ROHINGYA MUSLIMS: THE MOST PERSECUTED MINORITY
Project Work of History 2022 Third Semester, B.A. LL.B. (Hons) 2022
Submitted To: Submitted By:
Ms. Sasha Kanishka Garg
Associate B.A. LL.B. (Hons)
Professor 2nd year (3rd
UILS Semester)
Panjab Section-B
University Roll No.: 82/21
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STUDENT CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that, Kanishka Garg, a student of B.A. LL.B. (Hons)
3rd Semester; Section-B has successfully completed her history
project on the topic, ‘Rohingya Muslims: The most persecuted
minority’ under the able guidance of Ms. Sasha (Subject Teacher)
during the year 2022 in partial fulfilment of 2nd year of B.A. LL.B.
(Hons), five years integrated course at University Institute of Legal
Studies (UILS), Panjab University.
Kanishka Garg
B.A. LL.B. (Hons)
2 year (3rd Semester)
nd
Section-B
Roll No.: 82/21
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to convey my deep appreciation to my teacher, Ms.
Sasha of UILS, Panjab University for her valuable suggestions and
encouragement in completion of my assignment.
I would also like to express my gratitude to my parents for
providing me all the required facilities to accomplish my
assignment.
Finally, I would like to thank my friends and seniors, who helped
me in completing the said project on time.
Kanishka Garg
B.A. LL.B. (Hons)
2nd year (3rd Semester)
Section-B
Roll No.: 82/21
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents Page No.
Introduction 05
History of Rohingya 06-07
How did the current crises unfold? 08
How did the region and the international
09-10
community respond?
Conclusion 11
Bibliography 12
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INTRODUCTION
Discriminatory policies of Myanmar’s government since the late 1970s have compelled
hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya to flee their homes in the predominantly
Buddhist country. Most have crossed by land into Bangladesh, while others have taken to the
sea to reach Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
The Rohingya people have faced decades of systematic discrimination, statelessness and
targeted violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Such persecution has forced Rohingya women,
girls, boys and men into Bangladesh for many years, with significant spikes following violent
attacks in 1978, 1991-1992, and again in 2016. Yet it was August 2017 that triggered by far
the largest and fastest refugee influx into Bangladesh. Since then, more than 773,000
Rohingya—including more than 400,000 children—have fled into Cox’s Bazar.
In Myanmar, entire villages were burned to the ground, families were separated and killed,
and women and girls were gang raped. Most of the people who escaped were severely
traumatized after witnessing unspeakable atrocities. These people found temporary shelter in
refugee camps around Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, which remains home to the world’s largest
refugee camp. As of October 2022, over 943,000 stateless Rohingya refugees reside in
Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas.
More than five years into this multifaceted collaborative response, the situation has continued
to stabilize. Basic assistance is being provided, living conditions in the camps have improved
somewhat and disaster risk mitigation measures have been largely successful. However,
despite progress, the Rohingya remain in an extremely precarious situation. The root causes
of their plight in Myanmar have not been addressed and their future is yet uncertain.
Refugees have access to the basics, such as food and health care, but they are still extremely
vulnerable, living in highly challenging circumstances, exposed to the monsoon elements and
dependent on aid.
To address the ongoing needs, the 2022 Joint Response Plan was launched, requesting
US$881 million to provide life-saving assistance to 1.46 million people, including Rohingya
refugees who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh and local host communities. The priority needs in
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the plan, which covers the January-December 2022 timeframe, include protection, food,
water and sanitation, shelter, and medical care.
HISTORY OF ROHINGYA
Who are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya are an ethnic Muslim minority who practice a Sufi-inflected variation of Sunni
Islam. There are an estimated 3.5 million Rohingya dispersed worldwide. Before August
2017, the majority of the estimated one million Rohingya in Myanmar resided in Rakhine
State, where they accounted for nearly a third of the population. They differ from Myanmar’s
dominant Buddhist groups ethnically, linguistically, and religiously.
The Rohingya trace their origins in the region to the fifteenth century, when thousands of
Muslims came to the former Arakan Kingdom. Many others arrived during the nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, when Rakhine was governed by colonial rule as part of British
India. Since independence in 1948, successive governments in Burma, renamed Myanmar in
1989, have refuted the Rohingya’s historical claims and denied the group recognition as one
of the country’s 135 official ethnic groups. The Rohingya are considered illegal immigrants
from Bangladesh, even though many trace their roots in Myanmar back centuries.
Neither the central government nor Rakhine’s dominant ethnic Buddhist group, known as the
Rakhine, recognize the label “Rohingya,” a self-identifying term that surfaced in the 1950s,
which experts say provides the group with a collective political identity. Though the
etymological root of the word is disputed, the most widely accepted theory is
that Rohang derives from the word “Arakan” in the Rohingya dialect and ga or gya means
“from.” By identifying as Rohingya, the ethnic Muslim group asserts its ties to land that was
once under the control of the Arakan Kingdom, according to Chris Lewa, director of the
Arakan Project, a Thailand-based advocacy group.
Legal status of the Rohingya
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The government refuses to grant the Rohingya citizenship, and as a result most of the group’s
members have no legal documentation, effectively making them stateless. Myanmar’s 1948
citizenship law was already exclusionary, and the military junta, which seized power in 1962,
introduced another law twenty years later that stripped the Rohingya of access to full
citizenship. Until recently, the Rohingya had been able to register as temporary residents with
identification cards, known as white cards, which the junta began issuing to many Muslims,
both Rohingya and non-Rohingya, in the 1990s. The white cards conferred limited rights but
were not recognized as proof of citizenship.
Under pressure from Buddhist nationalists protesting, in 2014, the government decided
Rohingya could only register if they identified as Bengali instead. In a 2015, Rohingya’s
Right to vote in a constitutional referendum was revoked, President Thein Sein cancelled the
temporary identity cards.
In recent years, the government has forced Rohingya to start carrying national verification
cards that effectively identify them as foreigners and do not grant them citizenship.
Problems and Reasons behind Rohingya fleeing from their home
The Myanmar government has effectively institutionalized discrimination against the ethnic
group through restrictions on marriage, family planning, employment, education, religious
choice, and freedom of movement. Rohingya must also seek permission to marry, which may
require them to bribe authorities and provide photographs of the bride without a headscarf
and the groom with a clean-shaven face, practices that conflict with Muslim customs. To
move to a new home or travel outside their townships, Rohingya must gain government
approval. Moreover, Rakhine State is Myanmar’s least developed state, with widespread
poverty, poor infrastructure, and a lack of employment opportunities in Rakhine have
exacerbated the cleavage between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya. This tension is deepened
by religious differences that have at times erupted into conflict.
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HOW DID THE CURRENT CRISIS UNFOLD?
In October 2016, a group of Rohingya fighters calling itself the Arakan Rohingya Salvation
Army, or ARSA, staged attacks on border posts in northern Rakhine State, killing nine border
officers and four soldiers. Myanmar’s military launched a crackdown, and 87,000 Rohingya
civilians fled to Bangladesh over the next year.
A month before the initial ARSA attacks, Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, had
set up an advisory commission chaired by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to
recommend a path forward in Rakhine and ease tensions between the Rohingya and ethnic
Rakhine communities. The Rakhine, also known as Arakanese, say their community
is marginalised within Myanmar’s political system, which is traditionally dominated by the
majority Bamar population.
On 24 August 2017, the commission issued its final report, which included recommendations
to improve development in the region and tackle questions of citizenship for the Rohingya.
Within hours, ARSA fighters again attacked border security posts.
Myanmar’s military swept through the townships of northern Rakhine, razing villages and
driving away civilians. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in the ensuing
weeks. They brought with them stories of burnt villages, rape, and killings at the hands of
Myanmar’s military and militias. The refugee settlements of southern Bangladesh now have a
population of roughly 900,000 people, including previous generations of refugees.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the violence as ethnic cleansing
and the humanitarian situation as catastrophic. Rights groups and other UN leaders suspect
acts of genocide have taken place, and in September 2018, a UN fact-finding panel released a
report that claimed the Myanmar government had “genocidal intent” against the Rohingya.
The chair of the UN panel said it found clear patterns of abuse by the military, including
systematic targeting of civilians, committing sexual violence, promoting discriminatory
rhetoric against minorities, and creating a climate of impunity for security forces.
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HOW DID THE REGION AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
RESPOND?
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, has denied that ethnic cleansing is taking
place and dismissed international criticism of her handling of the crisis, accusing critics
of fueling resentment between Buddhists and Muslims in the country. Aung San Suu Kyi and
her government do not recognise the Rohingya as an ethnic group and have blamed violence
in Rakhine, and subsequent military crackdowns, on those they call “terrorists”.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate does not have control over the military but has been criticised
for her failure to condemn the indiscriminate use of force by troops, as well as to stand up for
the rights of the over one million Rohingya in Myanmar. The country has also denied visas to
members of a UN probe investigating the violence and alleged abuses in Rakhine.
Protesters have at times gathered in cities in Pakistan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, and
Bangladesh to denounce the killing and persecution of Rohingya. Bangladesh’s foreign
minister condemned the violence in Rakhine as “genocide” in September 2017 and Indonesia
and Malaysia called on the Myanmar authorities to halt their campaign and bring an end to
the violence.
Other governments in Southeast Asia generally lack established legal frameworks to protect
refugees’ rights, and the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) have not coordinated a response to the deepening crisis. Indonesia, Malaysia,
Myanmar, and Thailand—all ASEAN members—have yet to ratify the UN refugee
convention or its protocol. ASEAN itself has been mostly silent on the plight of the Rohingya
and on the growing numbers of asylum seekers in member countries, largely because of its
members’ commitment to the principle of noninterference in each other’s internal affairs
Multiple UN officials, rights investigators, and aid groups working in the refugee camps say
there is evidence of brutal levels of violence against the Rohingya and the scorched-earth
clearance of their villages in northern Rakhine State.
A UN-mandated fact-finding mission on Myanmar says abuses and rights violations in
Rakhine “undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law”; the rights probe
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called for Myanmar’s top generals to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide, crimes
against humanity, and war crimes.
The UN’s top rights official called the military purge a “textbook case of ethnic cleansing”.
Médecins Sans Frontières estimated at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the days after
military operations began in August 2017.
Rights groups say there’s evidence that Myanmar security forces were preparing to strike
weeks and months before the August 2017 attacks. The evidence included disarming
Rohingya civilians, arming non-Rohingya, and increasing troop levels in the area.
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CONCLUSION
The Rohingya people are an ethnic group from Myanmar, once called Burma. Most live in
Rakhine State on Myanmar’s western coast. Myanmar is a majority-Buddhist state, but the
Rohingya people are primarily Muslim, though a small number are Hindu. The ethnic
minority is considered “the most persecuted minority in the world” by the United Nations.
The story of that persecution has its roots in Britain’s colonization of Burma, and modern-day
Myanmar’s refusal to recognize the existence of a people who have existed for thousands of
years.
The 2021 military coup in Myanmar has worsened the humanitarian situation for people from
all communities. In Rakhine State, local humanitarian groups report food shortages and aid
access restrictions. The UN estimates that 470,000 non-displaced Rohingya live in Rakhine
State. Aid groups say they continue to have extremely limited access to northern Rakhine
State – the flashpoint of 2017’s military purge. Amnesty International has said Myanmar is
trapping those Rohingya who are left in Myanmar in a “dehumanizing apartheid regime,” and
the UN has accused Myanmar of ethnic cleansing. Rohingya still in northern Rakhine
face heavy restrictions on working, going to school, and accessing healthcare. Rights groups
draw a direct line between the February 2021 military coup, and impunity for atrocity crimes
against the Rohingya as well as other ethnic groups through decades of conflicts. Many have
called on the UN Security Council to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court to
investigate allegations of committing atrocity crimes. The UN body has not done so.
Bangladesh and Myanmar have pledged to begin the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, but
multiple deadlines have come and gone with no movement. The UN, rights groups, and
refugees themselves say Rakhine State is not yet safe for Rohingya to return – especially after
the February 2021 coup. Bangladesh has transferred some 20,000 Rohingya refugees to
Bhasan Char, a flood-prone island that critics call an “island jail” with inadequate healthcare
and services. NGOs have reported outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea and the presence of
cholera. The government has imposed more restrictions on the Rohingya as the crisis
continues. Local community tensions have also risen. Aid groups report a rise in anti-
Rohingya hate speech and racism. And Rohingya refugees themselves have had little
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opportunity to participate in decisions that affect their futures – both in Bangladesh’s camps
and when it comes to the possibility of returning to Myanmar.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Websites and Journals:
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/rohingya-crisis#:~:text=The%20Rohingya
%20trace%20their%20origins,as%20part%20of%20British%20India., last assessed
on 17th Nov, 2022 at 10:30pm.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/4/18/who-are-the-rohingya, last assessed on
17th Nov, 2022 at 10:45pm.
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/in-depth/myanmar-rohingya-refugee-crisis-
humanitarian-aid-bangladesh, last assessed on 17th Nov, 2022 at 11:00pm.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/rohingya-people, last assessed on
17th Nov, 2022 at 11:20pm.
https://www.unocha.org/rohingya-refugee-crisis, last assessed on 17th Nov, 2022 at
11:25pm.
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/timeline-visual-history-rohingya-
refugee-crisis, last assessed on 17th Nov, 2022 at 11:37pm.
https://jhumanitarianaction.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41018-021-00098-4,
last assessed on 17th Nov, 2022 at 11:50pm.
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