Study Guide Special Political and Decolonization Committee Introduction Discriminatory policies of Myanmar s government since the late 1970s have compelled hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya to flee their homes in the predominantly Buddhist country. Most have crossed by land into Bangladesh, while others have taken to the sea to reach Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Renewed violence, including reported rape, murder, and arson in 2017, triggered a massive exodus of Rohingya amid charges of ethnic cleansing against Myanmar s security forces. Those forces claimed they carried out a campaign to reinstate stability in the western region of Myanmar. Who are the Rohingya? The Rohingya are an ethnic Muslim minority who practice a Sufi-inflected variation of Sunni Islam. Before August 2017, the majority of the estimated one million Rohingya in Myanmar resided in Rakhine State, where they accounted for nearly a third of the population. They differ from Myanmar s dominant Buddhist groups ethnically, linguistically, and religiously. The Rohingya trace their origins in the region to the fifteenth century, when thousands of Muslims came to the former Arakan Kingdom. Many others arrived during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Rakhine was governed by colonial rule as part of British India. Since independence in 1948, successive governments in Burma, renamed Myanmar in 1989, have refuted the Rohingya s historical claims and denied the group recognition as one of the country s 135 ethnic groups. The Rohingya are largely considered illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though many trace their roots in Myanmar back centuries. Neither the central government nor Rakhine s dominant ethnic Buddhist group, known as the Rakhine, recognize the label Rohingya, a self-identifying term [PDF] that surfaced in the 1950s, which experts say provides the group with a collective political identity. Though the etymological root of the word is disputed, the most widely accepted theory is that Rohang derives from the word Arakan in the Rohingya dialect and ga or gya means from. By identifying as Rohingya, the ethnic Muslim group asserts its ties to land that was once under the control of the Arakan Kingdom, according to Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, a Thailandbased advocacy group.
Map of Rohingya migration routes What is the legal status of the Rohingya? The government refuses to grant the Rohingya citizenship, and as a result the vast majority of the group s members have no legal documentation, effectively making them stateless. Myanmar s 1948 citizenship law was already exclusionary, and the military junta, which seized power in 1962, introduced a law twenty years later
stripping the Rohingya of access to full citizenship. Until recently, the Rohingya had been able to register as temporary residents with identification cards, known as white cards, that the junta began issuing to many Muslims, both Rohingya and non-rohingya, in the 1990s. The white cards conferred [PDF] limited rights but were not recognized as proof of citizenship. Still, Lewa says that they did provide some recognition of temporary stay for the Rohingya in Myanmar. In 2014 the government held a UN-backed national census, its first in thirty years. The Muslim minority group was initially permitted to identify as Rohingya, but after Buddhist nationalists threatened to boycott the census, the government decided the Rohingya could only register if they identified as Bengali instead. Rakhine State is Myanmar s least developed state, with a poverty rate of 78 percent. Similarly, under pressure from Buddhist nationalists protesting the Rohingya s right to vote in a 2015 constitutional referendum, then-president Thein Sein canceled the temporary identity cards in February 2015, effectively revoking their newly gained right to vote. (White card holders were allowed to vote in Myanmar s 2008 constitutional referendum and 2010 general elections.) In the 2015 elections, which were widely touted by international monitors as free and fair, no parliamentary candidate was of the Muslim faith. Country-wide anti-muslim sentiment [PDF] makes it politically difficult for the government to take steps seen as supportive of Muslim rights, writes the International Crisis Group. Muslim minorities continue to consolidate under one Rohingya identity, says Lewa, despite documentation by rights groups and researchers of systematic disenfranchisement, violence, and instances of anti-muslim campaigns. Why are the Rohingya fleeing Myanmar? The Myanmar government has effectively institutionalized discrimination against the ethnic group through restrictions on marriage, family planning, employment, education, religious choice, and freedom of movement. For example, Rohingya couples in the northern towns of Maungdaw and Buthidaung are only allowed to have two children [PDF]. Rohingya must also seek permission to marry, which may require them to bribe authorities and provide photographs of the bride without a headscarf and the groom with a clean-shaven face, practices that conflict with Muslim customs. To move to a new home or travel outside their townships, Rohingya must gain government approval. Moreover, Rakhine State is Myanmar s least developed state, with a poverty rate of 78 percent, compared to the 37.5 percent national average, according to World Bank estimates. Widespread poverty, poor infrastructure,
and a lack of employment opportunities in Rakhine have exacerbated the cleavage between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya. This tension is deepened by religious differences that have at times erupted into conflict. What s caused the recent exodus? Clashes in Rakhine broke out in August 2017, after a militant group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) claimed responsibility for attacks on police and army posts. The government declared ARSA a terrorist organization and the military mounted a brutal campaign that destroyed hundreds of Rohingya villages and forced more than 650,000 Rohingya to leave Myanmar. At least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the first month of attacks, between August 25 and September 24, according to the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders. Myanmar s security forces also allegedly opened fire on fleeing civilians and planted land mines near border crossings used by Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. Rights groups and UN leaders have condemned the escalating violence and atrocities, which have been described by a number of observers as ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The clashes and exodus have created what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls a humanitarian and human rights nightmare. At an emergency UN Security Council meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Myanmar authorities have carried out brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority, and she called on members to suspend weapons provisions to the military. Other Security Council members, like Russia and China, have resisted increasing pressure on Myanmar s government because they say it is trying to restore stability. An international response that consists primarily of assigning blame for this humanitarian tragedy is no longer tenable. - Priscilla Clapp, United States Institute of Peace Sectarian violence is not new to Rakhine State. Security campaigns in the past five years, notably in 2012 and 2016, also resulted in the flight of tens of thousands of Rohingya from their homes. Where are the Rohingya migrating? Bangladesh: Most Rohingya have sought refuge in nearby Bangladesh, which has limited resources and land to host refugees. More than 950,000 people are refugees in the country, many unregistered, according to estimates from the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees. The aid group Save the Children projects the birth of forty-eight thousand babies in Bangladesh s crowded camps in 2018. Meanwhile, the risk of disease outbreak in camps is high, with the World Health Organization issuing alerts for measles, tetanus, diphtheria, and acute jaundice syndrome. Moreover, more than 60 percent of the available water supply in refugee camps is contaminated. Vulnerable refugees have turned to smugglers, paying for transport out of Bangladesh and Myanmar and risking exploitation, including sexual enslavement. In November 2017, Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a deal for the possible repatriation of hundreds of thousands of refugees, though details remain vague on the rights that would be granted to the Rohingya, locations for resettlement, and assurances that such pogroms would not recur. The repatriation of the first group of Rohingya is slated for late January 2018. Malaysia: As of September 2017, sixty-two thousand Rohingya were in Malaysia, according to the United Nations. Rohingya who have arrived safely in Malaysia have no legal status and are unable to work, leaving their families cut off from access to education and health care. More recently, the Malaysian government sent much needed aid in the form of shelters, schools, clean water bases, and food to refugees in Bangladesh. Thailand: Thailand is a hub for regional human smuggling and serves as a common transit point for Rohingya. Migrants often arrive there by boat from Bangladesh or Myanmar before continuing on foot to Malaysia or by boat to Indonesia or Malaysia. The military-led Thai government has cracked down on smuggling rings after the discovery of mass graves in alleged camps where gangs held hostages. Dozens of people, including a general, provincial officials, and police, were found guilty in 2017 of the deaths of trafficked Rohingya. But some experts say punishing traffickers only disrupts the networks, but does not dismantle them. Indonesia: The Rohingya have also sought refuge in Indonesia, although the number of refugees from Myanmar there remains relatively small. During the spring 2015 migration surge, Indonesia s military chief expressed concerns that easing immigration restrictions would spark an influx of people. Amid international pressure, Indonesia admitted one thousand Rohingya and provided them with emergency assistance and protection. Has civilian leadership changed the Myanmar government s policies?
In 2016, Myanmar s first democratically elected government in a generation came to power, but critics say it has been reluctant to advocate for Rohingya and other Muslims for fear of alienating Buddhist nationalists and threatening the power-sharing agreement the civilian government maintains with the military. Some observers saw the establishment in August 2016 of an advisory commission on ethnic strife led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a positive development, but subsequent outbreaks of violence have curbed this optimism. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar s de facto leader, has denied that ethnic cleansing is taking place and dismissed international criticism of her handling of the crisis, accusing critics of fueling resentment between Buddhists and Muslims in the country. In September 2017, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said her government had already started defending all the people in Rakhine in the best way possible. In December, the Myanmar government denied access to the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, and suspended cooperation for the remainder of her term. How is the region responding? Protesters have at times gathered in cities in Pakistan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Bangladesh to condemn the killing and persecution of Rohingya. Bangladesh s foreign minister condemned the violence in Rakhine as genocide in September 2017 and Indonesia and Malaysia called on the Myanmar authorities to halt their campaign and bring an end to the violence. Yet governments in Southeast Asia lack established legal frameworks to protect refugees rights, and the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have not coordinated a response to the deepening crisis. Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand all ASEAN members have yet to ratify the UN Refugee Convention or its protocol. ASEAN itself has been mostly silent on the plight of the Rohingya and on the growing numbers of asylum seekers in member countries, largely because of its members commitment to the principle of noninterference in each other s internal affairs. They aren t going to take collective action on Myanmar, with Myanmar as one of its members, says CFR s Joshua Kurlantzick. How have others responded? In December 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama lifted sanctions against Myanmar, saying it had made strides in improving human rights. The move came amid a crackdown on Rohingya and was criticized by some as premature. A year later, new U.S. sanctions were imposed against a Myanmar general for his alleged role in the military s attacks in Rakhine. Meanwhile, countries like the United States, Canada, Norway, and South Korea, and international donors have upped their humanitarian assistance as the flow of Rohingya to Bangladesh has
grown, and in early 2018 a team of UK medics led an emergency response to help stem the spread of disease in camps. Advocacy groups including Human Rights Watch, the Arakan Project, and Fortify Rights continue to appeal for international pressure on Myanmar s government. At the same time, experts such as Priscilla Clapp, a former U.S. diplomat in Myanmar, say that placing sole blame on Myanmar oversimplifies and misrepresents the complexities of the country s historical ethnic diversity. An international response that consists primarily of assigning blame for this humanitarian tragedy is no longer tenable. It is time for the international community to organize a realistic, workable solution, writes Clapp. Still, resentment of the minority group has run deep for generations. Without overhauling a culture of pervasive prejudice and ensuring that Rohingya are treated as human beings, the situation in Rakhine State is unlikely to improve, says journalist and author Francis Wade. PREVIOUS UN ACTION World Food Program: The WFP supplies food to more than 85,000 people in the state of Rakhine (ongoing) as well as to those in IDP camps and refugee camps outside the country. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: The UNHCR cares for an estimated 200,000-800,000 Rohingya living either as IDP s or Refugees in other countries, mostly in Bangladesh. It rejected a plan proposed by Myanmar in 2012 to resettle the entire Rohingya population (IDP s and non-displaced people) abroad. 10 UNHCR aid workers were detained in Myanmar in June 2012 for inciting riots.22 United Nations Security Council: The UNSC was briefed on the ongoing refugee crisis on the 28th of May 2015, no actions were taken. United Nations Human Rights Council: The UNHRC issued resolution A/HRC/29/L.30 titled Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar in response to the 2015 refugee crisis calling for, among other things, a review of the inability of certain Burmese minorities to gain Burmese citizenship and condemning violence against Burmese minorities, especially Rohingya muslims. BLOC POSITIONS
USA: The USA serves as moral superpower in the actions taken towards solving this crisis. Largely in part due to its distance, it is unable to provide direct relief for refugees fleeing from persecution in Burma however it agrees to plans of resettlement and is willing to provide financial assistance where need be. ASEAN: There is a non-intervention policy within the member states as the crisis surrounds inhabitants from Myanmar. The Associate of Southeast Asian Nations - Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam - main plan of action surrounds intensifying the immediate search and rescue operations to ensure the wellbeing and safe return of the migrants lost at sea. Furthermore, these member states have agreed to provide temporary shelter to the refugees but are calling on the international community to provide financial assistance. 24 No concrete plan of action has yet been set. Myanmar: The country of Myanmar urges the international community to help them push the Rohingyas out of their state and urges states to consider the social, political, and cultural strains their [Rohingya] presence has been to the people of the Myanmar state. Gambia: Gambia acknowledges the urgency of the situation and wishes to alleviate the plight of the Rohingya by resettling all Rohingya refugees into their state, despite its impoverished condition. The West African state views it as part of their sacred duty to alleviate the untold hardships and sufferings fellow human beings are being confronted with but would like to plead to the larger global community to aid in providing financial support in order for Gambia to provide for the refugees. Bangladesh: Bangladesh, although not adamantly against the reintegration of the Rohingyas back into their country, strongly urges a reconsideration of this intended plan of action due to the lack of financial stability and infrastructure to support a large and increasingly growing influx of Rohingya refugees. Malaysia and Thailand: Both Malaysia and Thailand have pledged to assist with resettlement programs of refugees into their respective countries. Again, similar to Gambia, financial assistance would be beneficial to impacting greater change.
A Responsibility to Protect? The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a concept that the United Nations has adopted following the adoption of the United Nations World Summit Outcome Document in 2005. Whilst the United Nations Charter protects the sovereignty of states and preserves the fundamental right of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of states, the R2P provides a means of legitimacy for intervention. The global principle of the obligation of states to protect their citizens from the risk of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing is thus extended to protect all citizens from such atrocities. The R2P has three pillars which stipulates the responsibilities states have towards the citizenry. These pillars were founded in a 2001 report by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS). The question of whether the ongoing crisis in Myanmar constitutes a Responsibility to Protect, initiated by the international community in defence of the Rohingya, is a deeply introspective one. On the one hand, the systemic discrimination and organized violence perpetrated against the Rohingya is reminiscent of precursors to genocide as happened in Rwanda in 1994 and in Germany in the inter-war period of the late 1930s. On the other hand, the scale of the violence initiated in Myanmar is far less than that of the above examples. Legitimacy in action must also be tempered by the need to safeguard the principles of non-intervention, and not establish a precedent of intervention for even the smallest degree of violence against the citizenry CONCLUSION The Rohingya refugee crisis was caused due to social and cultural tensions, which created a division amongst the Muslim minority and Buddhist majority in the state of Myanmar. It has its roots from the early 20th century, however it is becoming an increasingly pressing issue among today s international community as the 2015 mass migration of refugees, set for persecution, seek refuge in neighbouring countries. The problems arisen from this modern day crisis largely concerns violations of human rights as well as serious humanitarian consequences surrounding access to basic living necessities due to strict movement restrictions within these areas. The UNHCR must work towards ensuring not only the safety and protection of refugees seeking asylum in Burma s neighboring countries, but it must also work towards creating a safe, accessible, and viable living environment for resettlement of these refugees into the new societies. Aung San Suu Kyi s National League for Democracy (NLD) party has only been leading the government for a little over a year now. While they face many different challenges the continuing human rights violations must come to an end. The committee may decide to focus on the nature of the crimes taking place against the Rohingya in Myanmar thus assisting them to determine the
best course of action. One thing is certain; however, the situation thus far has not managed to resolve itself. We have seen far too many examples of what occurs when the international community simply stands by without acting, as in the case of the Holocaust, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia. POINTS A RESOLUTION MUST ADDRESS Due to the relatively little international engagement of this refugee crisis matter, all points of resolutions are open for consideration. However, when writing your resolutions keep in mind these following points. The resolution should aim to achieve: - A solution that reduces the number of refugees by either addressing the Burmese government to revoke ageold legal stances on the Rohingyas rights to citizenship and other day-to-day operations throughout society or methods of effective division of refugees amongst the neighboring countries so as to not strain financial agencies of any one country in their attempt to re-integrate Rohingya refugees into their country - A solution which addresses the treatment of asylum seekers - Structuring of rehabilitation centers and asylums - What framework should the UN adopt that rehabilitates the rohingya apart from past policies and solutions? - What role does a transition to democracy play in this and Aung San Suu Kyi? - Does the international community have a responsibility to intervene under R2P to protect the Rohingya? - Should the HRC lobby the Security Council to act? What would intervention in Myanmar mean for political stability of the country? Would it make things work? - How relevant are human rights in Myanmar, or are other political interests more important and pressing than the plight of the Rohingya? - What recommendations can this council make to the government of Myanmar and what additional protections, if any, should be put in place in order to hold them accountable for their actions?
References 1. Ahmed, N., 2015. West, Gulf complicity in oil-fuelled genocide of Myanmar s Rohingya. Middle East Eye. Accessed 1/4/17 at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/westgulf-complicity-oil-fuelled-genocidemyanmar-s-rohingya-1741750760 2. Albert, E., 2017. The Rohingya Migrant Crisis. Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed 22/3/17 at: http://www.cfr.org/burmamyanmar/rohingya-migrant-crisis/p36651 3. Amnesty International, 2016. Amnesty International Report 2015/2016: The State of the World's Human Rights. London: Amnesty International Ltd. 4. Amnesty International, 2017. Amnesty International Report 2016/2017: The State of the World's Human Rights. London: Amnesty International Ltd., pp.263-266. 5. Amnesty International, 2016. Oral Statement by Amnesty International, the Women s Peace Network-Arakan and the Arakan Project in Light of the Review of Myanmar s Fourth and Fifth Combined Report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, pp. 1-2 Accessed 1/4/17 at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa16/4374/2016/en/ 6. Applying the Responsibility to Protect to Burma/Myanmar, 2010. 1st ed. [ebook] New York: Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, pp.1-4. Accessed 28/3/17 at: http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/applying%20the%20responsibility%20to%20protect%20to%20burma%20m yanmar.pdf 7. BBC, 2016. Kofi Annan downplays claims of Myanmar genocide. Accessed 28/3/17 at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38223055 8. Click2map.com, 2017. Genocide Watch. Accessed 28/3/17 at: https://www.click2map.com/v2/h3llo/genocide_prevention 9. UNSC, 1994. Final Report of The Commission of Experts Established Pursuant To S/RES/780, (1992). United Nations Security Council. Accessed 28/3/17 at: http://www.icty.org/x/file/about/otp/un_commission_of_experts_report1994_en.pdf Resources to Begin Your Research:
It is recommended that delegates make extensive use of academic books, scholarly journals, newspaper articles, official documents and other relevant literature which pertains to the United Nations. The following are highly recommended resources for your research: Please ensure you have copies of the following: 1. The UN Charter http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/ 2. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ News: It is essential that you regularly keep up with global news. Please try not to rely entirely on one news organization. Recommended News Organizations: BBC, Sky News, Al-Jazeera, France 24, The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, the Times, CNN, New York Times, Newsweek, The Economist, and Associated Press, to name a few. UN WIRE: The UN Wire provides daily updates of the work of the UN. Subscribe at http://www.smartbrief.com/un_wire/ Websites: 1. United Nations: http://www.un.org The UN Website allows delegates to find information on all aspects of the United Nations. There are links to specific topics, committee sites and other related information on the UN s agenda. 2. United Nations Bibliographic Information System: http://unbisnet.un.org/ This source provides delegates with essential information regarding UN documents, resolutions, meeting records, country voting records and press releases. It is an essential starting off point for research, as delegates will be able to find the relevant documents which state what the UN has already done in relation to their committee topic. 3. CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
The website provides basic information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, infrastructure, military and transnational issues of all countries in the world. 4. World Bank http://www.worldbank.org/ This source is useful for finding data and statistical information about countries and specific UN topics. 5. Permanent Mission to the United Nations http://www.un.org/en/members/index.shtml This source provides information about positions of countries on particular issues. It is most useful in writing position papers. 6. Ministries of Foreign Affairs http://www.usip.org/publications/foreign-affairs-ministries-web The source also offers information about the policies and positions of countries on specific issues. This is useful for writing position papers. 7. UN Member States on the Record http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unms/andorra.shtml The site offers information about membership of Member States, speeches given by delegates, draft resolutions sponsored by countries and reports on human rights conventions. 8. UN Global Issues http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/ The resource provides overviews of issues that are on the UN Agenda and also provides links to various International Organizations that work in conjunction with the United Nations on specific topics. 9. UN Documents: http://www.un.org/en/documents/ If you would like to search resolutions and meeting records by committee session or year, this is also a useful tool. Others include Non-Governmental Organisations (particularly those accredited by the UN), country reports and data published by international or regional organisations such as the World Bank, WHO, OECD, APEC, etc. Your role as a Member State As Member States in each committee, the primary goal is to pursue the interests of your country while seeking realistic global solutions to the agenda topics. Delegates will need to negotiate with Member States and collaborate with them to produce a resolution or solution to the assigned topics. Therefore, delegates are expected to have at least a basic understanding of the foreign policies of their individual governments and to act within the constraints of those policies and interests during the conference.
Researching your Country Once delegates have familiarised themselves with the structure, history and functions of the UN system, the next step should be researching the assigned country. They should begin by researching its political structure, economic conditions, religion(s), history, and culture. It is useful to also research the main problems within your country, including but not limited to the status of minority populations, human rights record, division of wealth, development, health care, education, poverty, and the environment. As all of these factors shape a Member State s foreign policy, familiarity with these areas will assist delegates in forming a consistent foreign policy and strategy for the negotiations. Researching your Committee: It is essential that delegates understand the mandate, roles and powers of each committee. This will give delegates a better understanding of the types of decisions that they will be able to make when they are at the conference. It is recommended that delegates also begin examining a few examples of resolutions, agenda items and discussions that have actually taken place within their committee. The best place to find this information is through the UN Official Documents Search System (Available at http://www.un.org/en/documents/). Researching your agenda topics Delegates will be provided with a Background Guide, which will provide them with basic information regarding each of their topics. The guides are designed to serve as a starting point for research, as well as to guide delegates as to the type of questions and issues they will need to research and consider for discussion at the conference. While reading the Background Guide, develop answers to the following basic questions: When considering each topic, what essential questions are being raised? In your opinion as a diplomat, why are these issues important? Give specific reasons why you believe these issues remain unresolved. What important documents are essential to your research? What actions have various international bodies taken in the past regarding these issues? What actions are they currently taking, or what committees exist to address them?
Or what should be done from the perspective of your state to resolve the issues? Researching a topic is a complex process which calls for determining what various bodies within and related to the UN System have done previously to address the matter, what is currently in place, and what is planned for the future. It is also important to examine the successes and the failures, and to attempt to determine why those approaches have succeeded or failed.