started due to the clash between them
and the ethnic Buddhist communities in the country. Moreover, with having the Buddhist
majority government in place, Rohingya Muslims is also deprived from their citizenship status of
Myanmar, rather they are considered as the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh3. The continuous
clash between the ethnic Buddhists and Rohingya erupted with different smaller incidents and
incited the nationalist environment in the country. Myanmar army was accused of mass abusing
and torturing Rohinhyas in retaliation of the recent attacks by Arakan Liberation army4. Mass
graves were discovered of the Rohingyas. This caused global negative response from different
countries and regulatory bodies.
Early warning signals
There were early warning signals of the present conflict of Rohingyas. One of the major
early signals was the age old conflict between the Buddhist ad Muslims. This should get rectified
in the primary stage itself by the regulatory authorities. Another early signal was the discovery of
the graves in the Northern Rakhine of the Rohingyas5. Government at that point of time should
take specific measures to avoid the further escalations.
Nations affected
3 Lim, Alvin Cheng-Hin. "The 2015 Refugee Boat Crisis In Southeast Asia: Humanitarian And Security
Implications–Analysis." (2015).
4 Brooten, Lisa, Syed Irfan Ashraf, and Ngozi Agwaziam Akinro. "Traumatized victims and mutilated bodies:
Human rights and the ‘politics of immediation’in the Rohingya crisis of Burma/Myanmar." International
Communication Gazette 77.8 (2015): 717-734.
5 Southwick, Katherine. "Preventing mass atrocities against the stateless Rohingya in Myanmar: A call for
solutions." Journal of International Affairs 68.2 (2015): 137.