羅興亞問題：種族與宗教之戰？ - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學亞太研究英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies College of Social Sciences National Chengchi University 碩士論文 Master’s Thesis. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. ‧. 羅興亞問題：種族與宗教之戰？ Rohingya situation: a battle between ethnicity and religion?. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Student: Ignacio Ramón Mena Bello Advisor: Cho-Hsin Su, Ph.D. 中華民國 108 年 07 月. July 2019. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(2) 羅興亞問題：種族與宗教之戰？ Rohingya situation: a battle between ethnicity and religion? 研究生: 孟奕傑 Student: Ignacio Ramón Mena Bello 指導教授: 蘇卓馨 Advisor: Cho-Hsin Su Ph.D 國立政治大學. 政治大亞太研究英語碩士學位學程立. ‧ 國. 學. 碩士論文 A Thesis. ‧. er. io. al. Studies. sit. y. Nat. Submitted to International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific. n. v i n Ch National Chengchi e n g cUniversity hi U. In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master in Asia-Pacific Studies. 中華民國 108 年 July 2019. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(3) Acknowledgment I would like to express my deep thanks to my Advisor, Prof. Cho-Hsin Su, for her support in every step of this thesis, for her kind, cares, motivation and amazing effort in my hardest moments, this wasn´t only mine work, was from both of us and without her, this couldn´t be possible. I wanna also thank my thesis committee members, Professor Mei-Chuan Wei and Professor Wei Fang Chen, for generously agreeing to be part of my committee and for their valuable comments on my thesis. Their feedbacks were helped me to see the different perspectives on my thesis topic.. 政治大 of Sciences and Technology 立of Taiwan and The National Chengchi University, for I would like to thank the academic, financial and technical support of the Ministry. ‧ 國. 學. providing me the opportunity to pursue my master degree in Taiwan.. Finally, I would like to express my deeply gratitude to my family, for been my support and understanding while studying abroad. To my best partner Benito Lin. ‧. and all my friends in Taiwan, for providing me with unfailing support and. y. researching and writing this thesis.. sit. Nat. continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and during the process of. al. er. io. Thank you Taiwan, for receiving me with an open arm, hold me and take care of. n. v i n C h me, but the mostUimportant, thanks for giving landscapes and moment you provide engchi me, thanks for all the new friends I met and I won, thanks for the amazing. me the opportunity to go abroad for the first time in my life; learning how to handle myself by my own and making me grow up in a better way. Thank you.. Ignacio Mena Bello July 2019. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(4) Abstract The main research of this thesis started as a motivation in the Rohingya issue after the events happened in Rakhine State in 2016. Meanwhile, the violence was inside Myanmar, my question was: is it something related to ethnicity or religion? Taking some theoretical examples and definitions to answer the main question, could be a little complicated, such as it is the political Buddhism playing the role inside the citizenship law of 1982. There’s no doubt the citizenship law has the main attention into the Rohingya situation as stateless; however, it is not the complete story. Many factors can be. 政治大. related to this situation as the role of the international actors, such as the United. 立. Nations, ASEAN and important countries in the region who feel affected by this. ‧ 國. 學. particular situation.. Furthermore, in the past, the history has the remarks of a similar scenario in the Rwanda case: Utus and Tutsis, where the actions of the United Nations were in the. ‧. wrong direction by sideways for a long time. Could be this the continue of the. y. Nat. history and a war against a different ethnicity again?. sit. Meanwhile, the UN is not taking big actions to solve the issue, the figure of Aung. n. al. er. io. San Suu Kyi is debating between the process of democratization, but it seems a bit. i n C behavior of the Burmese people h against e nthe hi U g cRohingya.. v. difficult and complicated to her without any interruption and violence, and the All these things are just the reasons how and why the political Buddhism is taking control all over the national and international policy inside the country and it makes the work of external actors harder to find an immediate solution.. Keywords: Rohingya, ethnicity, religious, refugees, Aung San Suu Kyi.. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(5) Contents CHAPTER 1........................................................................................................................ 7 1.. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 7 1.1.. Research Background ............................................................................................. 7. 1.1.1.. History of Myanmar......................................................................................... 7. 1.1.2.. 1886 to 1948 – British colonization of Burma and Independence ..................... 8. 1.1.3.. 1949 to 1990 – Brief democracy followed by military rule ............................... 8. 1.1.4.. After 1990 – Democratic reforms................................................................... 11. 1.2.. Understanding the word “Rohingya” ..................................................................... 12. 1.3.. Purpose of research ............................................................................................... 15. 1.4.. Research question ................................................................................................. 15. 1.5.. Research method ................................................................................................... 16. 1.6.. Literature review................................................................................................... 16. 政治大. CHAPTER 2...................................................................................................................... 22. 立. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 22 Important ideologies and term explanation ............................................................ 22. 學. 2.1.. ‧ 國. Ideologies – The study of the ideas ................................................................ 22. 2.1.2.. Religious fundamentalism .............................................................................. 24. 2.1.3.. Nationalism ................................................................................................... 24. ‧. 2.1.1.. Figure of Political Buddhism ................................................................................ 26. 2.3.. The tree-level analysis .......................................................................................... 27. sit. y. Nat. 2.2.. Individual ...................................................................................................... 27. 2.3.2.. Domestic ....................................................................................................... 28. 2.3.3.. International................................................................................................... 28. io. 2.3.1.. n. al. er. 2.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. CHAPTER 3...................................................................................................................... 30 3.. Main analysis ............................................................................................................. 30 3.1.. Rohingya situation ................................................................................................ 30. 3.1.1.. History of Rohingya....................................................................................... 30. 3.1.2.. Political Buddhism in Myanmar..................................................................... 35. 3.1.3.. The factors ..................................................................................................... 39. 3.2.. Different stakeholders ........................................................................................... 40. 3.2.1. 3.3.. Aung San Suu Kyi: The face of democracy and peace? .................................. 40. International Stakeholders ..................................................................................... 43. 3.3.1.. Important States in the region ........................................................................ 43. 3.3.2.. International Organizations ............................................................................ 44. 3.4.. Main Analysis and specific topic........................................................................... 47. 3.4.1.. Level of responsibility ................................................................................... 47. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(6) CHAPTER 4...................................................................................................................... 52 4.. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 52. 5.. References .................................................................................................................. 57. 6.. Appendix .................................................................................................................... 65 Myanmar Citizenship law. .................................................................................... 65. 立. 政治大. 學 ‧. ‧ 國 io. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. 6.1.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(7) CHAPTER 1 1.. INTRODUCTION. 1.1. Research Background To understand who are Rohingya, we need to talk about Myanmar, a Buddhist country in a 98% with strong military influences by their history, who got through many processes to be as we know today. I will try to explain the nature of the conflict between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists of Rakhine state in the Western part of Myanmar since 2012. The violent conflict first started in June of the same year, and seemingly subsided for three months, but later erupted again in October. While the two groups blamed each other for inciting the violence, they could. 政治大 The Rohingyas accused the 立 Rakhine state government and the central government of not find a mutually acceptable peaceful solution among themselves.. ‧ 國. 學. deliberately attempting to eliminate their population and termed the violence as state-sponsored. ethnic cleansing. The central government denied such allegations but failed to produce a concrete plan for long-term solutions.. ‧. But before going there, we most need to understand Myanmar's history and also to try to. y. Nat. understand the point of view of the situation and to talk about the special citizenship law of. sit. 1982, that marks the conflict between Rohingya people and Myanmar Government. We can. n. al. er. io. start by asking: Why this happened? When started? Is there a solution? Why did the Myanmar. i n U. v. Government start to deny citizenship to Rohingya people? What exactly is happening right. Ch. now? Who are the actors involved?. engchi. This paper will explain this situation and also how it grows with time and how history can mark a strong difference in a country and the effects that this can have on society.. 1.1.1. History of Myanmar The history of Myanmar is relevant to this study because it gives a context to why the alienation of Rohingya began in the first place. This is a historical process that started with the British favoring Rohingya and other minority groups over the ethnic Burmans during the colonial time. Myanmar has had a violent history with several non-peaceful transformations of power. Thus, the trust of the authorities towards rebellious minority groups has often been low and vice versa.. 7. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(8) Therefore, it is important to review some of the historical events that have led up the persecution of Rohingya and other minority groups in Myanmar.. 1.1.2. 1886 to 1948 – British colonization of Burma and Independence There were several Burmese kingdoms before the time of British colonization of the area, but the time before 1886 is not be outlined in this study. This is because foundations of the political landscape, relevant to this study, in contemporary Myanmar was set up by the British when they colonized Burma. In 1886, Burma was invaded by the British for the third time and they had to surrender to the British might and got annexed as a colony 1 (Kipgen, 2016:9). The monarchy in Burma was suspended by the British rule, but several regions and ethnic minorities such as the Shan, Chin and Kachin remained a strong autonomy. Many of the ethnic minorities. 政治大. were Christian and had developed different cultures and separate identities than the rest of. 立. central Burma. Therefore, when the Japanese invaded Burma during the Second World War,. ‧ 國. 學. the largely Christian minority groups Chin, Kachin and Naga were loyal to the British, while the Burma Independence Army (BIA) led by the national hero Aung San, sided with the. ‧. Japanese. Burma declared independence from Britain 1947 and General Aung San could unify the different ethnic minorities to form the Union of Burma. Unfortunately, Aung San got. sit. y. Nat. assassinated five months after the declaration of independence San’s political antagonist U Saw was found guilty of the murder and was subsequently executed. Great Britain recognized. io. n. al. er. Burma’s independence in January 1948.. i n U. C. v. h e n gfollowed 1.1.3. 1949 to 1990 – Brief democracy c h i by military rule Despite the loss of the national hero Aung San, Burma remained a fragile democracy until the military overthrew the elected government in a coup in 1962 (Farzana, 2017:48)2. The country remained a military dictatorship until the general elections in 2015. The struggles for ethnic minorities and among them Rohingya got more severe after the military junta’s claim to power. During the colonial rule, Britain had favored some ethnic minority groups and the Arakanese (historical name of Rohingya), Karen and Shan among others cooperated with the British against the Burmese state. When the military gained power, almost one hundred years later,. 1. Kipgen, Nehginpao. 2016. Myanmar: a political history. Oxford University Press. pp 19-46 Farzana, Kazi Fahmida. 2017. Memories of Burmese Rohingya Refugees, Contested Identity and Belonging. New York. Palgrave Macmillan: pp 29-62. 2. 8. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(9) the Burmese nationalistic factions remembered the allegiances of those minority groups which affected the relationship between them and the state negatively. The military who took power in Burma in 1962 implemented a constitution established on “disciplined democracy”, which essentially meant implementing an authoritarian one-party system (Gravers and Ytzen, 2014:37)3 . Their main reason for creating such a constitution, bringing some form of legitimacy to their illegitimate rule, was the effect of fear; the military was frightened of the thought of revenge from the people and that they would lose their power. By their own words the military regime stated they viewed their actions as “an attempt to restore order in an increasingly chaotic political scene” (Taylor 2009:293 in Farzana, 2017:48). Obsessed with securing Myanmar’s borders, the regime performed counter-insurgency measures targeting rebellious minority organizations such as the Karenni National Progressive. 治政 continued until the 1990’s and some Shan groups were also大 targeted. Furthermore, the regime 立 wanted to consolidate their power and created the Revolutionary Council which was Party (KNPP) and the Karen National Union (KNU) (Farzana, 2017:48). The campaigns. ‧ 國. 學. subsequently integrated into the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) in 1974. In the same year the new Constitution of Burma was passed and it was the first step towards harder. ‧. citizenship rules. Amendments to the constitution gave some institutional change which involved civil political and administrative inclusion through The People’s Council. Even so,. Nat. sit. y. the effective political power was kept by the BSPP.. er. io. After the new constitution was passed, the BSPP regime took measures to unite the nation, crush the insurgency groups and made sure that Buddhism would be the state religion. As part. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. of this process, the military began to dissolve Rohingya political organizations. One of the. engchi. measures to counter insurgencies was called “Operation Nagamin” and it was initiated in 1977. The regime claimed that the operation was necessary to unite the country and it gave the authorities the right to check identification cards and documents of all inhabitants. Furthermore, the Ministry of Home and Religious Affairs claimed that the operation was a venture to “take actions against foreigners who have filtered into the country illegally” (Smith 1999:237-241 in Farzana, 2017:49). Operation Nagamin was the first specific sign that showed that the Burmese government did not view Rohingya as legitimate citizens. Also, the government actions in 1978 showed that the struggle of Rohingya has been ongoing for at least forty years. To conclude, Burmese official attempts to unite the country during the late 70’s were through. 3 Gravers, Mikael and Ytzen, Flemming (editors). 2014. Burma/Myanmar – Where Now? Copenhagen, Denmark. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. pp 24--122. 9. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(10) targeting rebellious minorities, which runs opposite to the very idea of a union made up of diverse ethnic minorities. In 1982 the military regime passed the Citizenship Law which created a restrictive policy of who was entitled Burmese citizenship. The aim of the law was to fit in with the regime’s own identity exclusionist policy and now ethnic exclusion had been stated as law. One hundred thirty-five ethnic minorities were recognized under the Law and previously, before 1962, the civil government had recognized 144 ethnic group, among them Rohingya. After 1982, the Citizenship Law considered Rohingya as “resident foreigners” and made them de facto stateless (Ahsan Ullah, 2016:286)4. Leader of the BSPP government, General Ne Win and his leadership within the party, became questioned due to Burma’s slow economic growth during the 1980’s. Contrary to other socialist. 治政大Nations (UN) degraded Burma’s the GDP per capita was 556 U.S dollars . In 1987 the United 立 economy to a “Least Developed Country” and now the Burmese population began complaining republics in east Asia like China, Burma failed to mobilize governmental revenues and in 1985 5. ‧ 國. 學. openly over Ne Win’s leadership. Large protests began, initially started by students in Rangoon, but then spread across the country and Ne Win resigned leadership of the BSPP in July 1988.. ‧. The Burmese population had lost their patience with Ne Win because of his “maneuvering with cultural traditions…, and the bursting of the economic bubble under the mounting pressure of. Nat. sit. y. inflation and economic stagnation” (Maung 1990:615 in Kipgen, 2016:147). Despite Ne Win’s. er. io. resignation the prices on basic commodities continued to sky-rocket and the abyss between the elite and the rest became huge. Moreover, the economic stagnation intensified with high. n. al. Ch. i n U. inflation and people once again took to the streets to protest.. engchi. v. The protestors shouted for democracy, but they were met with brutal violence from the government forces who fired at the unarmed demonstrators. Thousands were killed by government bullets and hundreds were arrested. Although Ne Win’s reign was over the military regained power in coup after creating a new party: The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). The violence would be remembered as the 8888 Uprising, but in 1990 SLORC announced multiparty elections would be held in 1990. The elections in 1990 were considered free and fair by the international community and the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory with 392 out of 485 seats available in the 492 seats assembly. Despite claiming that they would recognize the results, 4. Ahsan Ullah, A. K. M. (2016). Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar: Seeking Justice for the “Stateless.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 32(3), pp. 285-301 5 Kipgen, Nehginpao. 2016. Myanmar: a political history. Oxford University Press. pp 109-148. 10. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(11) SLORC then turned around deciding not to step down from power6. Aung San Suu Kyi and several other newly elected members of parliament were put in house arrest.. 1.1.4. After 1990 – Democratic reforms To keep in power the military regime once again transformed, this time calling themselves the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) (Yinn Mar Oo and Than Lynn, 2011)7. The SPDC kept power until 2011 and a few years earlier, in 2008, they amended the constitution allowing the NLD to re-register as a legitimate political party. A series of democratic reforms were initiated in 2011, among other things a national human rights body was created on the request of UN. The body was called Myanmar National Human Rights Commission. On October 11th, 2011 an open letter from the Commission was published in the state-owned. 政治大. newspaper8. The New Light of Myanmar requesting president Thein Sein to release all political. 立. prisoners. The letter was published after the government declared they would pardon many. ‧ 國. 學. prisoners. A few months later at a UN General Assembly meeting, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin made a statement that over 6300 prisoners would be released. Nevertheless, he did not mention the exact number of prisoners being released or who they were. Aung San Suu. ‧. Kyi was released from her house arrest a year earlier, in 2010 and she was invited to discuss. y. Nat. Myanmar’s political feature with President Thein Sein. In the by-election in 2012 NLD won. sit. 43 out of 44 seats available. This time the military recognized the results and NLD could. er. io. participate in the parliament. Three years later in the general election of 2015, Aung San Suu. al. n. v i n Ch U assigning the office (McKirdy, citizenship cannot become president, prevented e n gSuu c hKyii from Kyi was elected State-Councilor. A law stating that persons with children who have foreign. 2016)9. Even so, Suu Kyi became the acting president in all but name and Myanmar had made important steps towards democracy.. 6. Kipgen, Nehginpao. 2016. Myanmar: a political history. Oxford University Press. pp 19-46. 8. Kipgen, Nehginpao. 2016. Myanmar: a political history. Oxford University Press. pp 109-148 McKirdy, Euan. 2016-04-07. “New government role created for Myanmar’s Aung San Su Kyi” CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/06/asia/aung-san-suu-kyi-state-counsellor-role-created/ 9. 11. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(12) 1.2. Understanding the word “Rohingya” Rohingya10 is a controversial terminology in Myanmar. The Rohingyas (Burmese) are an IndoAryan ethnic minority group in Rakhine 11 state (also known as Arakan, or Rohang in the Rohingya language) in Burma12. They are the people who are originally related to the IndoAryan peoples of India and Bangladesh (as opposed to the majority Sino-Tibetan people unification of Burmese). Myanmar occupied the Rakhine state in 1700s and it becomes an annexure Rohingya people came under the rule of Burma. The problem lies in the nomenclature itself. Though they call themselves Rohingya, the term which is also used by the international community including the United Nations, the Myanmar government and the population of Myanmar call them illegal Bengali migrants13. According to an article on the ‘Burma Empire’ published by the British Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1799, "the Mohammedans, who have. 政治大. long settled in Arakan" call themselves Rohingya, or natives of Arakan. Sir Henry Yule saw. 立. many Muslims serving as eunuchs in Konbaung Dynasty 14 Burma while on a diplomatic 15. ‧ 國. 學. mission there . British rules and policy encouraged Bengali people to migrate to nearby Arakan that was lightly populated and agriculturally fertile valley. The east India Company added the Arakan state with Bengali Administration; so there was no boundary and restrictions. ‧. in movement between the regions The fact is that Rohingya is not included among the 135. y. Nat. ethnic groups in Myanmar recognized by the government. According to the 1982 citizenship. sit. law16, there are three categories of citizenship: citizen, associate citizen and naturalized citizen.. er. io. These citizens are descendants of residents who lived in Burma prior to 1823 or were born to. al. n. v i n C h Naturalized citizens through the 1948 Union Citizenship Act. e n g c h i U are persons who lived in Burma. parents both of whom were citizens. Associate citizens are those who acquired citizenship before 4 January 1948 and applied for citizenship after 1982.. 10. Rohingya is a controversial terminology. The Myanmar government and majority people inside Myanmar use the term Bengali to refer to this population. However, the international community, including the United Nations, uses the term Rohingya 11 Rakhine is one of the eight major ethnic groups of Myanmar recognized by the government and constitutes the majority of Rakhine state population. 12 Myanmar was formerly known as Burma. It was renamed by the then SLORC military government in 1989. Many in the Myanmar opposition groups and some Western countries continue to use Burma. Some people argue that Burma should still be used since it was an undemocratic government (military) which changed the name without the consent of the people. This article uses Myanmar except for direct quotation and the period prior to 1989. 13 Nehginpao Kipgen, “Conundrum of the Rohingyas”, Jerusalem Post, August 29, 2012. 14 Formerly known as the Alompra dynasty, or Alaungpaya dynasty, was the last dynasty that ruled Burma/Myanmar from 1752 to 1885 15 Myint-U T., (2007), the River of Lost Footsteps—Histories of Burma, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 16 “Burma Citizenship Law”, Refworld, October 15, 1982. http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b4f71b.html. 12. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(13) Through the last decades, Myanmar was a significant emblem, playing the transition from the military dictatorial into the democratization. This was a huge change into the system, making their rules, laws and social behavior a crucial paper. The battle for the independence of Myanmar was a moment that can show us the before and after in history and how all the subjects were involved in the scenario. To understand Myanmar, we need to understand their rules, their ideology and what they believe is right and what’s wrong. Rohingya are a group of people mixed with Arabian traders during the British colonial times. These people started to move inside Myanmar and also in this time, they started to reproduce more and more. The problem starts when the Rohingya supported the British when Myanmar nationalist looked. 政治大. for the independence, and this is one of the reasons why after the independence in 1948, they feel a rejection for Rohingya people.. 立. However, it’s not until 1982 when the government rejected them openly, using the citizenship. ‧ 國. 學. special law. According to this one, the Rohingya people were not considered as citizen of Myanmar and they deny all kind of human rights to them, including: medical assistance,. ‧. marriage, education and others.. After this the Rohingya deal with many fights against the government and also, a part of them,. Nat. sit. y. started to go abroad, like Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand and India; for a better life.. er. io. The general perception of the Myanmar people is that Rohingyas are Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh. It must be noted here that there are other Muslims across Myanmar who are not. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Rohingyas17. The tension between Rohingya and Rakhine in 2012 started off with a rape and. engchi. murder of a Rakhine woman on 28 May. Though it culminated in 2012, the simmering tension between the two groups has existed for the past several decades. For example, the exodus of Muslims occurred during the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) military government in 197818. While Bangladesh condemned the Burmese government for using excessive force to drive out the Muslims into Bangladeshi territory, the Burmese government said they were illegal settlers. 17. Mohammed Ali Chowdhury, “The Advent of Islam in Arakan and the Rohingyas”, Rohingya.org, October 22, 2006. http://www.rohingya.org/portal/index.php/rohingya-library/26-rohingya-history/83-theadvent-of-islam-in-arakan-and-the-rohingyas.pdf 18 Also Burmese acronyms, was formed by the Ne Win's military regime that seized power in 1962 and was the sole political party allowed to exist legally in Burma during the period of military rule from 1964 until its demise in the aftermath of the popular uprising of 1988.. 13. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(14) intruding into its territory. The present violence in Rakhine state is an offshoot of the unsettled question on the origin and identity of the Rohingya Muslims. In 1977, the Muslim population was concentrated in two townships in Arakan (now known as Rakhine) state close to the Bangladesh border, with 90% in Maungdaw and 80% in Buthidaung where the local Arakan population was reduced to a minority.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. As of 31 May 1977, there were 212,104 Muslims and 22,963 professing other religious faiths in Maungdaw and 140,641 Muslims and 24,562 others in Buthidaung 19 . The towns of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung and Kyauktaw were the main entry points of “illegal immigrants” from across the Bangladesh border. As there has not been any official census in Myanmar since 1983, the precise distribution of population in Rakhine state cannot be ascertained 20 . However, it is estimated that there are approximately 800,000 Rohingyas in Myanmar and another 300,000 in Bangladesh. Another exodus of Muslim population into. 19. The Myanmar government, with assistance from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), plans to conduct a nationwide population and housing census starting 30 March 2014. 20 Thomas K. Ragland, “Burma’s Rohingyas in Crisis: Protection of ‘Humanitarian’ Refugees under International Law”, Boston College Third World Law Journal, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1994, pp. 301 – 336.. 14. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(15) Bangladesh occurred in 1991 – 1992 during the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military government. Despite their situation in Bangladesh, the refugees were unwilling to return to Myanmar voluntarily.. 1.3. Purpose of research For many decades, the Rohingya people and Myanmar Government were involved in a big discussion about citizenship and why the government denies these people all kinds of human rights. But before going into the topic, we need to understand how the issue started and who are all the actors involved in this. In the beginning, Myanmar was under control of the British Government as a colony. During. 政治大 same time, Arabian traders started to move inside Myanmar, and that’s how the Rohingya 立 people were born. this time, the Myanmar nationalists tried to look for independence against the British and at the. ‧ 國. 學. Rohingya’s supported the British during the colonial time, and this made the Myanmar people get angry against them and it was when the real problem between these two ethnics started.. ‧. My purpose is to show all the scenarios and actors involved and what they are doing about the. y. Nat. differences. Also, I want to point out the facts of the possible solutions and what could be the. sit. future for Rohingya’s, what the United Nations is doing about it, the ASEAN and if this could. n. al. er. io. be a security issue for Southeast Asia or if it’s just a humanitarian issue.. 1.4. Research question. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. As the main research question will be Rohingya Situation: is it a battle between ethnicity or religion? But before going into this question, I want to consider other sub-questions that can help to build this research, like: Are Rohingya people part of Myanmar? Is it an ethnicity and religious issue or is it also political? Could the change of the citizenship law bring a new beginning for these two groups of people? Will the government of Myanmar change this special citizenship law? There are many of these questions that are crucial and important to get into the topic and also to realize how hard could be an integration between the Myanmar Government and Rohingya. I will try to demonstrate all these questions I made even to myself and if there’s a possible solution to these aspects.. 15. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(16) 1.5. Research method I choose the literature – based study and explanatory type for research with qualitative approach to get into this topic and also, it can be useful to let me explain about the Rohingya situation in Myanmar. Secondary sources have been used for data collection which is based on content analysis. Books, journal articles, record of government and nongovernment organizations, media (newspaper and television) reports are the sources of data. Sources like United Nations, International Amnesty; important international organizations specially the UNHCR21 that played a specific and hard work in this issue are very crucial to get how they are dealing. The methodology will be focusing on the main analysis of both sides of the issue, starting from the explanation of the word Rohingya and how they were in Myanmar because to analyze this, we need to be able to understand the facts. Furthermore, the first stage will try to explain the. 政治大 some of the factors behind the立 Rohingya exclusion and how did the general public (Burmese) historical background and the timeline to go into our topic. In the second stage I will explain. ‧ 國. 學. view the conflict and the figure of Aung San Suu Kyi who plays an important role in the government of Myanmar and as a symbol of democratization and peace. The third stage will talk about the main role of the ASEAN, and what the neighbor countries are doing about it.. ‧. The fourth stage will explain the role of the United Nations. And the final chapter will focus. sit. n. al. er. io. 1.6. Literature review. y. Nat. on the analysis of what could be a possible solutions and the conclusion.. Ch. i n U. v. Based on some researchers like Saw, Tha. (2016)22 , Burman majority do not consider the. engchi. Rohingyas compatriots. Successive Burmese governments are accused of provoking the violence against the ethnic minority groups like the Rohingya and Chinese. Rohingya people are considered as one of the world’s most suppressed and deprived minorities. They have lost their citizenship in 1982 and they cannot travel without official permission. Their property, marriage and reproductive rights are strictly restricted. According to Amnesty International Report 2004, the Muslim Rohingya people have continued to suffer from human rights violations under the Burmese junta since 1978 and many have fled to neighboring Bangladesh as a result, the Rohingyas' freedom of movement is severely restricted and the vast majority of them have effectively been denied Burma citizenship. They. 21. United Nations High Commissions for Refugees Saw, Tha. Wah - Explaining Myanmar's Foreign Policy Behavior: Domestic and International Factors Burma's Ethnic, 2006, Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies.. 22. 16. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(17) are oppressed in various forms such as extortion, different taxation, land grabbing, eviction, and marriage restriction. Wong, D., & Suan, T. (2012)23. mentioned Rohingyas used to work as forced labor on road construction and military camps, though it has been decreased in northern Rakhine state over the last decade. About 200,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh in 1978 following Dragon King Operation (nagamin) by Myanmar army. Officially this campaign was operated aiming at scrutinizing the citizenry status and illegal foreigners were in targeted actions. This military campaign mainly targeted civilians and a wide spread killing, rape and other offensive activities occurred following the operation. During 1991-92 a new wave of over a quarter of million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. They reported widespread forced labor, as well as summary executions torture and rape.. 治政大 of human rights abuse in with the repatriation of Rohingya from Bangladesh, but allegations 立 the refugee camps have threatened this effort. Despite different sorts of efforts by the United As of 2005, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had been assisting. ‧ 國. 學. Nations (UN) a huge number of Rohingya refugees have still remained in Bangladesh refugee camps and elsewhere. Actually they are presently not able to go back to their homeland because. ‧. of the reluctances of the ruling authority and facing many humanitarian problems. In February 2009, many Rohingya refugees were rescued by Achenese sailors in the Strait of Malacca, after. sit. y. Nat. 21 days at sea.. er. io. Over the last several years, thousands of Rohingyas crossed to Thailand and some 111,000 refugees might have been stayed 9 camps along with the border areas. Many of them have been. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. forcedly shipping out to open sea. In February 2009 there was evidence of the Thai army towing. engchi. a boatload of 190 Rohingya refugees out to sea. In 2009 a group of refugees escaped by Indonesian authority and disclosed the horrific stories of persecution by Thai Army. A report shows that in this year 5 boats of Rohingyas were towed out to open sea and 4 out of them sank in a storm. In 2015 several numbers of massive grave-yards of Rohingya refugees are traced in Thailand and Malaysian borders. Moreover, in this year, thousands of Rohingyas are found floating on sea towards Malaysia for just survival. The horrible scenario of those trafficking efforts and thus cruel killings of their lives are reported in world media. In fact, violence, rape, torture and mass killings are encouraging the Rohingyas to be fled on water and other ways.. 23. Wong, D., & Suan, T. (2012). “Looking for a Life”: Rohingya Refugee Migration in the Post-Imperial Age. In Kalir B. & Sur M. (Eds.), Transnational Flows and Permissive Polities: Ethnographies of Human Mobilities in Asia (pp. 75-90). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.. 17. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(18) Though in 2009 about 9,000 Rohingyas were repatriated from Thai camps to Myanmar through diplomatic efforts, this was a very little repatriates. Barry N. Stein24 point out a massive riot in 2012: The 2012 Rakhine State riots are a series of ongoing conflicts between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. K. M. Atikur Rahman25 for one side, marks the Rohingya situation as an ethnic conflict were the most essential problem is anarchism frequently take-off the statehood of some minoritiesso international forums have to pay attention to the basic problems of the security. The Myanmar law enforcing agency and army has frequently been charged of mass arrests and violence of targeted Rohingya Muslims. A good number of monks’ organizations played a vital role to block any humanitarian aids for the Rohingyas. The Myanmar government in July 2012. 治政大from their citizenship. They are Muslims since 1982 more than 130 ethnic groups are stripped 立 not voter and citizen of Myanmar even at present times excluded the Rohingya minority groups from the citizenship- classified as Bangladeshi. ‧ 國. 學. Nehginpao Kipgen26 says, the complexity of Rohingya problem fundamentally lies in the fact that they are not considered citizens of Myanmar. This makes the case unique from the rest of. ‧. conflicts in the country. While other ethnic minorities demand autonomy under a federal set up, the Rohingya Muslims struggle to be recognized as one of the ethnic groups of the country. Nat. sit. y. The brutality of military dictatorship from 1962 to 2010 prevented any implosion or explosion. er. io. of the simmering tension between Rakhines and Rohingyas.. As the country began to open up to the outside world and the people were gradually allowed to. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. express their opinions more freely since 2011, the lingering tension between the two. engchi. communities manifested in the form of a violent conflict.. Lex Rieffel27 mentioned in his article, the Rohingya situation involves relatively few people but may be the most difficult ethnic conflict to resolve. Muslim communities scattered across the country have existed for centuries, generally living peacefully among their Buddhist neighbors. One part of the Rohingya problem is that they reside in Rakhine State, one of. 24. N. Stein, Barry (1997) “Refugee Repatriation, Return, and Refoulement During Conflict”, USAID Conference Promoting Democracy, Human Rights and Reintegration in Post-Conflict Societies (pp 13-15), Michigan State, Michigan State University 25 Rahman, K. M. Atikur (2015) “Ethno-Political Conflict: The Rohingya Vulnerability in Myanmar”. Karimganj, Assam, India. International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies (IJHSSS), Volume-II, Issue-I. (pp.288-295), 26 Kipgen, Nehginpao (2013) “Conflict in Rakhine State in Myanmar: Rohingya Muslims' Conundrum”, Vol. 33, No. 2 Hyderabadj., India. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, University of Hyderabadj. (pp.298-310), 27 Rieffel, Lex (2019) “Peace in Myanmar depends on settling centuries’ old ethnic conflicts”, Interethnic Conflict and Genocide in Myanmar. Homicide Studies.. 18. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(19) Myanmar’s fourteen main administrative areas. The largest ethnic group in Rakhine State, The Rakhine Buddhists, deeply resent the country’s Bamar majority for suppressing them. However, another part of the problem is conflicting narratives about the origins of the Rohingya people. It is clear that during the British rule from 1870s to 1948 Muslims immigrated to Myanmar from Colonial India, which included current day Bangladesh. Against all evidence, the Rohingya have been portrayed as an existential threat to the Rakhine Buddhists by outbreeding them with the aim of creating the country’s only Muslim-majority state. Diana Wong and Tan Pok Suan28 referred that many people from other ethnic groups, including Rakhine Buddhists and Hindus have been displaced and killed as well, reportedly in attacks by Rohingya insurgents, but the attacks on other groups have been nowhere of the scale of the attacks on the Rohingya.. 治政大by Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship are not recognized as legitimate citizens of Myanmar both 立 Law and the Buddhist majority especially in the Rakhine state. In 2014, Rakhine Muslims were. Iftekharul Bashar29, explained the situation in Rakhine State as an ethnic conflict and Rohingya. ‧ 國. 學. mostly missed out of a controversial census — the first in three decades — because of fears that allowing someone to be registered as a Rohingya could amount to recognition of his. ‧. citizenship which in turn would antagonize the Rakhine majority and further inflame tensions among the rival communities. Rohingya-Rakhine relations remain highly volatile and any. Nat. sit. y. small incident has the possibility to escalate into large scale of violence. In addition, there is a. er. io. growing concern that tensions in the Rakhine state could be exploited by the transnational terrorist groups who are keen to wage an armed jihad against Naypyidaw 30 for failing to. n. al. Ch. recognize and protect its Muslim minority.. engchi. i n U. v. According to Jennifer Dhanaraj and Iftekharul Bashar,31 mentioned that International critics have condemned their perceived inaction (Aung San Suu Kyi council) against the Rohingya oppression, while Buddhist nationalists accuse the government of going soft on Muslim agitators in Rakhine. According to analysts, the emergence of armed groups and prominent Buddhist nationalist groups, introduces a disturbing new dynamic to Myanmar’s ethnic conflict that is likely to worsen, despite official efforts to curb the Ma Ba Tha and its hate campaign32. 28. Wong, D., & Suan, T. (2018) “Looking for a Life’ Rohingya Refugee Migration in the Post-Imperial Age”(pp.45-98), Amsterdam, Germany. Amsterdam University. 29 Iftekharul Bashar (2017) “Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses”, Singapore. International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research. (pp.23-68) 30 Myanmar Capital. 31 Dhanaraj Jennifer and Iftekharul Bashar (2017) “Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses”, Vol. 11, No. 1, Annual Threat Assessment, International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research. 32 Asia Times (2017) “Buddhist Extremism, Despite A Clampdown, Spreads In Myanmar,” http://www.atimes.com/article/buddhist-extremism-despiteclampdown-spreads-myanmar/.. 19. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(20) The Rakhine state also faces a significant threat from the Arakan Army — a group claims to fight for the Rakhine Buddhist ethnic group. Last year, 2018, saw an escalation of violence in areas of the northern Rakhine state further from the Bangladesh border, which displaced more than 700 people. In December of the same year, the Myanmar’s military called a rare ceasefire against ethnic armed groups in the northeast of the country although Rakhine state was not included. Analysts have stated that the military left Rakhine out because it does not want the Arakan Army to gain a foothold in the state, and has lingering concerns over ARSA.33 Tin Maung Maung Than34 called this issue as a communal violence between Buddhists and the Muslim population self-identified as Rohingya that began in Myanmar’s western Rakhine (Arakan). Meanwhile, the population census became a contentious exercise colored by ethnonationalism and identity politics. The problem centered on the ethnicity of Muslims in Rakhine. 治政 are classified as ‘‘Bengali’’ by authorities. This episode大 highlighted the status of stateless 立 Muslims in Rakhine and their demand to be classified as an indigenous ethnic group. Both State who identify themselves as ‘‘Rohingya’’ and speak a language of the same name but who. ‧ 國. 學. Myanmar authorities and the majority Buddhist polity have always dismissed those claims, asserting that there has never been an indigenous ‘‘Rohingya’’ community, and those claimants. ‧. are actually illegal ‘‘Bengali’’ migrants from neighboring Bangladesh.. Christopher Roberts 35 first, suggests that Myanmar represents the single most significant. Nat. sit. y. obstacle to the formation of an ASEAN security community. However, this is ultimately more. er. io. asserted than proven. Instability or ethnic conflict in Southeast Asia is evidently not limited to Myanmar; and it is quite clear that ASEAN's problems in developing a collective identity. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. extend beyond the specific dynamics and issues that have shaped Myanmar's ties with other. engchi. ASEAN countries. Second, Roberts attributes the festering of the crisis in Myanmar in part to "the operative norms of ASEAN." While political and ethnic conflicts within member states have indeed normally not been collectively addressed by the grouping, it seems to me that the ASEAN states have with reference to Myanmar opted for so-called "enhanced interactions" that have not previously been pursued vis-a-vis other members, and Roberts perhaps makes too little of this in relation to the argument in question. To be sure, ASEAN has wielded little if any influence with Myanmar's leadership, but as Roberts recognizes himself, the more hard-. 33. The Irrawaddy (2018) “Myanmar Says Policeman Found Dead Near Border With Banglades,”, https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmar-says-policemanfound-dead-near-border-bangladesh.html. 34 Than,Tin Maung Maung (2015) “Myanmar in 2014: Great Expectations Unfulfilled”, Vol. 55 No. 1, Asian Survey (pp.184-191), University of California. 35 Roberts, C. (2009). “The Evolution of Domestic Instability and its Extent in Myanmar” In ASEAN's Myanmar Crisis: Challenges to the Pursuit of a Security Community (pp. 52-78). ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute.. 20. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(21) edged policies of Western powers towards Naypyidaw have failed to yield superior results. Notwithstanding these points, Roberts offers a well-developed and important argument about how Myanmar matters in relation to ASEAN's efforts to build a security community. David Weissbrodt and Clay Collins36 think that one of the most prominent ultra-nationalist movements is the Organization for the Protection of Race and Religion, or ‘Ma Ba Tha’, which is estimated to have hundreds of thousands of monks and lay-people from across the country as members. Although it insists that it seeks to promote Buddhist principles of peace and harmony, Ma Ba Tha has become a crucial source of support for hardline ethno-nationalists, who have successfully lobbied for, among other things, several controversial laws designed to protect Buddhist concerns, but viewed by religious minorities as discriminatory to their interests.. 治政 Rohingya oppression while Buddhist nationalists accused大 the government of being soft on 立 Muslim agitators. The recent upsurge in Bamar nationalism introduces a disturbing new In the Rakhine state, human rights groups have criticized the state’s perceived inaction against. ‧ 國. 學. dynamic to Myanmar’s ethnic-political conflict and there is a concern that, while the Myanmar authorities are ‘waiting for Ma Ba Tha’ to fade away, it continues to sink its roots further and. ‧. has endangered an already fragile political transition. Elliott Prasse-Freeman37 explained, the heretofore marginal issue became central, and hence. Nat. sit. y. it became necessary to interpret the physical violence and its attendant discursive attacks.. er. io. Indeed, as half a century of military rule gave away to a new, more “open” society, the violence seemed to establish the definitions and limits of that society: at last something that the majority. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Burmese and Burma’s 135 “official” ethnic minorities could agree on.. engchi. However, instead of deflections, narratives of exclusion must be contested with positive articulations of what political belonging in Burma should look like. Instead of allowing Burma to tear itself apart, Burmese leaders and citizens need to create reasons why they should live together, given that despite the arbitrariness of nation-state borders, there are sociological realities that have real meaning for millions of people, Burmese included.. 36. Weissbrodt S., David & Collins, Clay. (2006) “Buddhist Extremism in Sri Lanka and Myanmar” (pp.245-276), International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.. 37. Prasse-Freeman, Elliott (2017) “Scapegoating in Burma”, Anthropology today, Vol. 33. Issue-6 (pp. 268-540), Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.. 21. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(22) CHAPTER 2 2. Theoretical Framework This chapter provides the conceptual framework of the thesis, which is the components of political Buddhism. These concepts are ideologies, religious fundamentalism and nationalism and they are important to understand the construction of political Buddhism.. 2.1. Important ideologies and term explanation 2.1.1. Ideologies – The study of the ideas Within a historical perspective, the term idea in Greek has been used in philosophy for. 治政大 an idea or a mindset can be attitudes, is characterized by a stability or continuity. Furthermore, 立 of reality, which gives a conception of how to act. a construction, or an imagination thousands of years. An idea can be seen as a mindset, which contrary to brief impressions or. ‧ 國. 學. Predetermined imaginations of reality can be presented as facts, which is why source criticism is important. Ideologies are perceived as collections of ideas concerning society and politics.. ‧. The term ideology grew common during the ninetieth century and derives from the Greek. Ideologies are the study of ideas and Ball, Dagger, and O’Neill define ideologies as:. Nat. sit. y. “a fairly coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that explains and evaluates. er. io. social conditions, helps people understand their place in society, and provides a program for social and political action” (Ball, Dagger and O’Neill, 2017:6)38. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Ideologies help to explain social, political and economic conditions and how people react to. engchi. them (Ball et al., 2017:6). According to Ball, Dagger and O’Neill (2017:6) an ideology does four main functions who are: (1) explanatory, (2) evaluative, (3) orientate, and (4) programmatic. The explanatory functions provide meanings for why social, political and economic settings are as they are. The evaluative functions of an ideology work as a tool to assess social conditions. It tries to answer questions such as “are all wars evil to be avoided, or are some morally justifiable?” The orientate actions provide an ideology its sense of identity. Who is the person within this ideology, what race, nation, sex does he or she belong to? Finally, the programmatic functions tell the followers of the ideology what they should do and how they should act doing so.. 38 Ball, Terence; Dagger, Richard; and O’Neill, Daniel I. 2017. Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal. 10th edition. Routledge: New York and London. (pp.3-38). 22. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(23) Different ideologies answer differently to each question, but they all try to describe the complex world we live in. Additionally, an ideology seeks to explain what its followers should do and how they should do it. All ideologies give a concept of how the social and the political life is, and how it should strive to be. This is to give inspiration to the followers of the ideology and give them incentives either to keep their way of life or to change it. Ideologies are not scientific although they often use scientific measures to explain things that happen in the world. For example, both Nazis and liberals have used Darwin’s theories of evolution to their own advantages. Likewise, there is a difference between a political philosophy and a political ideology. Even though they do similar things political ideologies simplifies the world and tries to offer easy explanations, while political philosophies are more abstract and seek no absolute truths or straight-forward answers. If ideologies and political philosophies are different, in what. 治政大 functions to their worshipers. Religions provide, just like ideologies, descriptive and calculated 立 Furthermore, if ideologies are defined simplistically as belief systems then religions and ways are ideologies and religions similar or different?. ‧ 國. 學. ideologies are very much alike. Additionally, religions also perform the explanatory, evaluative, orientate, and programmatic functions just like ideologies do. Even so, religions are connected. ‧. to the divine, sacred and eternal while ideologies focus on what is currently happening on earth. Ideologies focus on how people are living right now and religions prepare people for life after. Nat. sit. y. death. Of course, religions also care about the way people live, but it is not their main concern. er. io. in the way that it is for ideologies.. How is political Buddhism an ideology? As mentioned above, the definition of an ideology is:. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. “a fairly coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that explains and evaluates. engchi. social conditions, helps people understand their place in society, and provides a program for social and political action”. However, Political Buddhism is when the Buddhist religion is used in a way to gain political ground. This means that political Buddhism is the politization of a religion. Thus, making political Buddhism not directly an ideology, but a mindset using religion to win power. Furthermore, political Buddhism relies on the togetherness of the Buddhist population in Myanmar. When they feel a strong connection through a common religion and a common nationality the legitimacy of political Buddhism is strengthened. At the same time, those who do not share that religion and nationality become outsiders who subsequently are excluded from the national unity. Inclusion and exclusion strategies are important tools for political Buddhism, since it creates a common incentive. It makes it possible for the users of the movement to say, “we are united as Burmans, and they are not”. Those are the basic 23. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(24) characteristics of political Buddhism and they are further analyzed and defined in the conclusion chapter.. 2.1.2. Religious fundamentalism Political Buddhism has many characteristics of religious fundamentalism. Religious fundamentalism is the reaction to the spread of secularism39. There are fundamentalists within both Christianity and Islam, as well as within other religions. All those groups believe that too much attention is given to human lust and that God’s commands are neglected. This means that the political factions of Islam and Christianity, the equivalent to political Buddhism, has a lot in common. Islamic fundamentalists, such as the Islamic State, declared “holy war” on the Western “infidels” and other Muslims who would not share their views. Similarly, Christian. 政治大 during the 12th century. Political 立 Islam is strongly influenced by Sharia, and the urge to fundamentalist crusaders also declared holy war on the Muslim infidels, however this occurred. ‧ 國. 學. implement Sharia as law in society (Sachedina, 2009:33)40. Furthermore, Sachedina pictures political Islam as militant in order to dictate political and social change to make them comply with Islamic teachings of the Muslim order, by other words Sharia.. ‧. Religious fundamentalism basically means believing that every word in a specific religious text. y. Nat. is the truth and should be interpreted as “pure” as possible. However, in the Western world. sit. radical Islam has been the most portrayed, since it has been considered a threat to Western. n. al. er. io. civilization. As mentioned, it is important to remember that religious fundamentalists are. v i n C h to the perceived counter e n g c h i U threat. present in all religions and not just in Islam. Radical Islam is an ideology which has been reactive, considering it serves. by modernization and. secularization. It seems that all religious fundamentalists are afraid of change since they strive for conservative values and preserving an idea that yesterday’s society was preferable.. 2.1.3. Nationalism One important building block of political Buddhism is nationalism and to understand political Buddhism better one needs to dissect nationalism. The idea of nationalism was born in the 19th century and grew from the thought that people should be categorized naturally into region groups, or nations. According to this mindset, a person’s nationality is determined by birth and 39. Ball, Terence; Dagger, Richard; and O’Neill, Daniel I. 2017. Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal. 10th edition. Routledge: New York and London. (pp.105-128) 40 Sachedina, Abdulaziz. 2009. Islam and the Challenge of Human Rights. Oxford University Press. (pp.21-47). 24. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(25) cannot be chosen. In fact, the terms “nation” and “nationality” origin from the Latin word natus, which means birth. Consequently, a nation is when people are sharing the same heritage and a sense of a common birth. Therefore, one might think that people having the same nationality would also be sharing citizenship. However, this is not always easy to distinguish since a person’s nationality can be different from her citizenship. A member of a native American tribe, for example the Navajo nation, can still be a citizen of the United States. For sincere nationalists, nationality and citizenship should be the same (Ball et al., 2017:15). This idea, that people sharing the same birthplace should belong to the same nation, gave the rise of the thought of the nation-state. That a nation-state should be a sovereign political unit, self-governed, which is bound together by the common feeling of a single nation. The nationalistic ideas grew strong following the Napoleonic wars in the beginning of the 19th. 治政大 spread to Africa and Asia the tensions lighting the World Wars. Moreover, nationalism 立 sparking “wars of national liberation” eventually granting independence to former colonies. century. During the 19th and 20th century nationalism spread across the globe and provoked. ‧ 國. 學. Finally, although it might be easy to identify a nationality, many states such as Canada and Switzerland consist of people speaking different languages, having separate nationalities. Even. ‧. if people in Switzerland speak both German, French and Italian they are still Swiss. How could that be? Despite the concerns that erupts around such questions, nationalism keep pulling. Nat. sit. y. people to a common identity and in some instances new nations have been formed where there. er. io. have been different national ideas. When Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the 1990’s, it was largely because of nationalistic sentiments.. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Jobir Alam (2017:191)41 mentions two different mindsets of nationalism to pursue unity within. engchi. the country: civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism. The differences between the two are that civic nationalism promotes an objective, political understanding of a nation, while ethnic nationalism advocates a subjective, cultural interpretation of a nation. In the case of Myanmar, the country has chosen the ethnic type of nationalism, or more precisely Burmese nationalism, which resulted in the exclusion of Rohingya from a national identity. Furthermore, nationalism requires allegiance to one state. Belonging to a nation is something personal and subjective, while citizenship of a state is an objective fact. However, it is important to remember that nationalism is a new idea. The concept that people speaking the same language and sharing the same culture should belong to the same nation-state begun in the last 200 years. “Nationalism. 41 Alam, Jobir. 2017. “The Rohingya of Myanmar: theoretical significance of the minority status”. Asian Ethnicity. Vol. 19, No. 2, (pp.180-210).. 25. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(26) is not the awakening of nations to self-consciousness: it invents nations where they do not exist” (Gellner, 1964:169 in Hylland Eriksen, 2010:117)42. Additionally, nationalism is an imagined community because, despite inequalities within every, the nation is perceived as a linear companionship (Anderson, 2006:7)43. Anderson means that it is this imagined community which made it possible for so many to voluntarily die for “your country” in numerous wars. The merge of the dynastic empires and nations developed after and in response to the national movements growing in central Europe during the 1820’s. Nationalism and imperialism together became perfect incentives to urge young men to fight and die for your country.. 2.2. Figure of Political Buddhism. 政治大 Myanmar and how can affect立 the dimension and development of their policy through the According to the framework, to go furthermore we need to talk about the domestic policy of. ‧ 國. 學. religion and ethnicity.. The international community sees the Rohingya as victims; domestically they are seen as aggressors. (security clearance operations policy).. ‧. The government is focused on outputs at the expense of impact and rapid implementation to. y. Nat. show progress rather than efforts to design processes that help to build trust and confidence.. sit. Political Buddhism has been used as a tool to target ethnic minorities such as Rohingya by the. er. io. Myanmar government. (using its religious power to exercise political pressure). Myanmar. al. n. v i n Ch “can return voluntarily in safe, but Rohingya i U concerns that it does not do e n ghave c hexpressed. government said they had made the agreement with the UN so that verified displaced people enough to guarantee their safety and dignity”44.. Myanmar’s authoritarian history, its military rule and Buddhism as the national religion have made it possible for political Buddhism to develop. The actors are the Burmese nationals that are identified as ethnic Burman’s and their goal is to have an ethnically homogenous Myanmar. The actors were those who made the history of Myanmar and what it has led to. How political Buddhism is used? First, it excludes those who are not ethnically Burman; then it segregates ethnic minority groups from the rest of society, restricting their movement. Third, the use of physical violence is the last stepping-stone and a means to get rid of the opponents 42. Hylland Eriksen, Thomas. 2010. Ethnicity and nationalism: anthropological perspectives. Third edition. London; New York. Pluto Press 43 Anderson, Benedict. 2006. Imagined Communities. Revised edition. London: Verso. 44 https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/jun/01/myanmar-and-un-announce-deal-for-safe-return-of-rohingya. 26. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(27) of political Buddhism. The violence is legitimized by claiming its recipients are “terrorists” or “illegal immigrants”, people without rights. Furthermore, violence can work as a scaring tactic and an attempt to reach political goals. These political goals can be to diminish the perceived threat from the minority group not sharing the values of political Buddhism. Consequently, physical violence becomes means to an end: to reach a homogenous Myanmar and make sure all minority groups remain in line, marginalized and outside of the national identity.. 2.3. The tree-level analysis 2.3.1. Individual One of the main aspects that have appeared in the public discussion about this Rohingya crisis is the role of the Myanmar State Counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi, who also received the Nobel. 政治大 condemned the attacks that the立 ARSA group perpetrated against government security forces.. Peace Prize in 1991. Since the beginning of hostilities in August, the Burmese leader This was the first statement that earned her criticism from the international community mainly. ‧ 國. 學. because she condemned the attacks, but not the situation of the Rohingya minority in the country. On many occasions, Suu Kyi has been accused of not defending, nor ensuring the. ‧. rights of the community Muslim in Burmese territory, to defend, in some way, the Brutal. y. support for the policy applied against the Rohingya community.. sit. Nat. counter-offensive of the Burmese army. After her statement, she made a clear reference to their. er. io. In subsequent statements, her position continued along the same lines, accusations about the. al. n. v i n said there is no such thing, and thatC is h a very strong term to describe what is happening inside engchi U. alleged cleanup-ethnicity that is carrying out the Burmese government. The Nobel Peace Prize the country. Likewise, she accused that there are some Muslims who kill other Muslims and that they not cooperating with the authorities. The international community has criticized Suu Kyi's statements mainly because she is one of the most recognized and important human rights defenders in the world, which allowed her to be a winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. From the perspective of international public opinion, Suu Kyi should have a stronger position and in favor of respect for minimum guarantees of the Rohingya community in the country. However, it should be clear that from her position in the Burmese Government as a Counselor of State, she has no greater powers to effectively influence in favor or against the Muslim minority in Myanmar. Under the new Burmese Constitution, Suu Kyi has no control directly on the army, which is the executing agency of the measures against the Rohingya. Despite the 27. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(28) recent transition to democratic and civilian life in Myanmar, the army retains extensive faculties in political and economic matters. Therefore, the responsibility of violence towards the Muslim community is largely the military authorities, led by Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the Burmese army.. 2.3.2. Domestic Since 2003, the army began a stage of democratic transition of the military government to civil. The main objective was to build a new face of Burmese politics without That the army was the center of attention. So they decided to agree with civil leaders to retain power from a second position but still have important powers. In practice the power of the army, which controls 25% of parliamentary seats, the Ministry of. 政治大. Interior, border affairs and the Ministry of Defense, have limited Suu Kyi's performance of the. 立. country. And although the National League for Democracy, the Nobel Peace Prize party, has. ‧ 國. 學. managed to agree with the army important reforms such as economic openness, counteract the Burmese army measures could affect the relationship between both entities causing the political paralysis, risks of governability and the pause for equally important reforms for the country.. ‧. Suu Kyi has admitted that under the current Constitution of the country the army operates. y. Nat. independently and with some autonomy from the ruling party, which means that there is a. io. sit. major challenge for the civil government to obtain powers concerning military control. With. n. al. er. everything, from the international perspective, the responsibility of the Rohingya repression. i n U. v. will be of Suu Kyi, although inside she cannot fully control the decisions made by the army.. Ch. engchi. But neither does it seem willing to oppose that policy, mainly to avoid conflicts within the country, after a period of political stability and understanding between the civil and military power.. 2.3.3. International After the conflict began, governments and the UN itself spoke out against the Burmese Government measures. At a conference held in Geneva, Switzerland organized jointly by the UN, the European Union and the Government of Kuwait, the situation was alerted of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. To reduce the deficiencies in the reception area, the objective was to raise a total of 434 million dollars until February 2018. "This is the largest exodus from a single country since the Rwandan genocide in 1994," he said. Shameem Ahsan, Bangladesh 28. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(29) Ambassador to the UN, who also criticized the position of the Burmese government in the conflict. Just last November 24, the UN accused the authorities of trying to apply a cleaning ethnicity in the country after the intensification of border patrolling, so it summoned representatives of Myanmar to the UN to convey the international community's concern for these facts. Likewise, the same international organization has warned that there are around 3,000 children with severe malnutrition caused by the crisis. Besides, he accused that he has medical assistance and food distribution suspended for 150,000 people by the siege Burmese military. The Government of Myanmar has said that it is already negotiating with China and Russia to that block any possible UN Security Council resolution on the crisis. The former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, announced that he would lead a commission to discuss the conflict and clashes in the state of. 治政大especially from the Rohingya state to improve the well-being of the local population, 立 community.. Rakhine. The goal is to start the dialogue between the political and community leaders of the. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 29. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.

(30) CHAPTER 3 3. Main analysis 3.1. Rohingya situation 3.1.1. History of Rohingya According to the Rohingya themselves they have lived in Rakhine (historically known as Arakan) for centuries. However, there are no specific evidence tied to archeological discoveries that can say who the first settlers in Rakhine were. The majority of Rohingya are Sunni Muslims and a smaller minority in Bangladesh and India are Hindu. Rohingya have their own language and culture and they represent the top share of Muslims in Myanmar. The largest number of Rohingya live in Rakhine state in Myanmar, but there are also significant. 政治大 migrated mainly because of the repressive politics towards Muslims by the Myanmar military 立 regime (BBC News, 2018) . populations living in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and India. Those diasporas 45. ‧ 國. 學. The exact origin of Rohingya is contested, but it is established that the ancestors of Rohingya were Persian and Arab traders who settled in Arakan as early as the ninth century (Farzana,. ‧. 2017:42) 46 . Arakan was naturally separated from the rest of Burma by the Arakan Yoma mountain range, which is one factor explaining why Rohingya developed a different culture. y. Nat. sit. and identity than the rest of Burma. Nevertheless, during the Middle Ages Arakan was. er. io. Buddhist just as the Burmese Kingdom. However, in 1406, the Arakan Kingdom was subdued. al. by foreign invaders and the Arakense King fled to the neighboring Muslim Bengal. With the. n. v i n help of a Bengal army the Arakan King and during the years in exile the C hcould restore his rule U i e h n c he brought back to Arakan. During the king had become influence by Muslim ideas g which centuries to come Arakan/Rakhine developed a multicultural society where “Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, together with Brahmanism, Hinduism, Animism and other beliefs flourished side by side”. The prosperous times ended in 1784 when the Burmese King Bodawpaya invaded and annexed Arakan into his Burmese Kingdom. Widespread unrest followed in the region and thousands of Arakanese fled to the now British colonial Bengal. These events explained why Arakanese Rohingya favored the British and the mistrust which has continued between the Rohingya and the Burmese.. 45. BBC News. 2018-01-16. “Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know about the crisis”. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41566561 46 Farzana, Kazi Fahmida. 2017. Memories of Burmese Rohingya Refugees, Contested Identity and Belonging. Palgrave Macmillan: New York.(pp.21-48).. 30. DOI:10.6814/NCCU201900640.