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Security Council: Background Guide Topic: the Myanmar Conflict

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Security Council: Background Guide Topic: the Myanmar Conflict Security Council: Background Guide Topic: The Myanmar Conflict Letter from the Director Dear Delegates, It’s my utmost pleasure to welcome you to the United Nations Security Council, the fastest paced committee and one of the strongholds in today’s day and age when it comes to deciding solutions of globally prevalent matters that shake the very grounds of humanity. I am looking forward to seeing you debate at high intensity and find a cohesive solution that can pass in the UNSC. My name is Adnan Bahrainwala, and I am currently studying in the 12th grade. When not with academic work, I can be found honing my skills as a football and basketball player. Also, as cynical as this may sound I love arguing with anyone about anything, from whether demonetization is correct to whether brushing your teeth thrice a day is essential. I am incredibly passionate about debating, and I hope to see similar passions in all the delegates participating at SpringMUN 2018. My hobbies include watching YouTube, especially watching Casey Neistat. Also, I love running, anytime and anywhere. Scuba diving and visiting different places around the world are also other hobbies. My favourite subjects are Mathematics and Global Politics. Having MUNned for the past four years, I have experienced many different MUNs internationally, nationally as well as locally in Mumbai. I have made so many new friends that stay around the world, and I hope each aspiring MUNner gets the chance to do so. Although February 2018 may seem far, I would urge you to get familiarized with this topic. To ensure a meaningful experience in committee, I gently advise you to plan your research and avoid last minute preparation. The Security Council will tackle "The Myanmar conflict," a critical issue. During the conference, you will be called upon to demonstrate necessary skills like critical thinking, innovative ideas, multilateral collaboration and above all a robust diplomatic frontier. Moreover, this topic will require a high degree of negotiating power keeping in mind that your foreign policy may be at stake. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with this issue and always keep yourself updated with the current situations of the Myanmar conflict. I would like to encourage all delegates to participate in the debate and not be afraid of speaking in committee. Also, a note to the more experienced delegates: help younger delegates, make everyone feel involved and don't participate with the aim to win the best delegate. Just have a lot of fun. I am going to try my best to make this year's Security Council one of the best experiences you will ever have. MUN is not about winning an award, it is a learning experience for everyone, and it exposes you to current conflicts that our world faces, and it gives you the power to come up with robust, innovative and creative solutions. I am here to make sure you have a splendid experience dealing with this globally relevant topic of "The Myanmar conflict," and I hope that you delegates can find a cohesive resolution 1 to combat this morally and ethically challenging topic. If any doubts or queries arise in the course of your research, please don’t hesitate to contact me. For now, goodbye. See you all, in February. Take care. Good luck! Regards, Adnan. Bahrainwala Director of the Security Council 2 Introduction (About the committee) Having chosen the United Nations Security Council, you have now entered a different committee, and hence it is incredibly vital to know what this committee is all about. Under the charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Having 15 members, each has only one vote. The Security Council undoubtedly is the most powerful committee in the UN, and hence under the charter, all member states are obligated to comply with the Council decisions. The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to peace or an act of aggression. It calls upon the parties in a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of a settlement. In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security. According to Article 27 of the Charter, each member of the Security Council shall have one vote. Secondly, decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members. Lastly, resolutions of the Security Council on all other issues shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting. The permanent members of the Security Council, which are the p5, are the only countries to have a veto. The P5 nations are China, Russia, UK, France, and the USA. The next 10 are all rotating members of the Security Council, which are elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term. History of the Problem Discriminatory policies of Myanmar’s government since the late 1970s have forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee their homes in the predominantly Buddhist country of Myanmar. Most of these refugees have gone to Bangladesh by land, while others have taken to the sea to reach Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand to avoid discrimination. The Rohingyas are an ethnic minority group who practice a version of Sunni Islam. The Rohingya have suffered from human rights violations under past military dictatorships since 1978. Before the issue escalated, there were already over 307,500 Rohingya refugees living in camps and makeshift settlements according to the UNHCR. The Rohingya militant’s attacks started on 25th August after years of facing discrimination and injustice they attacked approximately 30 police and army posts. However, this caused a ruthless military counter-attack which caused nearly half a million Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh The Rohingya people are an ethnic minority that live mainly in the northern region of Rakhine State, Myanmar, and have been described as one of the world's most persecuted minorities. They describe themselves as descendants of Arab traders who settled in the region many generations ago. 3 With the Japanese invasion and withdrawal of the British administration, tensions in Arakan grew before the war erupted. The war caused inter-communal conflicts between the Arakanese Muslims and Buddhists. Muslims fled from Japanese-controlled and Buddhist- majority regions to Muslim-dominated northern Arakan with many being killed. In return, a "reverse ethnic cleansing" was carried out. The Muslim attacks caused the Buddhists to flee to southern Arakan. Attacks by Muslim villagers on Buddhists also caused retaliation. With the consolidation of their position throughout northern Arakan, the Rohingyas retaliated against Japanese collaborators, particularity Buddhists. Rohingya leaders believed that the British had promised them a "Muslim National Area" in the Maungdaw region. They were also apprehensive and against the formation of a future Buddhist-dominated government. In 1946, the leaders made calls for the annexation of the territory by Pakistan. Some also called for an independent state. The group has been denied citizenship by the government of Myanmar, which sees them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Since then, Rohingya people have regularly been made the target of persecution by the government and nationalist Buddhists. Current Situation Who are the Rohingyas? Currently, the government in Myanmar doesn't grant the Rohingya citizenship, and as a result of this a vast majority of the group's members have no legal documentation and are therefore considered stateless. A majority of the one million Rohingyas are thought to stay in the Rakhine state which is located in the south west of Myanmar, where they account for nearly a third of the population of the area. Myanmar currently denies the Rohingya group recognition as one of the countries 135 ethnic groups as they claim the Rohingyas are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Why are they fleeing Myanmar? Since August 2017 many atrocities have been committed against the Rohingyas to drive them out of Myanmar. Myanmar's military arrested and arbitrarily detained male Rohingyas who were between 15 to 40 years, Rohingya opinion makers, leaders, and cultural and religious personalities. Moreover, acts to deprive Rohingya villagers of access to necessary things such as food, water, and other necessities were carried out. Additionally, repeated acts of violence such as killings, disappearances, torture, and rape and other forms of sexual abuse occurred which have instilled deep fear and physical, emotional and psychological trauma in the Rohingyas. Till now at least 288 villages in the Rakhine province have been burned down and destroyed On 9 October 2016, hundreds of unidentified insurgents attacked three Burmese border posts along Myanmar's border with Bangladesh. According to government officials in the mainly Rohingya border town of Maungdaw, the attackers brandished knives, machetes and homemade slingshots that fired metal bolts. Several dozen firearms and boxes of ammunition were looted by the attackers from the border posts. The attack resulted in the deaths of nine border officers. 4 On 11 October 2016, four soldiers were killed on the third day of fighting. Following the attacks, reports emerged of several human rights violations allegedly perpetrated by Burmese security forces in their crackdown on suspected Rohingya insurgents. Government officials in Rakhine State initially blamed the RSO, an Islamist insurgent group mainly active in the 1980s and 1990s, for the attacks; however, on 17 October 2016, a group calling itself Harakah al-Yaqin (Faith Movement in English) claimed responsibility.
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