British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once described the atrocities committed against the Russian people by German soldiers during the Second World War as a “crime without a name.” But would Churchill use the same words if he lived long enough to witness the numerous “killing fields” of the second half of the 20th century?
True, these are not the total state wars that consumed the first half of the 20th century. Still, the unspeakable crimes endured by our elders are still present today in one form or another.
A case in point is the continuing suffering of the Rohingya community in western Burma. The United Nations has in fact called them the most persecuted ethnic group in Asia because no country is willing to grant them citizenship. In fact, Burma refuses to recognize the Rohingya ethnic community even though the latter have been living in the country for many decades.
Using Churchill’s words to describe the plight of the Rohingya, one might say that we too are in the presence of a crime; but it’s a crime with many names. There are crimes against humanity; and there are crimes against Rohingya. Already stateless, landless, and homeless, Rohingya people are faced with daily doses of various forms of discrimination. As unwanted residents, they are deprived of basic human rights and welfare services. Regarded as outsiders, they are collectively accused of inciting violence in Burma every time a member of their community is found guilty of committing a crime.
But the Rohingya are not merely battling the racism of the junta-backed ruling party in Burma. Unfortunately, they are also victimized by the supposedly pro-democracy opposition parties, many of whom have echoed the government’s position that the Rohingya are illegal residents of Burma.
Further inflaming the tension and hatred in Burma is the irresponsible action of some groups which have posted false images on the internet to draw attention to the suffering of the Rohingya. Naturally, it angered many Burmese who suspect that Western groups and foreign governments are conspiring to isolate Burma in the international community.
Foreign groups may have exploited Rohingya issue to further their sinister agenda, but this doesn’t excuse the continued marginalization of the ethnic group. Nor does it invalidate human rights groups’ criticism about the deteriorating situation in Rohingya refugee camps. It also doesn’t make the global petition to support the Rohingya on humanitarian grounds any less valid.
It isn’t helpful to perpetuate the Rohingya-Rakhine dichotomy. A stand in favor of Rohingya doesn’t mean we are condemning the Rakhine. Both groups are victims of violence who must learn to coexist peacefully.
The first step towards that goal would be the Burmese government recognizing that its policy towards the Rohingya is causing further division and conflict in the country. It could also ensure that the often invoked “rule of law” should apply to the parties perpetrating the horrendous crimes against the group. If Burma is hesitant to listen to Western institutions about the need to rethink its policies concerning the Rohingya, then maybe the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can intervene by listing the Rohingya issue as part of its agenda in the next caucus of the regional grouping.
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mydaydream
What all outsiders have to learn is not only about this particular riot but also about the riot happened years ago. As Myanmar was a very closed country with few information spreading, nobody outside Rakhine state would have understood what happened these days. If we were to blame Rakhines for being extremist against Rohingya, the very root cause would be their experience of suffering in their own lands. All those writing/spreading information about the riot HAVE to learn how Rakhines have been suffering throughout their lives in their own land. And yet it is impossible to see such people learn about it since they only refer the western media and paper written by western people as the credited source.
Kumur
The people so called Rohingya resemble 99 percent of Bengali people. They have same appearances, skin color, DNA traits, religion and culture and speak the same language. (Rohingya is a dialect of Bengali).
Rohingya is just a name created to exploit the internal turmoils in Myanmar. They (Bengali) made up the fake history of Rohingya people descended from Arab traders and it is a plot to demand the citizenship as the first step.
If they gain citizenship in Burma, they will move to next steps: demanding a seperate muslim terrorities, trigger mass migration of Bengali (new comers will say they are Rohingya too) and replace the native Burmeses with their high fertility rates. Their ultimate goal is to establish an Islamic state and shift the demographic balance on Burma.
Thus, Burmese government is right about not accepting Rohingya as their citizen.
tocharian
This has to do more with racism than religion, I think. There are a lot of other Muslims in Burma (and in a strange twist, even they are actually not very supportive of their fellow Muslim Rohingyas). Because of porous borders, especially in the North and the East (ethnic militia groups control most of these areas), there are also hundreds of thousands of "illegal" recent Chinese immigrants with fake Burmese ID's (you can buy one for about 500 Yuan) Chinese are tolerated in Burma, but not the impoverished "stateless" Rohingyas. Why? Even Suu Kyi, the global human rights icon is silent on this issue. What is there to hide?
I do see that Islamic militant groups are spreading propaganda against "Buddhists" and "Burmese" in general by using fabricated photos (one with Tibetan monks in China). Anyway, from the photos it's hard to tell who is Rohingya, who is Rakhaing (at least to my eyes!)
Aung Ming
WHO ARE THE ROHINGYA AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO END THEIR GENOCIDE?
The existence of the Rooinga (English form of Rohingya) people in Arakan (Rakhine) State was historically documented in a late 18th century report published by the British, Francis Buchanan-Hamilton. In his 1799 article “A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the Languages Spoken in the Burma Empire,” Buchanan-Hamilton stated: "I shall now add three dialects, spoken in the Burma Empire, but evidently derived from the language of the Hindu nation. The first is that spoken by the Mohammedans, who have long settled in Arakan, and who call themselves Rooinga, or natives of Arakan" (tap on the right of the pages to page 237-240, http://www.scribd.com/doc/99047980/1799-Rohingya-or-Rooinga-Name-in-Fifth-Volume-of-A-Comparative-Vocabulary-of-Some-of-the-Languages-Spoken-in-the-Burma-Empire). This is the unbiased historical evidence that the Rohingya or Rooinga had lived in Arakan (Rakhine) State before 1824, and therefore, they are one of the original races of the Union of Myanmar. Henceforth, it must be noted that the Rohingya ARE NOT Bangalis, who recently illegally penetrated Myanmar after its independence from the UK in 1948, and that the term Rohingya was NOT INVENTED by Bangali immigrants in 1950s. The term Rohingya was used in 1799 by the natives of Arakan, who were of Mohammedan (or Islamic) faith.
According to a scientific discovery published in the prestigious magazine, Science on Oct 15th, 1999 (volume 286(5439): pages 528-30), the modern human beings originated in Myanmar about 45 million years ago. Thus, the Rohingya and the Bangali races are derivatives of the Rakhine and Myanmar races; in other words they are cousins of each other. Therefore, the Rohingya are not illegal immigrants of Myanmar, but are one of the original races of Myanmar. In other words, the Rohingya did not migrate illegally from Bangladesh into Myanmar, but the Bangalis migrated out of Myanmar into present-day Bangladesh. Thus the Bangalis are as well an original race of Myanmar, even though they migrated west to present-day Bangladesh millions of years ago.
The international community has a responsibility to protect the Rohingya from systematic state-sponsored genocide by the Rakhine and the Maynmarese races. Available evidence indicates that the Rohingya are the most persecuted minority (UN report). The Rohingya are the unfortunate victims of the brutal aggression of the Rakhine and Myanmar regime.To falsely associate them with extremism and terrorism is not only preposterous, but amounts to moral irresponsibility and ethical crime. In stead of raising concern and awareness about the severe abuses of Myanmar military regime, chastising the Rohingya for their sufferings is inhumane. They have been living in Arakan (or Rakhine) State since 8th century. They were Burmese citizens at the birth of the Union of Burma on 4th of Jan 1948. Since 1982 they have been illegally deprived of their lawful citizenship by Ne Win’s military regime. In Myanmar, the Rohingya have no freedom of speech, worship, movement or marriage. They have no access to education or healthcare. Thus we, the civilized world, who are privileged to enjoy these freedoms, must intervene to prevent them from becoming extinct. We must speak up and TAKE MEANINGFUL ACTION for restoring the lawful Myanmar Citizenship without any prejudice to the Rohingya, granting them basic human rights and civil liberties, similar to those granted by the Constitution of the United States of America to all its Citizens without any discrimination based on race, religion, color or national origin.
tocharian
You said:
"the modern human beings originated in Myanmar about 45 million years ago"
That's nonsense! 45 million years ago, there were no hominid species. What was discovered in Burma were fossils of ancenstors of primates and monkeys. It is really ridiculous to claim that the human species orignated in Burma! Almost all scientists belive homo sapiens and other related modern hominid species came out of Africa not Burma!
MBI Munshi
I had complained on Facebook (where most of the images of massacres of Rohingya's orginally appeared) about the posting of fake photos of atrocities committed against the Rohingya's. It is interesting that Western groups may be behind this campaign but what is the reason for this? Does it have anything to do with the request for a US basing facility in Chittagong for the Seveth Fleet?
Abdul Tsuwamono
lol yhat isn't the real reason those racist are doing it, there doing it becuase this ethnic group are muslims, they kill anyone if they say their muslim.
Vale
You're the racist one here, Abdul.