The “ethnic cleansing” of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, explained

Vox

25 Sept 201705:15

Summary

TLDRThe video script highlights the ongoing humanitarian crisis involving the Rohingya, an ethnic minority in Myanmar, who have been subjected to brutal violence by the military. Since August 2017, about 400,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, escaping what the UN describes as a 'textbook example of ethnic cleansing.' This persecution, rooted in decades of discrimination, has seen villages burned, people killed or raped, and their citizenship stripped. Despite international condemnation, Myanmar's government has downplayed the atrocities, leaving the Rohingya stateless and unable to return home.

Takeaways

🚶 Thousands of Rohingya refugees are fleeing to Bangladesh daily due to violent military attacks in Myanmar.
💣 The Myanmar military has launched a brutal offensive against the Rohingya, killing, raping, and burning villages.
📊 Since August 2017, around 400,000 Rohingya have fled their homes in Rakhine State, creating a massive refugee crisis.
❌ Myanmar has denied access to human rights investigators, making the situation hard to fully assess.
📚 The situation is considered a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, as defined by the UN.
🌍 The Rohingya, a Muslim minority in a Buddhist-majority country, have faced decades of discrimination and violence.
📜 In 1982, Myanmar passed a Citizenship Act, excluding the Rohingya from recognized ethnic groups, making them stateless.
🔥 Repeated military operations, like 'Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation,' have forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh since the 1970s.
💥 The 2017 crisis was sparked by a Rohingya militant attack on Myanmar police, leading to a brutal military retaliation.
🛑 Myanmar’s government, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has largely ignored the atrocities, while reports suggest landmines have been planted to prevent Rohingya from returning.

Q & A

How many Rohingya people have fled their homes in Myanmar's Rakhine State since August 2017?
-Since August 2017, about 400,000 Rohingya men, women, and children have fled their homes in Myanmar's Rakhine State.
What has the United Nations reported about the situation involving the Rohingya in Myanmar?
-The United Nations has reported that the situation appears to be a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, with the military launching attacks on the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in a predominantly Buddhist country.
What is the definition of ethnic cleansing according to the UN?
-The UN defines ethnic cleansing as a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.
Why have the Rohingya been targeted by the Myanmar military?
-The Rohingya have been targeted due to a pattern of discrimination that started over 50 years ago, with the military junta promoting nationalism based on the country's Buddhist identity and singling out the Rohingya as a common enemy.
What historical event contributed to the tensions between the Burmese Buddhist population and the Rohingya?
-Tensions between the Burmese Buddhist population and the Rohingya go back to the Second World War when each group supported opposing sides.
What was the impact of the 1982 Citizenship Act on the Rohingya?
-The 1982 Citizenship Act recognized 135 ethnic groups but did not include the Rohingya, who became stateless people.
What was the immediate cause of the current crisis against Rohingya civilians?
-The immediate cause of the current crisis was an attack on August 25th, 2017, by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army that left 12 police officers dead, which sparked brutal retaliation by state security forces.
How has the Myanmar government responded to the Rohingya crisis?
-The Myanmar government has been accused of systematically driving the Rohingya out of the country, stripping their citizenship, terrorizing them, and destroying their homes.
What has been the reaction of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader, to the Rohingya crisis?
-Aung San Suu Kyi has barely acknowledged the attacks and has downplayed the situation, stating that more than 50% of the villages of Muslims are intact.
What measures has the Myanmar military reportedly taken to prevent the Rohingya from returning?
-The military has reportedly planted landmines along the Bangladesh border to prevent the Rohingya from returning.
What humanitarian crisis has the violent campaign against the Rohingya triggered?
-The violent campaign has triggered the fastest-growing humanitarian crisis in recent years, with a mass exodus of about 400,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh and 210 villages burned to the ground.

Outlines

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🆘 Mass Exodus of Rohingya Refugees

Every day, thousands of Rohingya refugees cross into Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar. Since August 2017, approximately 400,000 Rohingya men, women, and children have fled their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State due to a military crackdown. Reports indicate mass killings, rape, and the burning of Rohingya villages, corroborated by satellite imagery. Despite limited access to human rights investigators, the situation has been labeled as a potential case of ethnic cleansing, a term historically reserved for the gravest atrocities.

⚠️ Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar

Ethnic cleansing, as defined by the UN, is a deliberate policy by one group to violently remove another group from certain areas. Myanmar’s actions fit this description, with its military targeting the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, in a Buddhist-majority country. The violent military campaign has caused tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee to neighboring countries, mainly Bangladesh, in what seems to be a systematic attempt to remove them from Myanmar.

⏳ Historical Discrimination Against the Rohingya

The violence against the Rohingya is part of a long history of discrimination. In 1962, the military took control of Myanmar (then Burma) in a coup, promoting nationalism based on Buddhist identity. The Rohingya were labeled as a threat and became a scapegoat for national unity. Tensions between the Rohingya and the Buddhist population date back to World War II, when the groups sided with opposing forces, with the Rohingya supporting the British and the Buddhists supporting the Japanese.

🔙 Forced Exodus of the Rohingya

The persecution of the Rohingya continued through the decades. Despite their presence in Myanmar since the 15th century, they were increasingly marginalized. In 1978, Operation Dragon King forced around 200,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, with the military using violence and rape to drive them out. Though some returned, in 1982, the government stripped them of citizenship, making them stateless. Subsequent military campaigns, including Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation in 1991, forced further mass migration.

💥 Escalating Violence and Ethnic Cleansing

In 2012, violence escalated further when four Muslim men were accused of raping a Buddhist woman. Backed by security forces, Buddhist nationalists attacked Muslim neighborhoods, burning homes and displacing tens of thousands of Rohingya. Human Rights Watch called it an ethnic cleansing campaign. By then, the Rohingya were already stateless and disenfranchised, further cementing their vulnerable status in Myanmar.

🔫 Rise of Rohingya Militants and Retaliation

In 2016, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army emerged, launching small-scale attacks against Myanmar’s border police. One attack in August 2017, which left 12 police officers dead, triggered the current crisis, with the military launching brutal retaliatory actions. Since then, approximately 400,000 Rohingya have fled, and 210 villages have been destroyed. This violence has led to one of the fastest-growing humanitarian crises in recent years.

🎖️ Silence of Myanmar's Leaders

Myanmar’s de facto leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has faced criticism for her lack of response to the attacks. While she claims that 50% of Muslim villages remain intact, critics argue that the destruction of the other half represents a failure. Further reports suggest that the military has planted landmines along the Bangladesh border to prevent Rohingya refugees from returning, signaling the government’s systematic efforts to permanently remove the Rohingya population.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Refugees

Refugees are individuals who have been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. In the context of the video, thousands of Rohingya people are entering Bangladesh as refugees, fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar.

💡Ethnic Cleansing

Ethnic cleansing refers to the systematic forced removal of an ethnic group from a region by another group. The term is used in the video to describe the violent actions of Myanmar's military against the Rohingya, including killings, rapes, and the burning of villages, which aim to purge the area of this minority group.

💡Rohingya

The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority group native to Myanmar's Rakhine State. They are the focus of the video as they are the victims of the ethnic cleansing campaign by the Myanmar military, which has resulted in a mass exodus to neighboring countries.

💡Myanmar Military

The Myanmar military, also known as the Tatmadaw, is the armed forces of Myanmar. The video discusses their role in perpetrating violence against the Rohingya, which includes attacks, killings, and the burning of villages, as part of a broader campaign of ethnic cleansing.

💡Stateless

Stateless people are individuals who are not recognized as citizens by any country. The Rohingya are described as stateless in the video because Myanmar's government has refused to recognize them as citizens, exacerbating their vulnerability to persecution and violence.

💡Buddhist Nationalism

Buddhist nationalism is a form of nationalism that promotes the interests of the Buddhist majority and can lead to the marginalization of other religious or ethnic groups. In the video, it is mentioned as a factor contributing to the discrimination and persecution of the Rohingya by Myanmar's predominantly Buddhist society.

💡Military Junta

A military junta is a government led by a group of military officers who have seized control of a state. The video refers to Myanmar's past under a military junta, which established a dictatorship and fostered an environment conducive to the persecution of the Rohingya.

💡Citizenship Act of 1982

The Citizenship Act of 1982 is a law in Myanmar that recognized 135 ethnic groups but notably excluded the Rohingya, effectively rendering them stateless. This act is highlighted in the video as a key legislative action that contributed to the Rohingya's lack of legal protection and citizenship rights.

💡Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)

ARSA is a Rohingya militant group that emerged in response to the persecution of the Rohingya people. The video mentions ARSA's attacks on border police stations, which were followed by a brutal retaliation by Myanmar's security forces, escalating the crisis.

💡Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights worldwide. The video cites Human Rights Watch's assessment of the violence against the Rohingya as an ethnic cleansing campaign, underscoring the severity of the situation.

💡Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi is Myanmar's de facto leader and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The video criticizes her for her minimal acknowledgment of the attacks on the Rohingya and her controversial statement about the number of intact Muslim villages in Rakhine State, which downplays the scale of the crisis.

Highlights

Thousands of Rohingya refugees are entering Bangladesh daily due to violence in Myanmar.

The UN reports about 400,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since August 2017.

The Myanmar military is accused of killing, raping, and burning Rohingya villages.

Satellite imagery confirms the destruction of Rohingya villages.

Myanmar has denied access to human rights investigators, hindering a full assessment of the crisis.

The situation is described as a 'textbook example of ethnic cleansing' by the UN.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in a predominantly Buddhist country.

Many Rohingya have fled to Malaysia, Thailand, and Bangladesh.

Discrimination against the Rohingya began over 50 years ago following a military coup in Myanmar.

The Rohingya were singled out as a common enemy to unite the population under military rule.

Tensions between Buddhists and Rohingya date back to World War II.

The government has been forcing Rohingya out, claiming they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Operation Dragon King in 1978 forced 200,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.

The 1982 Citizenship Act left the Rohingya stateless by not recognizing them as one of Myanmar's 135 ethnic groups.

In 1991, 'Operation clean and beautiful nation' led to another 250,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh.

Violence against Rohingya escalated in 2012 after the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman.

The Rohingya are persecuted, disenfranchised, and stateless.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army emerged in 2016, coordinating attacks on border police stations.

An attack in August 2017 sparked a brutal retaliation leading to about 400 deaths and mass displacement.

Since the August attack, 210 villages have been burned to the ground.

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has barely acknowledged the attacks.

The military is accused of planting landmines to prevent Rohingya from returning.

Over the last five decades, Myanmar has systematically driven the Rohingya out of the country.