ely recommended creating conditions that are beneficial to the Rohingya people’s safe and sustainable return will require whole of society engagement. These include lifting restrictions on freedom of movement, reconfirming that internally displaced Rohingya can return to their own villages and providing a clear pathway towards citizenship.
Timeline of the crisis
After the first Anglo-Burmese War, the British incorporated the Arakan (Rakhine) region into their empire. During the British colonial rule, they encouraged tens of thousands of Bengali migrants to move to Arakan to work as migrant labourers.
During the British colonial rule, they encouraged tens of thousands of Bengali migrants to move to underpopulated Arakan to work as migrant labourers. This is one of the main examples the Myanmar government uses to justify barring the Rohingya from becoming citizens – they claim the Rohingya are not native, but the product of British colonialism.
A wave of anti-Indian and anti-Muslim riots across Rangoon (Yangon) and other major cities broke out, leaving 204 dead. Throughout the British rule, the various ethnic groups, including the Rohingya, were pitted against each other through the ‘divide and rule’ policy.
During the Campaign in Burma, the Rohingya fought alongside the British while the Burman and Rakhine ethnic groups sided with the Japanese. This caused anti-Rohingya sentiments across the country.
After over a century of colonial rule, Burma gained their independence. Under the 1948 Union Citizenship Act that was passed on the same day, the Rohingya were not recognized as one of the “indigenous races of Burma.”
Upon a successful military takeover, the country’s constitution was purged and a military junta was established. The military promoted nationalism based on the country’s Buddhist identity and classified the Rohingya as the common enemy to unite the rest of the nation.
In 1978, the Burmese government embarked on an ethnic cleansing campaign called Operation Naga Min (Dragon King) against “illegal immigrants.” They particularly targeted the Rohingya, who they referred to as illegal Bengali immigrants, subjecting them to rape, murder, and arbitrary arrest. Months later, after an agreement with Bangladesh, 180,000 Rohingya were repatriated to Burma.
The 1982 Citizenship Law stripped the rights of most Rohingya, effectively rendering them stateless.
The Tatmadaw (Myanmar Military Forces) engaged in another ethnic cleansing campaign in December, 1991 called Operation Pyi Thaya (Clean and Beautiful Nation) to expel so-called “foreigners” in northern Rakhine State. Between 200,000 and 250,000 Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh.
Three Rohingya individuals were accused of allegedly raping and killing a Rakhine Buddhist girl. That month, Buddhist mobs initiated retaliatory violence against the Rohingya, leaving 98 dead.
Religious violence in Rakhine State left over two hundred Rohingya dead and close to 150,000 homeless.
Radical Buddhist monks instigated anti-Muslim riots and campaigns across the country, leaving dozens dead.
By April 2013, tens of thousands of Rohingya fled or lost their homes. While many remained displaced within Myanmar, thousands crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh.
A constitutional referendum allowed the Myanmar government to eradicate Rohingya identification cards and revoke their right to vote.
Between January and May of 2015, an estimated 30,000 Rohingya refugees fled Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat, attempting to seek refuge in neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. Many nearby countries refused their entry, leaving 8,000 stranded at sea.
Assaults on border guards and Myanmar officials in the Rakhine State left nine police officers killed. A military crackdown ensued, which sent an estimated 87,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh.
In an interview with the BBC, Aung San Suu Kyi said “I don’t think there is ethnic cleansing going on…I think ethnic cleansing is too strong an expression to use for what is happening.”
ARSA attacks on at least 20 police outposts killed 12 security officers led to mili