Plight and Fight: A Cursory Look on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis

 

Image by: BBC News

"The Rohingya issue should be seen in humanitarian crisis rather than an issue of religious belief."

In Myanmar, Rohingya is an ethnic minority group who, despite living for many generations, is not recognized as an official ethnic group and have been numerously denied the right of citizenship since 1982, making them hold the title of the "world's largest stateless population". But despite their decades of suffering from inequality, violence, discrimination, and persecution in Myanmar, their largest trial and exodus happened in August of 2017 after a massive attack of violence came pouring out from all directions in Myanmar's state — causing a large number of its people to seek refuge.

In 1982 after Myanmar's independence from Britain, a new citizenship law was passed, rendering the Rohingya stateless, and this law is called the "Union Citizenship Act". The Rohingya is an ethnic group, the majority of whom are Muslim, and have lived for centuries in the majority of Buddhist Myanmar. Discriminatory policies of Myanmar’s government since the late 1970s have compelled hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya to flee their homes.

The government of Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country and since Rohingya are Muslims, they are denied citizenship and even excluded from the 2014 census; refusing to not only recognize them as citizens but as well as refusing to view them as a human. It portrayed them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh which is why they are obviously and openly discriminated against by their own country. In Myanmar, practicing the Rohingya's religious freedom will lead to being discriminated against since they are living in a country that practices Buddhism. This is why the former head of the nation, Aung San Suu Kyi, is facing allegations that she has failed to address and speak out about violence against the Rohingyas during her term. 

Image by: TIME

The Rohingyas are still facing such predicaments even up to this day, and as a citizen of another nation, one can't help but wish for the best for the majority of Rohingyas. Their crisis is more than just a religious debacle, but rather a humanitarian problem of national concern. But still... whether we like it or not, we are still spectators of this issue as we are not directly involved with Myanmar's national concerns. And although many people from all over the world expressed their willingness to help, it would still be difficult to unite a fractured Myanmar if their own country would remain motionless and tone-deaf towards the issue happening in their land; as they say, it takes two to tango. 

Reference Used:

BBC News. (2020). Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know about the crisis. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41566561