{"id":105531,"date":"2018-01-29T12:01:57","date_gmt":"2018-01-29T12:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=105531"},"modified":"2018-02-05T11:01:38","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T11:01:38","slug":"the-slow-burning-genocide-in-myanmar-continues-we-cannot-be-passive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/01\/the-slow-burning-genocide-in-myanmar-continues-we-cannot-be-passive\/","title":{"rendered":"The Slow-Burning Genocide in Myanmar Continues – We Cannot Be Passive"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Featured Image: European Commission \/ Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

As we commemorate\u00a0<\/em>International Holocaust Remembrance Day<\/a> (27 January) and remember the millions of people murdered by the Nazi regime, we must also pause and reflect.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

26 Jan 2018 – <\/em>When we say never again, what we really mean is: hopefully, it won\u2019t happen again. We hoped and hoped, and, in the meantime, the Cambodian genocide<\/a> happened, Rwanda<\/a> happened, Bosnia<\/a> happened, and Darfur happened<\/a>. We repeatedly failed to prevent mass atrocities and let down those who have relied on us, both on our voices and our actions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Not that long ago we were presented with another challenge, \u201ca textbook example of ethnic cleansing\u201d<\/a> as the situation in Myanmar<\/a> was referred to by the UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra\u2018ad al-Hussein. On one hand, we saw Myanmar rejecting all allegations of ethnic cleansing or genocide<\/a>, on the other hand, many academics<\/a>,\u00a0 have clearly labelled the situation as \u201cgenocide\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar in 2014.
Image Credit: United Against Genocide \/ Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

Slow-Burning Genocide<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking at a panel last week,\u00a0<\/a>Dr Maung Zarni<\/a>, a British-Burmese scholar and human rights activist,\u00a0spoke wholeheartedly about how those who made it from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh were \u201csurvivors\u201d. By labelling them merely as\u00a0\u201cdisplaced people\u201d, we automatically diminish the horrors and suffering the Rohingya have been subjected to.<\/p>\n

This choice of language may seem insignificant to some, but as Dr Zarni explained, this \u201cslow-burning genocide\u201d is the first many of will have watched in real-time, whether it be through Facebook or Twitter, or on our TV screens. It\u2019s therefore vital that we don\u2019t numb ourselves into inertia.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image Credit: DFID \/ Wikimedia<\/p><\/div>\n

Long-Term Policy of Extermination<\/strong><\/p>\n

When questioned about the history of the Rohingya, Dr Zarni explained to the audience at\u00a0SOAS<\/a> and STAND UK<\/a> that: \u201cWhat the Rohingya people have been subjected to is nothing less than full-scale genocide since 1978.\u00a0There is no communal conflict that has to put Rohingya in this situation. The Rohingyas are not fighting back, they are not trying to secede from Burma and become part of Bangladesh or they are not trying to establish a new Muslim country just for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the Rogingya people have been subjected to is nothing less than full-scale genocide since 1978. It is very similar to that of the Jewish community across Nazi-occupied Europe.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Drawing a stark parallel, he added: \u201cThe situation of Rohingya is very similar to the situation that the Jewish community across the Nazi-occupied Europe faced in late 1930s and early 1940s. They are being persecuted because of their identity, because of who they are. The Burmese military has misframed them as\u00a0a\u00a0threat to national security. They have adopted an essentially long-term policy of extermination against these people. This is a genocide that has been in slow-motion for 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image Credit: United Against Genocide \/ Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

Proven Long-Term Roots<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prof Michael Charney<\/a>, a military and imperial historian specialising in South East Asia, also spoke at the Lawyers Without Borders event, highlighting how British colonial rule had uniquely impacted\u00a0the Rakhine state differently to other areas of Myanmar. According to Prof Charney, and maybe surprisingly to many, there is even considerable evidence that Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar had been getting along considerably well in the past.<\/p>\n

Rohingya have long-term roots in the area \u2013 and we can support that with documentation.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When asked about the biggest thing people should know about the Rohingya, Prof Charney said that: \u201c<\/em>Rohingya have long-term roots in the area and they aren\u2019t the foreigners that the Burmese government pretends they are \u2013 and we can support that with documentation. It\u2019s the same documentation that people often deny just because of their political beliefs, not because of any other legitimate reasons.\u201d\u00a0Prof Charney also called for more academic research into the region but warned that this must be done with an open mind.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image Credit: John Owens \/ Wikimedia<\/p><\/div>\n

A Complex and Multilayered Situation<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Dr Mandy Satan<\/a>, a lecturer at SOAS, there are currently more than 120,000 internally-displaced people<\/a> in the north of Myanmar, yet there has been very limited, if any, coverage of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there a scale? And if there is, where is the tipping point?\u201d she asked the audience. Whether it be the Rohingya, or the internally-placed people in the Kachin state in the north of Myanmar, or the Burmese refugee camps in Thailand, which have been there for more than 20 years \u2013 Dr Sadan sees a rather common structural issue, which is the Burmese army.<\/p>\n

According to Dr Sadan, racism is deeply rooted and runs through many sectors of the Burmese society, hinting at the complexity and multilayeredness of the situation. Dr Sadan also called for important changes in education, which could transform Burmese education to reflect its multi-cultural society and allows students to study different kinds of history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image Credit: European Commission \/ Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

Questioning Our Humanity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Towards the end of the panel discussion, Dr Zarni raised the most poignant issue \u2013 our own failures. He explained\u00a0that all the atrocities post-WWII are not just failures of the international community, but that we must also call into question our shared humanity.<\/p>\n

In order to truly make sure genocides never happen again, we can\u2019t just echo empty sentiments or dispassionately soul search. Instead, we must do everything we can to act and to make our voices heard.<\/p>\n

______________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lubka Mieresova <\/em>has an LLB (Hons) European Legal Studies from the University of Southampton and is currently studying for an LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice at the School of Oriental and African Studies. She also volunteers as Young Refugee Caseworker at the British Red Cross, helping unaccompanied children and young people claiming asylum in the UK to understand and access support services. Her experience lies in youth work, with a particular focus on developing young people\u2019s leadership and soft skills.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 rightsinfo.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January) and remember the millions of people murdered by the Nazi regime, we must also pause and reflect: Slow-Burning Genocide in Myanmar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":105535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[224,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-rights","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}