By Zaw Min Htut
Rohingya Advocacy Network in Japan (RANJ)
6th May 2017
Burma/Myanmar is one of the most ethnically diverse
countries in the world. Its civilian government lasted from independence in
1948 until the military coup of March 2, 1962 staged by late Gen. Ne Win with
the claim of saving the country from disintegration through minority secession,
incompetent and corrupt civilian rule; strengthen the socialist base of the
economy free from the foreign dominance. But during the long military rule none
of this objective could be achieved in any credible sense. Instead ethnic
tensions increased and rebellions mushroomed, socialism as administered in
Burma was eventually an admitted failure. There was a third supportive ‘coup’
in September 18, 1988 to keep the military in power.
The Burmese military has established large armies. They
still consider themselves custodians of national unity, denying any other
institution or group, promoting instability and unstable political systems for
the growth of militarism and perpetuation of power. They have suppressed the
people’s voice, continued civil war, produced IDPs, and caused forced migration
and humanitarian disaster. The Rohingya of North Arakan (Rakhine State) are the
worst victims of human rights violations facing mass atrocity crimes, including
genocide, ethnic cleansing and ethnocide for their ethnicity and religion, and
also for their skin and South-Asian appearance. United Nations has described
them as “the world’s most persecuted minority.” “Rohingya are listed as one of
the ten worlds’ populations in most danger of extinction.”
Forced migration is where people are forced to move from
where they live due to circumstances out of their control. The followings are
some of the significant effects of militarism or the causes of Rohingya
migration into Bangladesh and other countries:
1. Existence denied:
The Rohingya are often described as “illegal immigrants
from Bangladesh” in utter disregard of their long glorious history in Arakan.
The military has declared them non-nationals rendering them stateless in their
own homeland though promulgation of oppressive Burma Citizenship Law of 1982.
2. Xenophobia against Rohingya:
Under the aegis of the still powerful military the
popular slogan in the country is “to be Burmese is to be Buddhist”. Islam is
insulted comparing it with animal doctrine. Rohingya are called influx viruses,
ugly ogres and dogs by Rakhine academics, in diplomatic correspondence and by
Buddhist monks and extremists.
3. Grave human rights violations
From 1962 military rule, the Rohingya have been subjected
institutionalized persecution, draconian restrictions on their basic freedom –
freedom of worship, movement, marriage, education, health care – summary
execution and mass murder, rape, destruction of houses and villages,
ghettoization, confiscation and looting of moveable and immovable properties,
food insecurity, denial and blockade of humanitarian aids, torture, forced
labour, forced relocation and forced eviction, involuntary disappearance, arbitrary
detention, extortion and relentless taxation etc..
4. Demographic changes:
Buddhist settler villages have been established though
out North Arakan. Rohingya are depopulated to be populated by Buddhist
communities under state programmes. Thus the Rohingya have become increasingly
landless, jobless and homeless.
5.
Mass atrocity crimes against Rohingya:
Unprecedented organized deadly violence occurred and
reoccurred in Arakan and other parts of Burma in June-October 2012 and 2016,
where the government had been implicit. An estimated 5000 Rohingya Muslims were
killed, drowned and missing. Blaming the Rohingya, “President Thein Sein stated
on 12 July 2012 that the only solution to the violence would be to send the
Rohingya to other countries or refugee camps” thus officially sponsoring
“Rohingya ethnic cleansing”. The government is manifestly practicing apartheid
policy putting more than 140,000 Rohingyas in apartheid-like concentration
camps for nearly 5 years. While the experts in international law have described
it crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
has refused that no human rights violations against Rohingya have been happened
and rejected to accept an independent UN commission of inquiry into human rights
violations.
6. Highly visible refugee movements:
There were two Rohingya mass exoduses into Bangladesh one
in 1978 and another in 1991-92 each with more than 250,000 refugees. Due to
international pressures most refugees were repatriated without their
deliverance. There has been no durable solution and the influx of Rohingyas
into Bangladesh and other countries is continuing. From October 2016, under the
new civilian government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi more than 1000 Rohingyas were
killed and burned down, most of them women and children. About 70,000 took
refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. Myanmar military burned down several
Rohingya villages under the pretext of area clearance to make thousands of
Rohingya internally displaced.
7. Massive irregular migrations and boat
people
Particularly due to military’s policies of exclusion,
discrimination and extermination against them, about 1.6 million Rohingya out
of their population of more than 3 million have either been expelled or have
had to flee persecution to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia,
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Australia, Japan, Europe, Canada and United States. Rejected
in Burma and unwanted in Bangladesh the Rohingyas in Arakan and Bangladesh have
become more desperate to take dangerous voyages by boats across the sea to
Malaysia and Southeast Asian countries.
Conclusion
The Rohingyas have become stateless within Burma and
refugees or migrants beyond its border. Thus it becomes a regional problem with
international dimension. It is important that the Rohingya problem must be
resolved first and foremost within Burma. While still powerful military is an
obstacle for solution, Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD government must change its policy
on Rohingyas, and it must respect and promote the human rights of Rohingya and
treat them justly. For longer term solution, the Burmese government must repeal
or amend the 1982 Citizenship Law to conform it to international standards. The
political and democratic process in Burma must be all-inclusive and Rohingya
should be a part of it. Last not the least, their rights and freedom must be
ensured on par with other ethnic nationalities of the country without delay.
Due to the militarism in Myanmar for almost seven
decades, tens of thousands of other ethnic minority people such as Kachin,
Chin, Mon, Karen, Shan, etc,. became refugees in the neighbouring countries and
internally displaced in Myanmar. The country become one of the poorest in Asia.
[ The paper on ‘Rohingya migration and Refugees due to
militarism in Myanmar’ was one of the main topic (of the conference) submitted
by Rohingya human rights activist and Executive Director of Rohingya Advocacy
Network in Japan (RANJ), Zaw Min Htut, at the International Conference on
”Militarism and Democracy ” that was held in Tokyo on May 6th and 7th, 2017.
The conference was organized by Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN) with the
cooperation of other international organizations based in Asia Pacific
countries. The representatives from various countries such as US, Australia,
New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand,
Philippines, South Korea, Japan and other countries participated. Several high
profile lawyers, scholars, human rights activists expressed their own
experiences under the military rule in their respective countries. ]