Religious Persecution: The Persecution of Rohingya Community

I. Introduction

The historic data reveals that the religions were formed and implemented for people to find good in oneself and which can paramount humanity over any other belief. Society has now been divided into religious sects and the religion is placed above and all beliefs. Compassion for humans is replaced by religious judgment. The cons for which the religion was formed now is set as a drawback for the same. The suppression led people to form their religion and beliefs with people who have a similar linguistic approach.

The result of too many religions is now the major issue of the society because the minority suppression and their persecution is the debatable issue worldwide. But what led these minorities’ religions to get persecuted? The reason behind is the lack of check and balance system and due to ignorance, the alleged caretakers of this religion turn out to be mass destructor. The destruction was done by spreading hatred for the other religion and making their religion as the superficial and above all.

The most debatable is the Rohingyas issue in the 21st century. The community facing the statelessness and no other states are accepting them as their citizens. The community suffered genocide alleging to be organized by their State government. They are declared as the criminal in most of the state where they are sheltered in the refugees’ camps. Though there are shreds of evidence of them being involved in criminal activities, no state wants to come forward to stretch a helping hand.

II. Rohingyas history

The Rohingyas are the Indo-Aryan Muslims who are the aboriginal of the Rakhine state in Myanmar also known as Arakan. This ethnic group settled in Myanmar since the 15th century, through immigration in the pre-colonial and colonial era. The reason behind their persecution is the Second World War. Burma allied with Japan and the Rohingyas joined Britishers, who promised a separate state to the Rohingyas. After the war ended, Myanmar established as the Buddhist state, declining the citizenship to the Rohingyas.

The discrimination was compared to apartheid worldwide. The alleged leaders of the Rohingyas committee fought against the independent government of Myanmar for seceding the northern Arakan, where the majority of the Rohingyas were settled to annex it with East Pakistan which is present-day Bangladesh. Though by the end of 1961, the alleged leaders of the Rohingyas surrendered to the government.

The separatist movement was started by the Rohingyas due to the decline of the citizenship rights forming the Rohingyas Liberation Party. The movement was started by the people who were influenced by the Rohingyas mujahidin’s, who were the alleged leader of the Rohingyas community. They started spreading the agenda of religious activism and the demanded independent Rohingyas state. The government of Myanmar started the operation, where they aimed at removing these insurgents from the Arakan. The situation arose where thousands of Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh as refugees.

In the year 1982, the Myanmar government implement the Citizenship Act where they did not add Rohingyas for the grant of citizenship. The decision of the government created immense chaos making Rohingyas stateless. The Rohingya Muslims were targeted and they were stated as the intruder in the land where they had the maximum population. The state of Burma was renamed as Myanmar and Arakan were renamed as Rakhine which showed state biased behaviour towards the Rakhine community, as the Rakhine Buddhist would overpower the state religion. This became the worldwide issue as the Rohingyas started to flee towards there Border States to seek shelter in the refugee camp.

In the year 2012, the major conflict started between the Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslims. The issue between two communities became severe and the Rohingyas Muslim community allied the Rakhine Muslims in the north and ethnic groups of the Rakhine Muslims from the south. The Buddhist feared that they might become minorities in their state. The riots were fired when a Rakhine Buddhist woman was gang-raped by the Rohingyas, in that rage ten Muslims were killed by the Burmese. This incident became the major reason behind the hatred between the two communities.

The social destruction and the Rohingyas statelessness made the issue international. The genocide of the Rohingyas was alleged to be organized by the government, though the government never accepted it. The Myanmar government provided shelter to the people indulge in the happening of the genocide by providing them food and weapons and no action was taken against them by the state till now. These material facts made the world believe that the government planned the genocide of the Rohingyas.

Rohingyas were the victims of the atrocities and the genocide. The Myanmar government, declining them citizenship stating them intruders, though it was done to protect the state from being parted. But the result of this was that one community became stateless. They lived in the refugee camp without any government facilities. The Rohingyas are called as the boat people. They illegally enter into different countries by waterways. They have largely settled as refugees in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and other neighboring countries. The Rohingyas are being accused of killing and attacking armed forces to cross the border.

III. Rohingyas crisis

The World Bank stated that Rakhine is the least developed city with minimal employment and less economic source. The disputed area has never looked for the betterment. Moreover, the discrimination against the Rohingyas is more looked upon. The ethnic group faces restrictions in marriage, having children, education, religious choices. Their statelessness has barred them all the rights to live in society. The shelter hoes provided to them lack necessities and their children are born in poverty to suffer malnutrition. Their poverty makes them do criminal activities for the sake of money. The community has been accused by the political faces who use them for all their illegal works.

In 2017, Rohingyas were accused of attacking police and armed personnel. The militant group called as Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army accepted that the act was done by them and therefore they were declared as the terrorist group by the government of Myanmar. This led military to destroy hundreds of Rohingyas villages forcing them to leave Myanmar. The military open fired on the civilians and attacked Rohingyas crossing the borders. The country faced large criticism for the failure of the socio-political system due to rigid ideology.

After the long criticism, the Myanmar government claimed that in 2018 they started the project for the development of Rakhine state and would also repatriate the refugees. But the activist in the state claims that the fact of development being true but is done for the rehabilitation of other civilians of the Rakhine.² The Rohingyas were never granted citizenship of the Myanmar and nor they have any proper documentation to prove their identity. This major drawback would affect their repatriation in their state and also in the shelter states.

The community was allowed the right to vote through white cards allotted to them in the 1990s which was also taken away by 2015. In the year 2014 United Nation census stated that Muslims were allowed to register as Rohingyas but when the government was threatened by the Buddhists, then the government passed the statement that Rohingyas can only register if they are recognized as Bengalis.³The community faced religious persecution and they became stateless in large numbers.

Now, if the ethical grounds and moral ideologies are taken into account from the side of the Rohingyas community, the inference can be drawn that due to some alleged leaders and the community influencers the whole community is stateless. The shelter provided to them as the refugees is of no benefit as they have no rights and facilities. It is morally wrong on the part of the state government to make the whole community suffer. But if the same ideology is inferred from the side of the state, the states cannot allow the criminals in their territory as they are the peace destructor.

IV. India’s Stand on the Issue of Rohingyas

India has always been a shelter home for refugees from different countries. India itself is facing the issue of Rohingyas by an increase in its population. From Myanmar, they fled to Bangladesh and from Bangladesh to India. They have illegally occupied the border territories and now they are seeking rights from the nations where they are settled in the refugee camps. India has though taken measures to restrict the entry of Rohingyas Muslims in the territory but the Supreme Court has asked the Government to maintain the equilibrium between the concern on the humanitarian grounds for the living condition of the Rohingyas and also the security and internal affairs.

In 2013, a writ petition was filed under Article 32 in the Supreme Court by the registered Rohingya under United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for the protection against arbitrary deportation of the Rohingya Muslims, stating the rights guaranteed under Article 14 and 21 along with Article 51(c) and others getting influenced by the act filed the petition on the grounds of international human rights convention. The issue was highlighted when in 2017, the Union Ministry held that Rohingyas are the illegal immigrants and are a threat to Indian security.⁴

The present Indian government wants Rohingyas refugees to deport back to their place. The increase in their population seems to be a threat to the country as most of them get to indulge in criminal activities. The issue of national security is of paramount importance. The pressure is built on the United Nations stating it as the international issue and the statelessness of a large number of the people. The absence of documentation makes it more difficult and is a hidden threat to the Indian States. The United nation is answerable to delay in the decision making and their rehabilitation.

India itself is facing an internal crisis. There are refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Srilanka, Tibet who are seeking shelter in India for ages. The rate of unemployment has increased and the population count is increasing. Therefore, tackling Rohingyas would also create a great risk in other areas of interest. The ideology behind decline the rights to the refugees and their settlement is their increased number. There are around about sixteen thousand Rohingyas who are registered assessing them with rights and lands that would not only create internal conflict but also damage our relations with Myanmar. They are though used by the politicians to fulfill their corrupt agenda. They have intruded in the roots of India and now it is becoming difficult to manage the chaos created by them.

After passing the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 the government alleges that the Ahmediyas and Rohingyas are not barred from seeking citizenship. They can still seek Indian citizenship through the process of naturalization (if they enter with valid travel documents) mentioned in the Citizenship Amendment Act, 1955 as India is bound by the principle of non-refoulment (even without acceding to the Refugee Convention 1951).

In case Mohammad Salimullah v. Union of India⁵, the Supreme Court has to review whether the Union government can deport back to Rohingyas back to their state where they faced religious persecution. The case is still pending before the Supreme Court.

V. International Approach

The United Nations formed a nine-member committee headed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to resolve the ongoing issue. The report was submitted in 2017 stating that the communal tension must be reduced and more important to be given to the development of the impoverished state. However, ASEAN has kept quiet in the Rohingyas issues, stating no reason and believe it to be an internal affair of Myanmar.

The United States allowed thousands of refugees giving them shelter in Chicago stating the issue as an international concern. Bangladesh implemented a plan of relocating the registered Rohingyas though the country is in itself under economic and social crisis.

In 2016, the sanction was lifted against Rohingyas which was in the U.S.A by President Obama, on the humanitarian grounds which was highly criticized. It was relocated in the year 2018 due to the attack on the military which was believed done by the Rohingyas community.

The international organization have shown their concern on the Rohingyas issue and also the risk of the genocide. Though the UN has placed concern and asked stated to donate on the seeking humanitarian concerns.

China supported Myanmar in dislocating the Rohingyas Muslims and appreciated the agenda. Myanmar being the Buddhist centric state never allowed citizenship to the Muslims. Though, after being highly criticized by the world on the act of destruction of more than a hundred villages of Rohingyas populated people, they promised to relocate the Rohingyas and implemented the plan of the development of the Rakhine state. Though, activists are suspecting the statement to be false.

India has never been the part of the Refugee Convention 1951, but have always adhered to the rules of the UNHCR. After the Second World War, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was created. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1967 Protocol empowers the State to protect the refugee and the person seeking asylum. The refugees are entitled to the minimum basic rights under the refugee protection regime. The other organization established to protect the refugees are UN agencies, INGOs, the Red Cross, and Red Crescent Movement. But still, after all these popular organizations the effective legal accountability could not be established. The States have never adhered to the guidelines stated in Article 36 of the 1951 Refugee Convention which empowers the state to suggest laws and regulations to the United Nations that States should adopt to make this convention applicable. The State parties have only met once in the 50th anniversary of the convention in 2001. Article 35 of the convention has never been made applicable due to the ambiguous position of UNHCR with State. Though the convention itself has become the outdated one and needs the amendment to lessen the burden of the signatories’ states.

The Refugee Convention, 1951 bestow certain rights on the refugee who take shelter in different countries. Various doctrines empower the contracting states to make rules and regulations for the refugees in their countries. Article 31⁶ of the 1951 convention states that no contracting state shall punish the illegal refugees entering into their counties who have suffered discrimination based on race, sex, caste, national social and political support. They should not be expelled or refuse from the contacting state. The states should not impose any restrictions on the movement of the refugees within the refuge territory. The refugees should be benefitted from the facilities and a reasonable period should be given to them so that they can find permanent shelter.

Travaux Préparatoires of the convention is clear that Article 31 talks about the judicial or administrative conviction of the illegal intruders and not of the expulsion. The term coming directly mentioned in Article 31 includes both the person who have directly come from the state where he suffered discrimination and also the state where he took asylum for a short period.

Article 32⁷, states the doctrine of expulsion. The refugees cannot be expelled from the contracting states on the grounds of national security or public order. The refugees are bound by the due procedure of the law and therefore, have to present the evidence before the competent authority. The contracting state shall grant a reasonable period to the refugees so that they can find their permanent settlement. The most popular doctrine which is the policy of non- refoulement was implanted in the convention under Article 33. The convention mentions that no contracting state shall refuse the refugees to the place where they suffered direct discrimination unless they are a dangerous threat to the country or society granting them asylum. The convention also mentions the possibility of granting nationality through naturalization process under Article 34 by the contracting states to the refugees.

The 1951 Convention on refugees itself has become outdated and needs to be developed. The Rohingyas issue can only be resolved through the international gathering and implementation of laws regarding the persecution of one sect.

VI. Conclusion

The Rohingyas from being an ethnic group declared as the criminal worldwide. The persecution faced by the Rohingyas is because of their immoral agenda of seceding the Rakhine state to annex with Bangladesh. The failed pact made with the Britishers in return being allied with them gave them hope of an independent state. But they are wrong in demanding the independent state from Myanmar. They were the victim of false promise and their sincerity towards Britishers have made them stateless on this earth.

Sustainable peace is merely next to impossible without justice and accountability. The society is bound by humanity and humanity prevails when justice is served. The refugees’ crisis is faced by most of the countries and the political relations emphasize peace but justice is not served with the peace policy. The states should be made accountable for the conditions of the refugees and the rules regarding their settlement should be implemented. The condition of the refugees is complex and they need protection, security, and state assistance.

The organization formed by them was declared as terrorist groups because they attacked the civilians and military groups. They illegally intruded into different countries and demanded their rights in those countries. They are declared as a serious threat to the nation because they are increasing in numbers. Being a few thousand immigrants they are now about three lakhs only in India. The persecution faced by the Rohingyas Muslims is also because of their alleged leaders who were mujahidin’s who are considered as terrorist worldwide.

Myanmar never wanted Rohingyas Muslims to be part of their state as they wanted to establish the Buddhist state neither Rohingyas Muslims wanted to be part of the same because they wanted an independent state.

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