Myanmar Crisis: Exploring the Rohingya Refugee Crisis

This research delves into the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, exploring the root cause of the conflict and the international community's response. The article highlights the state-sponsored violence against the Rohingya people and the need for a lasting solution. The research draws from two articles, 'Trapped in Statelessness: Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh' by Hasan Abdul and 'Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar Seeking Justice for the Stateless' by Ullah Ahsan.

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This research is based on two articles which are "trapped in statelessness: Rohingya refugees in
Bangladesh" written by Hasan Abdul and "Rohingya crisis in Myanmar seeking justice for the stateless"
Written by Ullah Ahsan. The articles seek to explain the Myanmar crisis and specifically the Rohingya's
refugee crisis. I choose these articles because they explain in details what is happening in Myanmar. According
to Ullah (46) Myanmar has always been featured in the news, and many people find it difficult to figure out the
reason. These articles seek to explain that the conflict in Myanmar may have been caused by the ethnic clashes
in the Rakhine state. Staples (154) explain that the ethnic clashes were caused by some historical tensions and
disputes on political power-sharing between the two ethnic groups living in Rakhine state. Staples (121) further
tell that the ethnic tribes living in Rakhine state are the Rakhine and the Rohingya. Rakhine state is thought to
be the poorest and the most marginalized state in Myanmar. This state was greatly repressed by the central
government of Myanmar according to Hasant (20). However what is thought to have caused the conflict was
the change of demographics which in turn brought worries among the Rakhine ethnic group. Ullah (20) states
that if the Rohingya was declared an ethnic group in Myanmar, they were likely to have political influence and
representational right which they did not have initially. This ethnic group would, in turn, become one of the
most powerful minority group in Myanmar thus having a major influence on policies, resources, and culture.
On the other hand, the Rakhine ethnic group felt that the Rohingya were likely to dominate the Rakhine state.
Moreover, these articles are much interesting because they seek to find out how the international community
has tried to solve the issue. It can be thought that the response that the international community has given to the

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conflict in Myanmar is inadequate . Many countries including the United States and the United Nations have
greatly condemned all the events happening in Burma. However, issuing threats is not enough in solving this
conflict. Thus the international community needs to come up with a way of solving the Rohingya refugee
crisis.
The article "trapped in statelessness: Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh" written by Hasant Abdul
explain a little more about the Rohingya people. It describes them as the world most persecuted ethnic group.
They lived in Rakhine State where they had lived for decades. Many of the Rohingya people are Muslims who
are thought to be Arab traders and Persian who came to Myanmar many years ago. In Myanmar, the Rohingya
people are seen as illegal immigrants thus being subjected to systematic discrimination. According to Hasant
(89) the Rohingya were treated as stateless people, therefore, being denied citizenship. The violence started in
northern Rakhine state on August 25th when a group of people thought to be the Rohingya attacked
government forces. The Security forces responded to this by launching a clearance operation that saw the
killing of about 1000 people and more than 300,000 people fled from their homes. The UN officials reported
that the military response was to clear the disproportionate. They further noted that the attack of Myanmar on
the Rohingya people could be thought as ethnic cleansing. The Rohingya refugees talked about how they were
massacred in villages.According to Farzana (120) `the military is also said to have raided their villages and
burned them down. On the contrary, the government argued that the Rohingya ethnic group are the one that
burned down their villages and went ahead to kill the Hindus and the Buddhist. According to Wilson Trevor
and Trevor Wilson (140-146) the Myanmar government stated that only 400 people were killed while the
United Nationa stated that 1000 people had lost their lives following the crisis. However, more than 300000
people fled from their homes. Those who made it to the border state horrible experiences. It has not been an
easy journey they hard to hide in the jungle and cross rivers and mountains. The agencies offering help to the
Rohingya people state that there has been a humanitarian crisis in the camps located at the border. There is a
shortage of food water and medical services.

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Following these events, the government of Myanmar stated that its main target was the militants who
attacked the security forces. According Farzana (110) the government of Myanmar further stated that most of
those people form these Rohingya were terrorists. It further accused the international community of aiding
terrorists. This claim was thought to be dangerously irresponsible by the aid workers who have been fearing for
their safety. Bari, (108) states that there are huge lessons to be learned by governments and the international
community. The government should ensure equality for all ethnic communities living in the country despite
their historical origin. The origin of the community should not be a ground of not giving people their rights or
even declaring them, stateless. Secondly, every ethnic group should be well represented in a state. This will
make an ethnic group not to feel left out and have a sense of belonging in a country. Thus ensuring peace and
harmony in a society. According to Wilson Trevor and Trevor Wilson, (150-156) the international community
should also come up with measures of ensuring peace between ethnic communities. It should also have a way
of dealing with emergency cases like the one that erupted in MYANMAR.
The second article which is “Rohingya crisis in Myanmar is seeking justice for the stateless" Written by Ullah
Ahsan talks of how the Rohingya refugee crisis is being handled by different countries and the international
community since the conflict erupted. The significant similarities between these two articles are that they tell
that the conflict in Myanmar started in Rakhine state. It started just like a mere conflict between the Rakhine
and the Rohingya. The article further state that the government responded to this by persecuting the Rohingya
people. This seemed to be like state-sponsored violence which made the Muslims who comprised of the
Rohingya people to be displaced. However according Bari (50) many years later these issues have become a
humanitarian crisis. Steinberg (98-100) explains that there are major differences on these two articles based on
the number the Rohingya people said to be displaced. The number of Rohingya refugee said to be displaced
according to the second article is thought to be more than 500000. While the first article stated that it was only
300`000 people. However, according to this second article many people, many refugees have been kept
roaming over the years thus raising some security concerns in the Asian region (51). According to Sidasathian
(51) the Rohingya are said to have become victims of organized human trafficking. The Rohingya refugee

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crisis was just a local issue which would have been solved easily, but it ended up being a regional and
international issue this is according to Ahmed (55). Thus solving this issue in long-term requires some local
solutions which would take quite a long time. At the moment the international community should seek to
prevent further subjugation of the Rohingya people. Sidasathian (54) explains that Managing refugees
internationally is always very critical because refugees are usually viewed as non-traditional security threats
Many countries have not put refugee protection management and mechanism. However many countries
especially those in the Asian region never signed the Geneva convention of refugees. In Myanmar even
pronouncing the word Rohingya is an issue. According to the government of MYANMAR, THE Rohingya
people are some illegal immigrants who originated from Bangladesh. According to this article, the situation the
Rohingya people are facing can be solved in many forms. Schrank, (65) states that one of the major ways of
solving this case is bringing to an end state-sponsored violence and ensuring that human rights are respected.
Siddiquee (123) explains that the humanitarian's agencies also need to be permitted to reach all the Rohingya
refugees especially those who are still trapped in Myanmar. Roberts (88-100) explains that there is need to
promote dialogue and mutual respect in Myanmar this will greatly help to address the issue .According to
Siddiquee ( 90) having a lasting solution to this conflict is very much impossible without addressing the
violence which is currently ongoing.
This topic can greatly be applied in our real-life situation. There are many lessons that everyone can
draw from this situation. One is that despite our ethnic and religious background we should learn to respect
other people. Constantine (208) explains that never treat a human being different from what you would want to
be treated. According to Roberts (54) everyone has a right to basic needs without considering his ethnic and
religious background. Hossain (77) would further tell us that the international community and many other
countries known for ethnic clashes need come up with better means of solving crisis rather than embracing
violence. According to Hossain (94) Nothing in this world that cannot be discussed and solutions found.
Countries do not need to look at the history of an ethnic group since we all hard origins. United Nations needs

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to come up with better means of helping countries to ensure peace. Ahmed (125) concluded by stating that
every person has a responsibility of ensuring peace and security.
In conclusion, the state violence that erupted in Myanmar specifically in Rakhine state was ethnic. The
government and the international community did not respond effectively making the Rohingya people to be
disadvantaged this is according to Constantine (68). From the research, the Rohingya people were thought to
have started the battle rather there were better means they could have used to air their grievances.

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Work Cited
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Farzana, Kazi F. Memories of Burmese Rohingya Refugees: Contested Identity and Belonging. , 2017. Internet
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Hossain, Mohammad I. Humane Bangladesh: Relief Operation for the Rohingya People. , 2017. Print.
Roberts, Christopher B. Asean's Myanmar Crisis: Challenges to the Pursuit of a Security Community.
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Siddiquee, Mohammed M. The Rohingyas of Arakan: History and Heritage. , 2014. Print.
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Sidasathian, Chutima. Rohingya: The Persecution of a People in Southeast Asia. Chutima Sidasathian, 2012.
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