Rohingya refugees and Myanmar

Abstract

Myanmar is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world with over 100 languages and dialects with a population of 55 million. It may achieve the status of the most prosperous countries in Asia, but its inability to make peace among its ethnic groups is shattering the country’s economy. Though Myanmar is engaged in conflict with several different minority groups such as Karen, Kachin, and Shan, its conflict with the Rohingya minority is unique because the core issue of this conflict is statelessness. While all the other ethnic groups in conflict seek sovereignty under the Myanmar government, Rohingya even struggle for basic human rights as citizens of the country. The Rohingya are denied citizenship by Myanmar, which has left them without state protection. Therefore, the major aim of the present chapter is to look at the systematic development of the exploitation of the human and citizenship rights of the Rohingya in Myanmar while discussing the need to protect their human rights. The proposed research chapter will discuss how the policies of the state have resulted into ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar. It will use the primary and secondary sources to discuss the state policies that have affected the very existence of the Rohingya.