Originally published on the CGS blog on October 2, 2013.
In the country of Burma, a minority Muslim ethnic group –the Rohingya– is facing extinction at the hands of the Buddhist Burmese majority. The Rohingya have long been discriminated against in Burma, by government laws and policies, hate speech, and religious conflict. According to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Rohingya have no legal status in Burma and as many as 100,000 have been displaced in recent years. A statement put out by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum explains the situation occurring in Burma and that something must be done to stop the genocidee.
The U.N. claims Rohingya are victims of crimes against humanity. They purposefully denied goods and services and many are relegated to internment camps. Foreign aid and assistance is not allowed to reach the Rohingya either. The anti-Muslim rhetoric in Burma is vitriolic and even the democracy movement in Burma has been eerily silent about the Rohingya. The Holocaust Museum is right; action must be taken to stop the ethnic cleansing. The U.N. used force to end the genocide in Yugoslavia but, then nothing was done to stop Rwanda. The U.N. and its members must work together to prevent Burma from becoming another Rwanda.
Burma is a difficult country to confront. It has been governed by a military junta for many years that has only recently loosened its grip. This loosening was clearly shown with the elect of Aung San Suu Kyi to the Burmese Parliament. The Burmese government said it would address the Rohingya situation but its lack of action has indicated otherwise. The crime of genocide is not something that Burma can claim is an internal matter and the international community should not interfere. Rather, the international community has an obligation to step in and halt any instances of ethnic cleansing or genocide. The question is, does any government have the political will to do so. Very few wanted to intervene in Syria, the U.S. is dealing with a shutdown, and many other countries are facing financial and economic issues. But if some action is not taken by the international community, the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya may slip through the cracks and continue unabated, becoming just another unfortunate, bloody footnote in history.
