Recognising the Rohingya people

Abstract

Fresh violence against the Rohingya people of Myanmar has drawn international attention to their plight. Since early October, 30 000 Rohingya have fled their homes to Bangladesh to escape an army crackdown in response to the killing of nine police officers. In a Review published online on Dec 1, Syed S Mahmood and colleagues detail the long and complex history that has led to the health and human rights crisis affecting the Rohingya people, who have been stripped of citizenship by the Myanmar Government. Rohingya, who mainly reside in Myanmar's Rakhine State, are not recognised as a legitimate, native minority by the government. Persecution of this population has led to killings, destruction of their neighbourhoods, and limits on their reproductive freedoms and movement. Rohingya who violate Myanmar's restrictions are subject to imprisonment, torture, forced labour, and sexual violence, states the Review. The appalling situation has caused some 300 000 Rohingya to flee to surrounding countries in southeast Asia, mainly to neighbouring Bangladesh. However, here they have also faced discrimination from the Bangladesh Government. Rohingya experience severe barriers to accessing health care. Their health status in and outside of Myanmar is worse than the majority population for several indicators. For example, compared with non-Rohingya dominant regions in Rakhine State, Rohingya-predominant regions have higher rates of mortality in children younger than 5 years (135–224 per 1000 livebirths vs 77 per 1000 livebirths), of global acute malnutrition (14% higher), and of diarrhoeal disease in children (five times greater). In Bangladesh, nearly 20% of Rohingya children have wasting and 60% are stunted, 50% higher than the rest of the Bangladesh population. The situation facing the Rohingya stems from their statelessness. As historian Joseph Reese Strayer noted: “A man can lead a reasonably full life without a family, a fixed local residence, or a religious affiliation, but if he is stateless he is nothing. He has no rights, no security, and little opportunity…”. The international community needs to work with Myanmar and the other countries in which Rohingya reside to find a solution urgently to this grave health and humanitarian crisis. This online publication has been corrected. The corrected version first appeared at thelancet.com on December 5, 2016 This online publication has been corrected. The corrected version first appeared at thelancet.com on December 5, 2016 The Rohingya people of Myanmar: health, human rights, and identityThe Rohingya people of Myanmar (known as Burma before 1989) were stripped of citizenship in 1982, because they could not meet the requirement of proving their forefathers settled in Burma before 1823, and now account for one in seven of the global population of stateless people. Of the total 1·5 million Rohingya people living in Myanmar and across southeast Asia, only 82 000 have any legal protection obtained through UN-designated refugee status. Since 2012, more than 159 000 people, most of whom are Rohingya, have fled Myanmar in poorly constructed boats for journeys lasting several weeks to neighbouring nations, causing hundreds of deaths. Full-Text PDF Department of ErrorThe Lancet. Recognising the Rohingya people. Lancet 2016; 388: 2714—In this Editorial (Dec 3, 2016), Syed S Mahmood's name was spelt incorrectly. This correction has been made to the online version as of Dec 5, 2016. Full-Text PDF