2. The Persecution of the Rohingya
The Refugee Crisis
The Rohinga Boat People
Aung Sang Sui Khi
International Condemnation
3. Burma has a population of approximately
53.2 million
It is predominately Bhuddist but about 5
% of its people are Muslims, which
includes the Rohingya people
Burma became an independent state in
1948
4.
5. In 2011, the military junta was officially
dissolved following a 2010 general
election, and a nominally civilian
government was installed
The release of Aung San Suu Kyi and
other political prisoners improved the
country's human rights record and
foreign relations, and led to the easing
of trade and other economic sanctions
6. Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist (88%–90% of the
population), with small minorities of other faiths,
including a small minority of Muslims (5%). The
nation is dominated by its ethnic Bamar (or Burman)
majority (68%), most of whom are Buddhist
For most of its independent years, the country has
been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife and its
myriad ethnic groups have been involved in one of
the world's longest running on-going civil
During this time, the United Nations (UN) and several
other organisations have reported consistent and
systematic human rights violations in the country,
particularly against the Rohingya
7.
8. In modern times, the persecution of the
Rohingya Muslims dates back to the 1970s
According to Amnesty International, the
Rohingya have suffered from human rights
violations under past military dictatorships
since 1978
Since then, they have regularly been made the
target of persecution by the government and
nationalist Buddhists
9. Rohingya Muslims are devoid of all kinds of
political and economic rights
They are denied citizenship under the 1982
Myanmar nationality law, so they are a
stateless people
They are also restricted from freedom of
movement, state education and civil service
jobs. The legal conditions faced by the
Rohingya in Myanmar have been compared
with Apartheid
10. Ban on Travel
Restrictions on Education
Restrictions on Employment
Marriage Restrictions
Discrimination against Islamic Culture and
Religion
11. In its 2016 Atrocities Prevention Report, the U.S. Department of
State summarized:
The situation in Rakhine State is grim, in part due to a mix of
long-term historical tensions between the Rakhine and Rohingya
communities, socio-political conflict, socio-economic
underdevelopment, and a long-standing marginalization of both
Rakhine and Rohingya by the Government of Burma. The World
Bank estimates Rakhine State has the highest poverty rate in
Burma (78 percent) and is the poorest state in the country. The
lack of investment by the central government has resulted in
poor infrastructure and inferior social services, while lack of rule
of law has led to inadequate security conditions.
Members of the Rohingya community in particular reportedly face
abuses by the Government of Burma, including those involving
torture, unlawful arrest and detention, restricted movement,
restrictions on religious practice, and discrimination in
employment and access to social services.
12. Wide-scale human rights violations, including
extrajudicial killings, gang rapes, arson and
infanticides
To date, Myanmar has yet to allow the media
and human rights groups to enter the
persecuted areas, which has been termed an
“information black hole”
13. An estimated 92,000 Rohingya people had been
displaced because of the violence; around 65,000 had
fled from Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh
between October 2016 and January 2017, while
23,000 others had been internally displaced
As a result of the Autumn 2017 military "clearance
operations" and reprisals, about 400,000 mostly-
Rohingya refugees (about a third of the Rohingya
population) have fled, or been driven out of,
Rakhine—many fleeing to Bangladesh, while others
have taken to the sea to reach Indonesia, Malaysia
and Thailand
14.
15.
16. The Rohingya have been leaving the Rakhine
State by boat in their tens of thousands in
search for jobs in Malaysia, Thailand and
Indonesia. Often, the boats are very small and
dangerous on the open seas.
Over 200 have died in recent years and over
7,000 have been held in detention centres
even after surviving the boat trip.
17.
18.
19. Aung San Suu Kyi has
been criticized in
particular for her
silence and lack of
action over the issue, as
well as for failing to
prevent human rights
abuses by the military
20. In August 2017, Aung San Suu Kyi defended
the government's actions, stating the
government "...had already started defending
all the people in Rakhine in the best way
possible and expressed that there should be
no misinformation to create trouble between
the two countries." She denied that the
security services were systematically abusing
the Rohingya, claiming instead that they are
simply trying to hunt down organised and
violent Rohingya militants.
21. Her inaction, on behalf of the Rohingya,
brought a plea for action from fellow Noble
Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.
Numerous people have called for her Nobel
Prize to be revoked, including Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Desmond Tutu. She stated in
response: "show me a country without
human rights issues.“
Fake News
Notas del editor
The Myanmar government consider them to be Bangladeshi, while the Bangladeshi claim they are Burmese and will do not want them.
Displaced Rohingya people in Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Bangladesh
Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Bangladesh
Anwar Sah, a three-year old Rohingya boy from Burma, is photographed during an Indonesian police identification process (AFP)
