Ongoing Persecution of the Rohingya: A History of Periodic Ethnic Cleansings and Genocides

In their own country, Myanmar, ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims have suffered persecution and systematic killings which amount to periodic ethnic cleansings and genocides. They are often dehumanised and frequently subjected to state-sponsored abuses and institutionalised discrimination. This article...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIntellectual discourse Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. 675 - 696
Main Author Sarmin, Arifa
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kuala Lumpur International Islamic University Malaysia 01.07.2020
Subjects
Armed forces
Buddhism
Citizenship
Discrimination
Ethnicity
Genocide
Harassment
Human rights
Islam
Massacres
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority groups
Muslims
Oppression
Politics
Racism
Rape
Regions
Rohingya people
Sex crimes
Statelessness
Torture
Violence
Southeast Asia
Bangladesh
Myanmar (Burma)
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Summary:In their own country, Myanmar, ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims have suffered persecution and systematic killings which amount to periodic ethnic cleansings and genocides. They are often dehumanised and frequently subjected to state-sponsored abuses and institutionalised discrimination. This article discusses the origins of the Rohingya in what was the kingdom of Arakan (now renamed Rakhine state) and how Buddhist-Muslim tensions have mounted. It argues that government authorities and Buddhist monkhood in Myanmar as a whole are involved in organised violence against the Rohingya. They incite racial hatred that contributes to the expulsion of the Rohingya community from their country. The exclusionary policies of Myanmar's military government have rendered this ethnic minority stateless and exilic in their own and neighbouring countries. They have suffered systematic oppression, discrimination, civic exclusion, enslavement, mob killing, torture, rape and sexual violence, forced labour, state harassment and so on. In the light of this observation, this article attempts to analyse the plight of the Rohingya in Myanmar which dates back two centuries but has received sufficient media attention only recently.
ISSN:0128-4878