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VIEWPOINT

Treatment of Muslim Rohingya Minority Shows BuLong Way to GoThe callous handling of sectarian violence in Arakan reminds us that the country's transition is far from compl

By EMILY RAUHALA | August 15, 2012 | 14

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7/31/2019 Arakan State Situation 042d

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propaganda. On June 3, Arakan villagers in a neighboring township stopped a bus and murdered 10 Within the week, riots broke out in at least two cities to the north, Human Rights Watch found, escalof mob violence. In the regional capital, Sittwe, most of the Rohingya are gone. The Muslim quarter slooking at the aftermath of a natural disaster, an unnamed Channel 4 News correspondent said, surva dispatch from the city. Except human beings did this.

In many ways, the conflict has been brewing for years. The Arakanese and the Rohingya live, literallyBurmas periphery. The coastal state, which traces the Bay of Bengal to the Bangladesh border, is sep

of the country by mountains. It is poor, even by Burmas standards, and most of its residents are mindominated by the ethnic Burmese of the heartland to the east. Like the Rohingya, and indeed most othe Arakanese suffered immensely under military rule. Unlike the Rohingya, they are citizens. If therto be found between Naypyidaw and Arakan, it is the belief that Rohingya dont belong in Burma.

(MORE: Will Ethnic Violence Kill Burmas Fragile Reforms?)

The Rohingya are among the most isolated and oppressed people in the world. The end of British colstateless, sandwiched between present-day Burma and Bangladesh. Though many trace their Bay of Bcenturies, the Burmese government insists they are illegal South Asian migrants, relics of colonial tim

been recognized as one of Burmas 135 indigenous races and have routinely been denied the right to The ruling junta played on nativist sentiment, stoking racial hatred. A Burmese diplomat once calledMany still see them as outsiders bent on stealing Buddhist lands.

The suspicion is such that even Burmese activists seem afraid, or unwilling, to speak out. Suu Kyi, thecountrys opposition, has been accused of dodging questions on the matter. While touring Europe in to a query about the crisis by saying, obliquely, that she does not know if the Rohingya are Burmese. Afrom inside Burma, Muslim groups from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Turkey have rallied behind theBurmese government last week agreed to aid from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, but main

is nonsectarian. In a way, of course, its right: this is, at its heart, a matter of basic rights and governmOn both counts, the new Burma has far to go.