ROHINGYA CRISIS
Why in News?
Case regarding The Genocide in 2017 committed by the Myanmarese military on Rohingya Muslims of Rakhine valley, Mayanmar – was taken to International Court of Justice (ICJ) by a tiny west-African state Gambia on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Background
- Rohingya is ethnic Muslim minority group, largely comprising Muslims living primarily in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.
- They differ from Myanmar’s dominant Buddhist groups religiously, ethnically and linguistically.
- They practice a Sufi-inflected variation of Sunni Islam.
- They speak Bengali dialect, as opposed to commonly spoken Burmese language in Myanmar.
- Myanmar considers Rohingya’s as illegal Bengali immigrants, despite fact that many they have resided in Rakhine province of Myanmar for centuries.
- Myanmar government even refuses to grant them citizenship status, and as a result they do not have any legal documentation, effectively making them stateless.
- They are also restricted from freedom of movement, state education and civil service jobs.
- UN has often described Rohingyas as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
Details
- The preliminary hearings of the case at ICJ seeking guarantees of basic protection for Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, arguably offer only symbolic hope to this longsuffering community.
- Following the genocide and ethnic cleansing- 7 lakh Rohingyas fled Mayanmar and entered Bangladesh as illegal immigrants.
- The forces have insisted that their actions were merely in response to the armed insurgency – Arguing on their behalf at the ICJ is – Nobel Peace Laureate and Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
- The more urgent concern before the ICJ is Gambia’s petition seeking an injunction that the violence against the community cease forthwith and the government guarantee immediate protection.
Thank you!
