This Point of Entry examines the history of discrimination against the Rohingya in Myanmar based on their status as a religious minority in the country.
Buddhism and State Power in Myanmar
The International Crisis Group (ICG)
2017
This report examines the role of Buddhism in Myanmar’s political and social structure and makes recommendations for addressing its extreme expressions as observed in state-sanctioned violence against the Muslim Rohingya population.
The Ethnic Minority Question and Rohingya Crisis in Contemporary Myanmar
Kunal Mukherjee
2019
This paper explores the historical context sparking ethnic cleavages which in turn have led to the current humanitarian crisis. Namely, British colonial policies which favored minority groups while simultaneously dismantling traditional institutions in the core and isolating ethnic minorities to peripheral regions. Xenophobic tendencies were amplified with the rise of authoritarian regimes and efforts by Burman politicians using Buddhism as a means to gain power.
The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar’s Hidden Genocide
Azeem Ibrahim
2016
Ibrahim analyzes what he terms “the logic of genocide” that has faced the Rohingya over the last half-century and examines the predominant understanding put forward by government officials in Myanmar that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. He underscores the need for the international community to play an active role in protecting vulnerable groups like the Rohingya by drawing lessons from genocides of the twenty-first century.
The Slow-Burning Genocide of Myanmar’s Rohingya
Maung Zarni and Alice Cowley
2014
This article addresses the longer history of state-sponsored persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar, starting with the first large-scale campaign initiated by General Ne Win’s military dictatorship in 1978. This campaign sought first to expel the Rohingya from the western part of the country and then passed legislation that erased Rohingya group identity and justified their displacement.
The Rohingya of Myanmar: Theoretical Significance of the Minority Status
Jobair Alam
2018
Alam focuses on the minority status of the Rohingya in Myanmar as a key factor in their persecution and shows how this identity has been constructed over time
