Rohingya Refugees to Bangladesh: Historical Exclusions and Contemporary Marginalization

Abstract

Rohingya refugees from the Arakan state of Myanmar found their ways a number of times to Bangladesh to escape state-sponsored persecution. While there is no dearth of studies on refugees, Rohingya has so far received very little research attention. This article tries to understand the dynamics and severity of reported humiliation by the government on the Rohingya population, and how are they marginalized in their destination points. A qualitatively and quantitatively designed questionnaire was used to interview 134 refugees from two existing camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses reinforce that the level of abuse and persecution perpetrated upon them surpass all human rights standards. This was confirmed by both the in-depth and the case studies. These people were forced out by state-sponsored persecution and again they are forced to be repatriated due to the fact that Bangladesh cannot afford to welcome them back.

KEYWORDS:

• Rohingya
• refugee
• Arakan
• Myanmar
• Bangladesh

Notes

I am aware that this term might not be accepted to many given the history. However, this country is now known as Myanmar.

The ethnic composition is: Burman (68%), Shan (9%), Karen (7%), Rakhine (4%), Chinese (3%), Indian (2%), Mon (2%), and other (5%), while the religious cohabitation is: Buddhist (89%), Christian (4%; Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim (4%), animist (1%), and other (2%; CIA, 2006).

NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was imprisoned in May 2003 and is currently under house arrest. In November 2005, the junta announced it was extending her detention for at least another 6 months (CIA, 2006).

As large as 450,000 (HRW, 1997).

ILO banned the Burmese government from participating in its activities or benefiting from its technical assistance until it takes positive action in response to the commission's recommendations (ILO, 1999). These included immediate cessation of the use of forced labor and abrogation of those sections of the Village Act and Towns Act under which it is legally sanctioned.

The 1982 Burma Citizenship Law, promulgated not long after the mass return of Rohingya who fled in 1978, distinguishes between three categories of citizenship: citizenship, associate citizenship, and naturalized citizenship. A person is issued a color-coded Citizenship Scrutiny Card consistent with his or her citizenship status—pink, blue, and green respectively (HRW, 1996).

Kachin, Kayah, Karenni, Karen, Chin, Burman, Mon, Rakhine, Shan, Kaman, or Zerbadee.

Human rights organizations ordered the Burmese government to repeal the 1982 Citizenship Law or else amend it in accordance with the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar and to grant Rohingya full citizenship and accompanying rights (HRW, 1997). The UN special rapporteur called on the Burmese government to “abolish its burdensome requirements for citizens in a manner which has discriminatory effects on racial or ethnic minorities” (Yokota, 1993, pp. 156–167). Provisions in the 1982 law perpetuate the Rohingya citizenship crisis by denying Burmese citizenship to children born to those considered noncitizens.

The Rohingya language, a dialect related to Chittagonian, is not one.

It is a well-established principle of international law that any person who is lawfully in the territory of a state should enjoy the right to freedom of movement and residence within that state. This principle is enshrined in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Bangladesh (193 km), China (2,185 km), India (1,463 km), Laos (235 km), and Thailand (1,800 km).

The Rohingya Muslims are predominantly concentrated in the northern part of Rakhine State (Arakan), numbering approximately 1.4 million, almost half the state's total population. During its days as an independent kingdom until 1784, Arakan encompassed at times the Chittagong region in the southern part of today's Bangladesh (Médecins Sans Frontières-Holland, March 2002, p. 9).

Now known as Arakan Road.

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma.

The GOB and UNHCR have continued negotiations with the GOUM to increase the number of returnees, as well as the frequency of repatriation. In January 2000, the GOUM agreed to accept the repatriation of incomplete families with missing family member(s) on the day of repatriation. However, the implementation of this arrangement has also been ineffective owing to continuing restrictions imposed by the authorities in Myanmar (Yegor, 1972).