The Rohingya Issue in Myanmar Literature Review 2022

RUNNING HEAD: LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature Review
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THE ROHINGYA ISSUE IN MYANMAR
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The Rohingya refugee issue has been in a significant topic of debate and discussion
since 2015. It was identified as a mass migration of people from Myanmar to other countries
of South-Eastern Asia, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Approximately 25000 people belonging to Rohingya community have fled the mainlands of
Myanmar on boats, crossing the Strait and Malacca and the Andaman Sea and consequently
faced various difficulties and suffering as immigrants in those countries (Kader, M. F., &
Choudhury, 2019). Many Rohingya people even died during the migration smuggling as well.
The international media highlighted the issue as linked with the global problem of the refugee
crisis and examined the role of Myanmar government and other international bodies to
address the crisis (Beyrer & Kamarulzaman, 2017). Several scholars also contributed to the
issue of analysing the situation and providing valuable inputs to resolve the crisis.
Myanmar security forces commit crimes against the Rohingya people throughout
2018. This situation is deepening the human rights calamity in the Rkhaone state. Ongoing
clash has promoted the conflict related to sexual violence, forceful displacement of female for
sexual exploitation. The government is refusing to allow independent investigator, journalists
in the Rakhine state. In 2018, several social workers travelled to the Rakhine state to provide
humanitarian support to the Rohingya people (Human Rights Watch, 2019). Those social
workers were threatened with arrest under the Unlawful Association Act of Myanmar. In the
74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Dr Mahathir, the prime minister of
Malaysia, said that the Myanmar Government should help the Rohingya people within the
capacity of Government. According to Dr Mahathir, it is expected that other countries will
join with the Myanmar Government to resolve this situation. International Criminal Court
referred that the Myanmar government’s policy and action against the Rohingya people could
be prosecuted. The United States is focused on protecting these Rohingya people. Canada,

THE ROHINGYA ISSUE IN MYANMAR
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Bangladesh, United States, and other international authority like the UN, ICC are interested
in handling this situation.
The following article” Defining Myanmar’s Rohingya problem” by Benjamin
Zawacki is notable literature on the said issue. Zawacki claims that most of the existing
literature on the said issue is either emotive or are made with the interest of media in mind.
However, in his article, he tries to present a factual and rational account of the Rohingya
issue. He emphasises that the primary purpose of the article is to construct a moderate
definition of the term ‘Rohingya issue’. For this purpose, the article examines three
interrelated, although distinct aspects are pertaining to the situation. First, ‘Nationality and
discrimination of Myanmar’ which indicates the internal scenario of Myanmar. The second
area is ‘statelessness and displacement’, which is related to the neighbouring countries of
Myanmar. The last one is ‘the doctrine of responsibility to protect’ which examines the
aspect of governance and the role of international organisation in the issue. These three areas
explained that the primary causes of the Rohingya issue are within the Myanmar country.
However, the impact of the Rohingya problem is felt in neighbouring countries. In my
opinion, the leading cause of the Rohingya problem is related to the Myanmar Governments
internal politics and governance. This Rohingya issue creates an impact on the international
scenario. The Government of Myanmar are discriminating these people and ignoring the
rights of Rohingya people.
To elucidate the notion of the nationality and discrimination regarding the Rohingya
issue, the author demonstrates that the Rohingyas have been subject to chronic
discrimination, which also systemic, by the majority in Myanmar. The systemic approach,
adhering to the social, economic and political notions prevailing in the country, manifested in
Myanmar’s legislation, policies and social practices. Thus, the Rohingyas were identified and
treated as a religious and ethnic minority, which in turn left no insurance from direct violence