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Glenna Durbin

Phillips

AP Language and Composition

13 December 2017

The World's Most Persecuted Minority

Imagine living in a country where the greatest crime you could commit is exercising

your beliefs. Such is the life that the Rohingya in Myanmar face everyday. The Rohingya are an

ethnic Muslim group who have lived in Myanmar (previously known as Burma) for centuries.

Regardless of their long term residence, the Rohingya are not recognized as one of the country's

135 ethnic groups, as stated by the UN Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein. Myanmar has a

Buddhist majority, with the Rohingya only making up 9% of the population, but their numbers

exceed a million as stated by ​Huffington Post​. For years now, the Rohingya have been facing

discrimination and persecution largely by the Myanmar military. In 1982, they lost citizenship in

what was once their own country. Their villages are burned and they are kept in refugee camps

where both Buddhists and Myanmar soldiers continue to oppress them. Nobel laureates to the

UN Security Council call this a "human tragedy amounting to the ethnic cleansing against

humanity.” The persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar is motivated by religious intolerance,

but is executed by political action.

In January of 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy took

power in Myanmar, establishing a democratic government for the first time in over two decades

(Moe, Ives). ​National Geographic​ states that Kyi has been an advocate for democracy for all her

life; she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. The prosecutions of the Rohingya, and

Kyi's response, or lack thereof, have "sent a deep chill" through Kyi's supporters because they
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know her to be the democratic leader who should "epitomize dogged resistance to

authoritarianism" (Moe and Ives). What they do not understand is that in the current

construction of the government, the military has appointment control over 25% of parliament

(Gibbens). In addition to this, and perhaps more importantly, the military does not have to obey

Kyi. Saying that Kyi has come to 'power' is an overstatement because she cannot move the

military to civilian control, therefore, persecution can continue without restraint.

As a result of this lack of power, Myanmar is using political means to punish the

Rohingya. Much of the victimization that the Rohingya are facing is caused by the Myanmar

military. Wai Moe and Mike Ives of the ​New York Times​, who traveled to Myanmar to report on

the current conditions, found that there is also a limit on free speech, especially in the media, in

Myanmar. In September, ​Al Jazeera​ publicized that the Rohingya have neither access to

adequate health care nor are they allowed to vote or hold office in their own country. The

government of Myanmar and its military are the biggest impetus of these oppressive acts because

of the independence they have in their ability to enforce "discriminatory public policy"

(Solomon). In November of 2016, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein accused the government of carrying

out “ethnic cleansing.” So even though it is ill-treatment of a ethnic/religious group, it is being

handled by political means.

In order to understand how persecuted the Rohingya truly are, it's important to note that

while majority of mistreatment is politically handled, there is also some religious discrimination

that occurs. According to ​Al Jazeera​, the Rohingya aren't allowed to practice their religion, get

married, or sometimes even have children. In a flash report published from the Office of the

High Commissioner of Human Rights for the United Nations, Rohingya interviewees described

how they are restricted from religious practices such as burial services, meeting in mosques, and
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wearing Islamic dress. Several accounts of maltreatment on behalf of Myanmar soldiers were

recorded in the report. For example, soldiers have been said to shave or burn off the beards --

grown out for religious purposes -- of Rohingya men. In the report was a story from a 32-year

old woman regarding the headcounts that are taking place in attempt to delist the Rohingyas

from official population counts:

They told us that the Buddhist army came, looted houses and burned all

documents. The military is coming and taking pictures of family members,

saying they need to pay 5-6,000 (sic) per person. People who are absent are

crossed from the list.

Also included in the report are testimonies in which interviewees recounted how

influential religious people like scholars, preachers, teachers and students were taken away and

often killed so that they could not provide religious support to Muslim militants. In a ​National

Geographic​ article, John Knaus, associate director of Asia division of National Endowment for

Democracy, explains that one significant religious factor contributing to the Rohingya crisis is

the fear instilled in Buddhist nationalists of "losing its unique Burmese culture.” They see the

Rohingya as a "foreign cultural and social invasion" and take violent action to prevent them from

influencing the country (Knaus). However, such discriminate force is unnecessary even when

the security of culture is seemingly in question.

It makes sense that in response to these accusations and accounts of Rohingya

persecution, the Myanmar government would have a rebuttal. ​ BBC​ reports that a commission set

up by the government claims that there is no evidence of Rohingya genocide in Myanmar. This

claim, however, begs the question of what is really going on in Myanmar. The support used for

this claim is that there are still a significant number of Rohingya in Myanmar and therefore the
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actions being taken cannot qualify as a genocide. This attempt at defending the wrongdoings of

the Myanmar government lacks believability because there were never any allegations against

them for genocide of the Rohingya. While the turmoil in Myanmar may not be to the extent of a

genocide, there is still severe injustice and an inhumane mentality towards the Rohingya. If the

government continues not only to neglect, but to promote hostile attitudes and divert attention

from this issue, it will only grow. Evident "denial of reality is doing great damage to the

international standing of a government" and will end in more conflict than is occurring currently

(Hussein).

In regards to the extent to which this is a religious or political issue, it is difficult to

justify one without addressing the other. It seems that the government is using political leverage

to stimulate aggression, but said aggression is directed at a specific religious group. If we look

back through history, we see that this is not the first occurrence of an event of this nature. So is

politically enforced exploitation of a religious group just a pattern in history? Kyaw Hsan

Hlaing of the Peace and Development Initiative grew up as a Buddhist in Myanmar and was held

as a political prisoner for five years for attending student protests against the government before

he was exiled to Thailand. In an a ​National Geographic​ article he explains how military attacks

are the most destructive, but Myanmar's Buddhist majority also presents violence.

When a crisis of this caliber has been enduring for so long, the only logical step to take

is one towards peace and refuge. In reference to the Rohingya issue, Bangladeshi Foreign

Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali articulates how repugnant Myanmar's "policy of wiping

them out of their land through a gradual and excruciating process" is, making evident the need

for intervention. This does present a serious issue as not much can be done or said about the

injustice in Myanmar without posing a threat to the safety of the intervening force. ​Al Jazeera
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has presented cases where authoritative individuals and organizations have "urged the

government to end the highly militarised crackdown" but to no avail. Even though the safety of

it is questionable, the best solution to the Rohingya persecution is for humanitarian organizations

to arbitrate the conflict of religious backgrounds and the abuse of government power.
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Works Cited

Gibbens, Sarah. “Myanmar's Rohingya Are in Crisis-What You Need to Know.” ​National

Geographic​, National Geographic Society, 29 Sept. 2017,

news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/09/rohingya-refugee-crisis-myanmar-burma-spd/​.

Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

High Commissioner of Human Rights. ​Report of OHCHR Mission to Bangladesh Interviews with

Rohingyas Fleeing from Myanmar since 9 October 2016​. United Nations Human Rights,

2017, ​Report of OHCHR Mission to Bangladesh Interviews with Rohingyas Fleeing from

Myanmar since 9 October 2016​,

www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/MM/FlashReport3Feb2017.pdf.​ Accessed 1 Dec.

2017.

Min, Kyaw. “10 Things You Need to Know About the Persecution of Muslims in Myanmar

(Burma).” ​The Huffington Post​, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Dec. 2013,

www.huffingtonpost.com/kyaw-min/myanmar-muslims-rohingya_b_4274852.html​.

Accessed 29 Nov. 2017.

Moe, Wai, and Mike Ives. “A 'Climate of Fear' Grips Journalists in Myanmar.” ​Nytimes.com​,

New York Times, 1 July 2017, ​sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno​. Accessed 29 Nov.

2017.

“Myanmar Says 'No Evidence' of Rohingya Genocide.” ​BBC News​, BBC, 4 Jan. 2017,

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38505228​. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

Solomon, Feliz. “Rohingya Crisis: Why Myanmar Is Accused of Ethnic Cleansing.” ​Time​, Time,

12 Sept. 2017, ​time.com/4936882/myanmar-ethnic-cleansing-rohingya/​. Accessed 30

Nov. 2017.
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Staff, Al Jazeera. “Myanmar: Who Are the Rohingya?” ​Asia Pacific | Al Jazeera​, Al Jazeera, 28

Sept. 2017,

www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/08/rohingya-muslims-170831065142812.html​.

Accessed 29 Nov 2017.

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