Responsibility to Protect

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a Southeast Asian nation that has a population of more than 50 million people, most of whom identify as Buddhist. The country is also home to many ethnic and religious minorities. One of these groups is the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim group. The Rohingya have faced systematic discrimination for decades. Despite having lived in Myanmar’s Rakhine State for generations, government officials and social leaders often describe them as “illegal immigrants” and “Bengalis,” a term that implies they are foreigners from Bangladesh. The government stripped Rohingya of citizenship in 1982 and still does not recognize them as one of the country’s 135 official ethnic groups. As a result, the Rohingya have few rights and are considered stateless.

Since the end of British colonial rule in the 1940s, Myanmar has been run by the military. Beginning in 2010, the country experienced a period of democratization. This led to the election of “pro-democracy” Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. In 2015, she was appointed to the office of State Counsellor (a role equivalent to prime minister).

In August 2017, a genocide occurred in Myanmar, largely perpetrated by the military. This campaign against the Rohingya people included widespread violence, sexual assault, and imprisonment. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fled to neighboring countries to avoid being murdered.

On August 25, 2017, a Rohingya militant group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked police outposts in Rakhine State. According to official government accounts, twelve police officers were killed in the attacks. The military of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, and security forces retaliated against entire Rohingya villages in what they called “clearance operations.” These were part of a systematic campaign that the former United Nations human rights top official called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

Although its stated target was ARSA, the army murdered men, women, and children. Soldiers–with voluntary support from civilians–also conducted a widespread campaign of rape and pillage, including burning entire Rohingya villages to the ground.

While the Burmese military claims that the ARSA attacks were the reason for its violent actions against the Rohingya, evidence indicates that preparation began at least a year earlier. According to Fortify Rights, an organization investigating the genocide, prior to the campaign the Tatmadaw:

Disarmed Rohingya civilians, including confiscating kitchen tools that could be used for self-defense;

Forced humanitarian organizations to withdraw from Rakhine State;

Provided military-style training to non-Rohingya civilians; and

Tore down fences and other structures that would provide cover for Rohingya during an attack.

As a result of the violence in Rakhine State, more than 730,000 Rohingya fled from Myanmar. Most ended up in refugee camps across the border in neighboring Bangladesh, but many thousands died trying to escape.

Following the violence in August 2017, the UN Security Council called on Myanmar to ensure the safety and security of all people in its territory, including minority groups like the Rohingya. Member States pushed for increased humanitarian access to Rakhine State as well as a plan for the safe return of refugees from Bangladesh. In a meeting of the Security Council in September 2017, a representative from Myanmar stated that, “there is no ethnic cleansing or genocide in Myanmar. Ethnic cleansing and genocide are serious charges that should not be made lightly.” In the months following the atrocities, few countries labeled the events as “genocide.”

In 2017–even before the last large-scale genocidal campaign–the United Nations Human Rights Council established a fact-finding mission for Myanmar to investigate what was happening in Rakhine State. In September 2018, the fact-finding mission released its report. The report stated that there was evidence of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Myanmar. The fact-finding mission recommended that senior generals of the Tatmadaw be prosecuted for these crimes at an international criminal tribunal.

As of January 2022, there are more than 920,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh. Some genocide survivors would like to return to Myanmar, but without assurance that they will be granted safety and full citizenship, they choose to stay in Bangladesh. Nearly all of the refugees who fled Myanmar remain in refugee camps. To complicate the situation further, the military once again took control of Myanmar in February 2021, deposing the country’s democratically-elected leadership. The new regime arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and sentenced her to several years in prison.

ARSA: Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a Rohingya insurgent group

Bengali: a person from Bangladesh

clearance operations: term used by Burmese state to describe its violent August 2017 campaign

Cox’s Bazar: area of Bangladesh and site of Kutupalong refugee camp, the largest refugee camp in the world

extrajudicial: without our outside of a legal process

National Verification Process: process in Myanmar through which Rohingya would receive new identification cards. In order to receive a new card, however, Rohingyas must state that they are foreigners from Bangladesh

Rakhine State: a state on the western coast of Myanmar. Rakhine State was home to the majority of Myanmar’s Rohingya population.

repatriation: the return of someone to their country

Rohingya (Row-hing-guh): a stateless ethnic group, most of which are Muslim, that live in Myanmar

Suu Kyi, Aung San (ow san soo chee): a Burmese politician and 1991 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar from 2016-2011. She was arrested during the 2021 military coup in Myanmar.

Tatmadaw: the armed forces of Myanmar