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Conflict in Rakhine State in Myanmar : Rohingya Muslims’ Conundrum
Nehginpao Kipgen – O.P. Jindal Global University, Delhi, India. Published online: 03 Jul 2013.
The simmering tension between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Western Myanmar escalated in 2012 to a violent conflict, first in June and erupted again in October of that year. The violence led to the loss of over a hundred lives, destruction of thousands of homes and displacement of thousands of people. The central government intervened to end the bloodshed but tension continues to linger.
The article argues that despite the government’s plan to undertake several programs to address the ramifications of the 2012 violence and its attempt to prevent the violence from happening again, the remedial measures are unlikely to sustain without any political solution. Convocational democracy, where elites form a stable democratic government in a fragmented society, is suggested to address the conundrum. However, before convocational model can be adopted, the status of Rohingyas needs to be studied and addressed constitutionally. And eligible individuals should be entitled to full citizenship rights like any other Myanmar citizens. For that to happen, Rakhines and Rohingyas should be willing to compromise on their differences by recognizing and respecting each other’s identity and culture. More importantly, the Myanmar government and the general public must be ready to embrace the Rohingya population if any genuine reconciliation is to be realized.
The international community has shown great interest in the Rohingya1 Muslims problem, especially in the aftermath of the violence in June and October 2012. While scores of writers in international media have focused on the subjectivity of the conflict, there are academics and policy-makers pondering what could be done to achieve long-term solutions to the inherent problem. Myanmar has experienced myriad ethnic conflicts since its independence from the British in January 1948, but what makes the Rohingya problem unique and why has it caught the attention of the wider international community? Is it because the Rohingya Muslims are less fortunate community than the other groups or is it because they are distinctive?
This article attempts to understand the nature of conflict between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine9 Buddhists of Rakhine state in the Western part of Myanmar in 2012. The violent conflict first started in June, and seemingly subsided for three months, but later erupted again in October. While the two groups blamed each other for inciting the violence, they could not find a mutually acceptable peaceful solution among themselves. The Rohingyas accused the Rakhine state government and the central government of deliberately attempting to eliminate their population and termed the violence as state sponsored ethnic cleansing. The central government denied such allegations, but failed to produce a concrete plan for long-term solutions. In this article, I attempt to explain the underlying factors causing such mayhem and argue that consociational democracy should be pursued to achieve long-term solutions to the problem.
However, I must be clear here that consociational democracy cannot work effectively or may even be irrelevant without first addressing the Rohingyas’ citizenship and identity problems. In order to understand the nature of violence in 2012, I will briefly discuss the historical context of the problem. I will then analyze the policies of the Myanmar government toward the issue, and discuss the general perception of the Myanmar people toward the conflict. I will also study the reactions of international community vis-à-vis the Rohingya conundrum. After presenting the different perspectives, I will discuss why I believe consociational democracy is the ideal approach to solve the problem.
The Rohingya Conundrum — Rohingya is a controversial terminology in Myanmar. The problem lies in the nomenclature itself. Though they call themselves Rohingya, the term which is also widely used by the international community including the United Nations, the Myanmar government and the overwhelming population of Myanmar call them illegal Bengali migrants from neighboring Bangladesh. The fact is that Rohingya is not included among the 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar recognized by the government. According to the 1982 citizenship law, there are three categories of citizenship: citizen, associate citizen and naturalized citizen. Citizens are descendants of residents who lived in Burma prior to 1823 or were born to parents both of whom were citizens. Associate citizens are those who acquired citizenship through the 1948 Union Citizenship Act. Naturalized citizens are persons who lived in Burma before 4 January 1948 and applied for citizenship after 1982. The historical origin of Rohingya Muslims is also a controversial subject.
Some claim that Rohingyas have lived in Myanmar for centuries and they are the descendants of Muslim Arabs, Moors, Persians, Turks, Mughals and Bengalis who came mostly as traders, warriors and saints through overland and sea-route. On the other hand, the general perception of the Myanmar people is that Rohingyas are Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh. It must be noted here that there are other Muslims across Myanmar who are not Rohingyas. Since the focus of this article is the violent conflict in 2012, I will not delve further into the historical debates about the origin of the people in question.
The tension between Rohingya and Rakhine in 2012 started off with a rape and murder of a Rakhine woman on 28 May. The May incident was followed by a retaliatory killing of 10 Muslims by a mob of Rakhine on 3 June. Though it culminated in 2012, the simmering tension between the two groups has existed for the past several decades.13 For example, the exodus of Muslims occurred during the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) military government in 1978. Describing the incident in his 1978 article Refugees from Burma, Anand writes:
Over 200,000 refugees from Burma have crossed over to Bangladesh during the past two months. Most of them have been housed in about 300 tented camps along the border. The Burmese authorities have been accused of persecution, torture, harassment and excesses against Muslim residents of the Arakan state. Refugees allege that they have been fleeing from “atrocities” committed by the Burmese Army and immigrant officials and that the Muslim minority in Arakan is being driven out deliberately.
In 1977, the Muslim population was concentrated in two townships in Arakan (now known as Rakhine) state close to the Bangladesh border, with 90% in Maungdaw and 80% in Buthidaung where the local Arakan population was reduced to a minority. As of 31 May 1977, there were 212,104 Muslims and 22,963 professing other religious faiths in Maungdaw and 140,641 Muslims and 24,562 others in Buthidaung. The towns of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung and Kyauktaw were the main entry points of “illegal immigrants” from across the Bangladesh border. As there has not been any official census in Myanmar since 1983, the precise distribution of population in Rakhine state cannot be ascertained. However, it is estimated that there are approximately 800,000 Rohingyas in Myanmar and another 300,000 in Bangladesh. Another exodus of Muslim population into Bangladesh occurred in 1991 – 1992 during the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military government.19 Despite their dire situation in Bangladesh, the refugees were unwilling to return to Myanmar voluntarily.
