Myanmar's 'Rohingya' Conflict

Abstract

Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims have been subject to human rights abuses, been denied citizenship, and most recently, faced ethnic cleansing. Well over half the Rohingya population who use to live in Myanmar have been displaced by violence, with over a million Rohingya refugees now sheltering in Bangladesh. This conflict has become a litmus test for change in Myanmar, a country in transition, and current assessments are far from positive. Whitewashing by the military, and a refusal by Aung San Suu Kyi's government to even use the name 'Rohingya', adds to international skepticism. This book explores this long-running tripartite conflict between the Rohingya, Rakhine and Burman ethnic groups, and offers a new analysis of the complexities of the conflict: the fears and motivations driving it and the competition to control historical representations and collective memory. By exploring these competing narratives in detail and interrogating their historicity, by offering detailed sociopolitical analysis of the conflict dynamics against models of conflict in the literature, and by examining the international dimensions of the conflict, this book offers new insights into what is preventing a peaceful resolution to this intractable conflict.