Description:
Abstract: "Migration is not the new thing in the world today. The first wave of the migration happe
ned as the
aftermath of the World War I and the World War II. The existent of the Rohingya in Myanmar is
considered as one of the results from British colonial rule. The Rohingyas are Muslims in Rakhine
State in Myanmar who claimed that they have been livi
ng in the area for generations. Literally, the
history of Muslims in Arakan could date back to the 15
th
century; however, the Muslims were
called Chiitagonian or Bengali until the term ?Rohingya” came into use for the first time in 1951
by a Muslim intelle
ctual from Mayu Frontier Administration (MFA) in Rakhine State. The
Muslim and Buddhist Arakanese have never been in a good relation since the ancient time. A
remarkable crack of the relationship could be seen from the fight during the WWII. At that time,
Muslims served the British as Vonlunteer force while Buddhist Arakanese supported the Japanese.
They had no choice but fought each other which leaded to the later violence even after the war
ended.
The beginning of the establishment of new states, Myanmar
, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, allowed
Rohingya to choose where they belong. However, they chose nothing. They expected to have their
own territory from the British during the establishment process. Although the British did not give
them land, the Rohingya su
ccesfully lobbied U Nu, the first Prime Minister of Myanmar, that they
only wanted the MFA which covers Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and the western part of Rathedaung.
The MFA was still a part of the Union of Myanmar. Everything would fall into place if U Nu was
not revolted by the General Ne Win in 1962. He revoked all compromising policies toward ethnic
groups, the minority in Myanmar. Moreover, the Citizenship Law was enforced in 1982 to screen
out aliens according to the consideration of the Burmese governmen
t.
The relationship between Muslim and Buddhist Arakanese in Rakhine was completely broken in
2012 when a Buddhist women was raped and murdered by three Muslims. The incident had
become viral which led to the revenge by Buddhist Arakanese resulting in the
death of 10 Muslims.
Since then, the rights of the Rohingya has been violated and the discrimination in Rakhine State
has become more and more severe which led to the migration of the Rohingya to Thailand"
Source/publisher:
Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Science
Date of Publication:
2016-00-00
Date of entry:
2017-10-28
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English