INTRODUCTION: Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority group, who live in

Rakhine state, Myanmar. Under the Myanmar Nationality law 1982, they were denied
citizenship rights. Thus, they become stateless. In 2017–2018, most of the Rohingya
population of Myanmar took refuge in Bangladesh.

ROHINGYA MUSLIMS-
Legal Status of the Rohingya-
The government refuses to grant the Rohingya citizenship, and as a result most of the
group’s members have no legal documentation, effectively making them stateless.
Myanmar’s 1948 citizenship law which was based on race was already exclusionary,
and the military, which seized power in 1962, introduced another law twenty years
later that stripped the Rohingya of access to full citizenship. Moreover, under pressure
from Buddhist nationalists protesting the Rohingya’s right to vote in a 2015
constitutional referendum, President Thein Sein canceled the temporary identity cards
in February 2015, effectively revoking their newly gained right to vote. In recent
years, the government has forced Rohingya to start carrying national verification
cards that effectively identify them as foreigners and do not grant them citizenship.
Reasons for exodus- During the early 1970’s a string of repressing events started
by the Myanmar government in Rakhine state. But after the killings of border police
in October 2016, the Myanmar government blamed that an armed Rohingya group
was the culprit and began a more severe security crackdown on villages where
Rohingya lived.
In order to wipe out the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army(ASRA), who was
responsible for the October attack, “Clearance operation” was launched. Because of
which Rohingya people had to suffer a lot and a number of incidents of abuse, death
of innocent people were reported and youth was forcefully taken away for questioning
followed by military attack. All these factors led the Rohingya people to flee to other
places.
Response to the Crisis-
Regional Response- The government of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Laureate,
has struggled with ethnic tensions in Rakhine state since coming to power in 2016.
Although Suu Kyi has no real power to overrule military operations against the
Rohingya, her silence and accusations against aid groups as being complicit in the
violence are reprehensible. As a result, there have been numerous calls for Aung San
Suu Kyi to return her Nobel Peace Prize but such demands are symbolic, ignore
Myanmar’s domestic political reality and would do nothing for the Rohingya.
India has announced it will deport 40,000 Rohingya who have fled to India for
asylum.
Similarly, Bangladesh, which has long been a haven for persecuted Rohingya,
housing 400,000, has been pushing Rohingya back into Myanmar. The actions of
India and Bangladesh are in clear violation of international law.
International Response- In November 2019, Gambia, on behalf of the fifty-
seven-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, filed the first international lawsuit
against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice, accusing the country of
violating the UN Genocide Convention. The court unanimously ruled in January 2020
that Myanmar must take emergency measures to protect Rohingya from violence and
preserve evidence of possible genocide.
In December 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama lifted sanctions against Myanmar,
saying it had made strides in improving human rights. A year later, under President
Donald J. Trump, new U.S. sanctions were imposed on a Myanmar general for his
alleged role in the military’s attacks in Rakhine.
Meanwhile, many countries, including the United States, Canada, Norway, and South
Korea, as well as international donors, have upped their humanitarian assistance.
Advocacy groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Arakan
Project, and Fortify Rights continue to appeal for international pressure on
Myanmar’s government.
On November 19, 2020, the United Nations has adopted a resolution on “The
Situation of Human Rights of the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in
Myanmar” while Bangladesh seeks a peaceful solution to the Rohingya crisis. The
Resolution called for taking concrete actions by Myanmar to address the root causes
of the Rohingya crisis, i.e. granting them citizenship, ensuring the safe and sustainable
return of the Rohingyas to their homes by creating a conducive environment.
ROHINGYA CRISIS IN 2021- In 2021, this humanitarian emergency has
entered its fifth year, with the global pandemic further complicating an already-
complex situation.
Without recognition as citizens or permanent residents of the country, the Rohingya
have limited access to education, jobs, and health services, resulting in chronic
poverty and marginalization.
The realities of COVID-19 have further complicated matters. Early lockdowns in
Bangladesh meant that most local camp volunteers were forced to stay at home,
leaving the camps with a reduced number of staff and resources.
International talks over the return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar have taken place
over the last three years. A proposal to relocate an estimated 100,000 Rohingya
refugees in Cox’s Bazar to the island of Bhasan Char (which, like much of
Bangladesh, is especially vulnerable to rising sea levels) went into effect in December
2020. So far, 1,600 people have been relocated.
A massive fire broke out in Kutupalong Balukhali, the world’s largest refugee camps,
in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on the 22 March 2021. The fire destroyed and damaged
over 12,000 shelters made of highly flammable bamboo and tarpaulin. More than
61,000 Rohingya refugees and host community were affected by the fire.
CONCLUSION- The international community must adopt a two-pronged
approach to assisting the Rohingya.
Firstly, punitive measures, such as sanctions. Secondly, the international community
must take immediate action to alleviate the suffering of the Rohingya people by
providing humanitarian relief and proactively assisting the Rohingya in seeking
asylum.
In the end it won’t be wrong to say that Rohingyas are an unfortunate set of stateless
people, stuck in a terrible crisis with no place to call home. If a long-term solution is
not reached, the spillover effect of this crisis will have to be faced by all the
neighboring nations of Myanmar.