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The Rohingya Genocide the Internationally Neglected People of the Rakhine State

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Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales Grado en Relaciones Internacionales Trabajo Fin de Grado The Rohingya Genocide The internationally neglected people of the Rakhine State Estudiante: Lydia González Villa Director: Prof. Javier Gil Pérez Madrid, abril 2019 “Expulsion and genocide, though both are international offenses, must remain distinct; the former is an offense against fellow-nations, whereas the latter is an attack upon human diversity as such, that is, upon a characteristic of the "human status" without which the very words "mankind" or "humanity" would be devoid of meaning.” – Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, 2006 Abstract Up to this date Rohingyas have not yet been recognised as an ethnic group in Myanmar, a country containing another 135 ethnic groups within its borders. Muslims from Rakhine State in Myanmar – formerly known as Burma – have been consistently denied of their human rights, included that of citizenship. They are persecuted and antagonised by the Buddhist sector of the country. An escalation of this situation has led to the staging of a genocide against this Muslim minority in Myanmar, the home country to Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. She currently holds the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as State Counsellor of Myanmar, a position that accounts for that of Head of State. International action has been conspicuous by its absence with major superpowers such as China and the Russia turning a blind eye on the atrocities and international organisations such as ASEAN and the UN remaining quiet. It was not until 27th August 2018 that the UN officially acknowledged the Rohingya genocide and asked Myanmar to take responsibility for its actions. In this paper I will examine the international inaction towards an event which, at some other time, some other place, or against a different religious group, would have drawn the attention it truly deserves. Key words: Rohingyas, genocide, Myanmar, R2P, Human Security, United Nations, ASEAN, Aung San Suu Kyi. A día de hoy, Myanmar continúa sin reconocer a los Rohinyá como una de sus 135 etnias. Los derechos humanos de la población musulmana de Myanmar, también conocido como Birmania, se han violado sistemáticamente. Entre ellos, su derecho a la ciudadanía. Los Rohinyá son víctimas de persecuciones y de propaganda anti-musulmana por parte de la población budista. El recrudecimiento de la violencia he llevado a la consecución de un genocidio musulmán. Myanmar es el país de origen de la Premio Nobel de la Paz Aung San Suu Kyi, quien ocupa el puesto de ministra de Asuntos Exteriores y consejera de Estado, lo que en la práctica la convierte en la jefa de Estado. La intervención internacional en este asunto ha brillado por su ausencia. China y Rusia han ignorado estas violaciones mientras que ASEAN y la ONU han mantenido también una actitud pasiva. El 27 de agosto de 2018, Naciones Unidas reconoció el genocidio Rohinyá. Este trabajo examinará la inacción internacional ante un suceso que de haberse dado en otro momento, en otro lugar o contra miembros de otra religión, habría recibido la atención que se merece. Palabras clave: Rohinyás, genocidio, Myanmar, R2P, Seguridad humana, Naciones Unidas, ASEAN, Aung San Suu Kyi. I TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Purpose and reasoning ........................................................................................... 2 1.2. Methodology. ......................................................................................................... 4 2. Theoretical framework ................................................................................................. 7 2.1. Genocide and ethnic cleansing .............................................................................. 7 2.2. International organisations .................................................................................. 10 2.2.1 United Nations ............................................................................................... 10 2.3. Regional organisations ........................................................................................ 11 2.3.1 ASEAN .......................................................................................................... 11 2.4. Strategic interests ................................................................................................. 13 2.5 Responsibility to Protect (R2P) ............................................................................ 13 2.6 Humanitarian intervention .................................................................................... 15 2.7 Human security ..................................................................................................... 16 3. State of the issue ......................................................................................................... 18 3.1. A brief history of Rohingya ................................................................................. 18 3.2 A brief history of Myanmar .................................................................................. 20 3.2.1 The years after independence ........................................................................ 24 4. Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 28 4.1 The First Wave of Violence: 2012 ....................................................................... 28 4.1.1 Completion of the First Stages of Genocide .................................................. 29 4.1.2 Basis for Applicability of R2P ...................................................................... 30 4.2 The Second Wave of Violence: 2013 ................................................................... 32 4.2.1 Hostility towards Foreign Intervention in Myanmar ..................................... 34 4.3 Escalation of anti-Muslim Sentiment: 2014-2016 ................................................ 35 4.3.1 Religion, Politics, Ma Ba Tha and Elections ................................................. 37 4.3.2 Confirmation of the Last Stages of Genocide ............................................... 39 4.4 The Ultimate Wave of Migration – 2017 ............................................................. 40 4.5 Official Recognition of the Rohingya Genocide: 2018 ........................................ 44 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 47 References ...................................................................................................................... 51 Annex ............................................................................................................................. 61 II GRAPHIC MATERIAL Image 1: Map of Myanmar and neighbouring countries with main cities pinned (Ebersole, 2013) ................................................................................................................... X Image 2: Map of the Rakhine State and Cox's Bazar, one of the main Rohingya settlements in Bangladesh (al Jazeera, 2017) ..................................................... X Image 3: Leader of 969 Movement and Ma Ba Tha, monk U Wirathu (a.k.a. Ashin Wirathu). Cover of July, 2013 Times magazine in which he was deemed “Buddhist Bin Laden” (Dean, 2013) ................................................................. 61 Image 4: Government of Myanmar after the 2015 elections (Open Development, 2015) ........................................................................................................................... 62 Image 5: Buddhist monks rallying against Myanmar Muslims and the spread of Islam in the country (Cardoso, 2018). ............................................................................. 62 Image 6: Myanmar Buddhists protesting against Muslims in the country and denying their belonging to Myanmar. The imperial theory is supported in the banner at the front. In the banner at the back, Rohingyas, although not mentioned, are being blamed for the violence happening. The message aims to install fear in other citizens so they join the fight against Myanmar Muslims (Cardoso, 2018). ..... 63 Image 7: Quote referring to the struggle for rights and citizenship of the Rohingya people and the dehumanisation that comes with it (Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention, 2015) .............................................................................................. 63 Image 8: Rohingya refugees that have fled Myanmar in the period after the first wave of violence in 2012 and before the 25th August 2017 attacks (Grudgings & Szep, 2017) .................................................................................................................. 64 Image 9: Location of Rohingya refugees and IDPs after the attacks on 25th August 2017 (Pandey, 2017)................................................................................................... 64 Image 10: Main routes of Rohingya fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia (Council of Foreign Relations, 2017) ............................................... 65 Image 11: Location of Rohingya refugees arriving to Bangladesh (al Jazeera, 2017) .... 65 Image 12 Rohingya watch their village in northern Rakhine State burn (King, 2013) ... 66 Image 13: Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar and crossing the border to Bangladesh, where
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