The Rohingya Of Rakhine

Myanmar calls them ‘Bengali economic migrants’, illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The Rohingya claim they settled a century ago in Rakhine during British rule. The term ‘Rohingya’ was first mentioned by Dr Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in a 1799 essay after a visit to Chittagong.

Graphic by Prashant Chaudhary

The Numbers

• 1.4 m in Myanmar

• 3,00,000 in Bangladesh

• 24,000 in Malaysia

Languages They Speak

• Urdu, Bengali dialect spoken in Chittagong tract, and Arakanese

The Problem

• Myanmar claims Rohingya do not figure anywhere in the “100 national races” in the country

• Citizenship Law of 1982 offered naturalised citizenship to Rohingya who could produce documents to prove they had been living in Myanmar for at least 60 years.

• Naturalised citizenship was revocable, carried fewer rights than full citizenship

• Those who failed to produce documents to prove domicile for 60 years were confined to ‘concentration camps’ and denied permission to leave the country

• Rohingya students expelled from Myanmar after 2012; Rohingya not allowed to study law or medicine

• Somali terror groups, Islamic fundamentalist groups and Islamic countries in Africa have called upon Muslims to rally for helping the Rohingya

The 2012 Flashpoint

• Gangrape of a Buddhist woman led to rioting in which 1,40,000 Rohingyas were rendered homeless and 1,00,000 people fled Myanmar. 8,00,000 were put in ‘concentration camps’.

Human Trafficking

• Rohingya are said to be paying as much as $200 to board illegal boats for Thailand. Young women unable to pay are allowed on the boat and eventually ‘sold’.

• A boatride from Thailand to Malaysia costs $2,000. Well-off Rohingya need documents to fly to Yangon from Rakhine, a 90-minute flight for which they pay as much as $,4000 compared to normal fare of $88.

Compiled by Uttam Sengupta