Suspended in Time THE ONGOING PERSECUTION OF ROHINGYA MUSLIMS IN BURMA UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Front Cover: The view of a setting sun from the internally displaced person Rohingya refugee camps of Sittwe (Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images) U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Suspended in Time THE ONGOING PERSECUTION OF ROHINGYA MUSLIMS IN BURMA DECEMBER 2016 A BURMESE TRANSLATION OF THIS REPORT IS AVAILABLE AT WWW.USCIRF.GOV USCIRF COMMISSIONERS Thomas J. Reese, S.J. Chair Daniel Mark James J. Zogby Vice Chairs Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz Sandra Jolley Clifford D. May John Ruskay Jackie Wolcott Ambassador David N. Saperstein, ex officio, non-voting member USCIRF PROFESSIONAL STAFF Erin Singshinsuk, Acting Executive Director Dwight Bashir, Co-Director for Policy and Research Elizabeth K. Cassidy, Co-Director for Policy and Research Judith E. Golub, Director of Government and Media Relations Paul Liben, Executive Writer Sahar Chaudhry, Senior Policy Analyst Catherine Cosman, Senior Policy Analyst Tiffany Lynch, Senior Policy Analyst Tina L. Mufford, Senior Policy Analyst Jomana Qaddour, Policy Analyst Roy Haskins, Manager of Finance and Administration Travis Horne, Government and Media Relations Specialist Eric Snee, Travel and Administration Specialist TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ....................................................................................1 Introduction ................................................................................2 Treatment of Rohingya Muslims, 2011–2016. 4 Recent Developments and Future Trends. 9 Conclusion and Recommendations ............................................................11 BHUTAN INDIA BANGLADESH CHINA • Mandalay Maungdaw Township • RAKHINE Sittwe • STATE LAOS BURMA Bay of Bengal THAILAND Rangoon • Gulf of Thailand Andaman Sea PREFACE he U.S. Commission on International Religious with religious freedom. Yet this viewpoint ignores the Freedom (USCIRF) has monitored religious fact that while Rohingya Muslims may not be tar- T freedom conditions in Burma (also known as geted entirely based on religion, they are singled out Myanmar) since the Commission first began its work as different and perceived as a threat because of their in 1999. The law that created USCIRF, the International religion and ethnicity. Religious Freedom Act, instructed the Commission to, While the lengthy history of the Rohingya Muslim among other things, recommend U.S. government pol- crisis is beyond the scope of this paper, an examination icies in response to reli- of the marked deteriora- gious freedom violations tion of rights under the around the world. Based The deprivation of [Rohingya Muslims’] previous government on Burma’s systematic, rights—by both government and provides insight into ways egregious, and ongoing societal actors—is one of the most Burma’s government can violations of the free- profound human rights address the crisis and the dom of religion or belief, tragedies of the 21st Century. international community USCIRF consistently can encourage and assist. has recommended it be The following policy paper designated as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, analyzes religious freedom conditions for Rohingya every year since the Department of State first made the Muslims from 2011, when President Thein Sein’s gov- designation in 2000. USCIRF based this recommenda- ernment took office, to July 7, 2016, the date marking the tion on its comprehensive assessment of the situation for National League for Democracy (NLD) government’s religious minority communities, and also at times the first 100 calendar days in office.1 ill treatment of majority Buddhists, relative to interna- tional human rights standards. As part of its monitoring, USCIRF in 2016 com- missioned a research project to investigate religious freedom conditions for Christian communities in Burma. The research sought to investigate the facts and causes of discrimination, violence, and other abuses against Christians. The result of this research, called “Hidden Plight: Christian Minorities in Burma,” is avail- able at www.uscirf.gov. In seeking to shed light on the little-known circumstances of Christians in Burma, USCIRF acknowledged the serious humanitarian crisis faced by Rohingya and other Muslims—and indeed all people in Rakhine State. The deprivation of their rights—by both government and societal actors—is one of the most profound human rights tragedies of the 21st Cen- tury. In recent years, some within and outside Burma 1 In some cases, this paper references significant events that have argued the Rohingya situation has nothing to do occurred before or after this period. SUSPENDED IN TIME THE ONGOING PERSECUTION OF ROHINGYA MUSLIMS IN BURMA 1 INTRODUCTION ore than four years ago, two waves of sectar- Buddhist) and ethnic Rohingya (predominantly Muslim) ian violence struck Rakhine State. In the time have experienced periods of both peaceful coexistence Msince, Rohingya Muslims, Rakhine Bud- and ethno-religious tensions in the geographical area dhists, and individuals of other ethnicities and beliefs known today as Rakhine (or Arakan) State. In the absence throughout the state have suffered grievous deprivations of clear, well-defined borders, it is difficult to distinguish of basic rights, including inadequate access to food, individuals indigenous to the area from those who for water, shelter, education, and health care; restrictions centuries regularly moved along the fluid western edge on freedom of movement; denial of needed humanitar- of Rakhine State. Muslims, including Rohingya Muslims, ian aid; limited opportunities to obtain an education or were among both those with organic roots to the land and earn a living; egregious human rights abuses resulting those who commonly flowed across this porous region. in death, injury, and displacement; and, in the case of Following the 1962 coup led by General Ne Win, Rohingya Muslims, the denial of the right to a national- Burma’s military government maintained power ity and citizenship. in part through a divide-and-conquer strategy that Severe poverty across Rakhine State has exacer- pitted Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims against bated the situation for all who live there. Moreover, each other, and, in Rakhine State, ethnic Rakhine ongoing attacks by Bur- against their Rohingya ma’s Army, the Tatmadaw, neighbors. Reflecting against the Arakan It is critical that all affected this strategy, the govern- Army (an ethnic armed communities in Rakhine State ment in 1982 stripped group) and civilians have receive both domestic and international the Rohingya of citizen- displaced hundreds of humanitarian aid to lift them out of ship and subsequently people and condemned poverty and neglect. allowed violence, dis- countless children into crimination, and human forced labor. It is critical rights abuses against that all affected communities in Rakhine State receive Rohingya Muslims to occur with impunity. both domestic and international humanitarian aid to lift This ill treatment continues today. For several them out of poverty and neglect. reasons, however, conditions for Rohingya Muslims All of this has occurred under intense international deteriorated during the presidency of Thein Sein, who scrutiny that—paradoxically—imposed on Burma few took office following the 2010 general elections—the practical consequences for such a serious escalation of first since 1990. First, the government legislated abuses. Indeed, the situation is so dire for many individ- new discriminatory measures—the four “race and uals that some have called the violations crimes against religion laws”—that target Rohingya Muslims and humanity, or even genocide. Meanwhile, Burma’s gov- other religious minorities. Second, some individuals, ernment directly and indirectly fomented a groundswell including within the government and monkhood, took of sometimes violent ethnoreligious nationalism with advantage of greater freedom to advance anti-Muslim strong anti-Muslim undertones, and at the same time hatred, using Facebook and other online media to fab- shunned international criticism of its growing human ricate and spread rumors that incited and legitimized rights abuses. discrimination and violent acts. Third, the govern- The full scale of this crisis has been decades in the ment rarely held accountable perpetrators or inciters making. Historically, ethnic Rakhine (predominantly of violence. 2 SUSPENDED IN TIME THE ONGOING PERSECUTION OF ROHINGYA MUSLIMS IN BURMA Fourth, and perhaps most significant, is the overall political framework in which abuses against Rohingya Muslims occurred. Before Thein Sein took office, the military-controlled government characterized the elections as Burma’s return to civilian rule and a critical element in the so-called “seven-step roadmap to democ- racy,”2 which originated in 2003. The roadmap primarily centered around the drafting of a new national charter that ultimately resulted in the 2008 Constitution, still in effect today. That constitution, however, further entrenched the military’s power, and the military government proceeded with the national referendum vote shortly after the devastating Cyclone Nargis. Although the military outwardly stepped aside, the new quasi-civilian government3 under President Thein Sein portrayed a façade that in practice made only nominal progress toward democratic norms. 2 The seven steps, in brief, are: 1) Reconvene the National Con- vention to write a new constitution;