The United States is a first world country that not only has gained that title because of its developments in the economic, social, and political aspects, but also because of its international involvement, gaining allies and support around the globe. The United States has enough to help other countries when in need, especially if the values and beliefs for what the United States stands for, such as human rights, democracy, and freedom, are being taken away from people not living between America’s borders. There are currently many cases around the world where this is happening, but there is one that stands out from all of them: the Rohingya Muslims and the attacks they are facing to eliminate them. This issue is a highly controversial one, and the United States’ involvement has been discussed since the beginning of it. But just for a clear understanding of the issue, I will explain to you, President Donald Trump what the problem is and how America should get involved to help solve this issue.
The Rohingya are a Muslim-majority ethic group who have lived as a stateless community in the Buddhist nation of Myanmar since the 15th century. Contrary to people’s beliefs, they have faced persecution by Myanmar’s military service a long time before the country’s independence in 1948. Since then, more than 13 military operations against these peoples have been carried out, driving the Rohingya out of their lands, burning their homes and mosques, raping women and children, etc. Besides these military raids, the people are subject to theft, extortion, and forced labor by the authorities. There are many causes as to why these people face such a fate. Myanmar is a country that has political instability since before their independence from Great Britain, but after that major event, the country entered a “never-ending civil war” (Ebbighausen, 2013) because of ethnic conflicts. In fact, instead of being called a
country, experts referred to it as a state because of its cultural division. Other reasons as to why this community is facing what many have called ‘genocide’ is because of Myanmar’s Islamophobia and other racism, and the illiberal ex-military government seeking for demographic legitimacy (Brinham, 2012). One key factor of these causes is the 1982 Citizenship Law of Myanmar, which ignored the Rohingya’s claim to citizenship turning them into stateless individuals, which has in turn formed the legal basis for arbitrary and discriminatory treatment against the Rohingya community and made them subject to the different hate crimes discussed above.
About 1.1 million Rohingya live in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, which is the least developed region of the country. According to the United Nations Human Rights Council, more than 1,680,000 (one million six hundred eighty thousand) Rohingya have fled Myanmar since 2012. But the Rohingya Muslims have tried their best to get a better future and livelihood. The majority fled to neighboring Bangladesh, but later the country stopped giving aid to the refugees, causing the Rohingya to live in Internally Displaced Camps. Some others moved to Thailand, which gave the refugees food and medicine, but failed to give them shelter. Both Malaysia and Indonesia adopted the same response as Thailand.
Today, being stateless is a big issue. After the country’s independence, the government identified the Rohingya as ‘illegal Bengali immigrants,’ in other words, non-Burmese, refusing to grant them citizenship status and other legal documentation. Under the 1982 Citizenship Law, they were declared “non-national” and “foreign residents.” Being stateless is one of the biggest
concerns by experts of the Rohingya Crisis since this accounts for a violation of human rights. Today, these individuals should be protected under the United Nation’s Declaration of Human Rights Article 15, which states that everyone has the right to a nationality and no one can be deprived or denied of having it. Many might think that being stateless in fact does not affect a person’s life, but in fact, it changes their life completely. Mr. President Donald Trump, the issue with being stateless is that when a person falls under this category, it enters a stage of “bare life”, where the person is unable to secure any right, is guilty of existence, and is exploited from a system this person doesn’t even belong to (Balazo, 2015).
President Trump, it is clear why the United States should get involved. In the past years, what is sometimes referred to ‘the West’ has rewarded Burma’s government for the steps they have made towards democratic reform by easing sanctions and increasing investment instead of sanctioning Burma because of these Genocide crimes to the Rohingya Muslims. But we have failed to recognize that if not protected, this could bring in problems in democracy and economic stability. But gladly there are many ways that we can contribute to this humanitarian issue. According to experts, the best option to address the Rohingya issue is a contentious case filed with the International Court Justice (ICJ) regarding human rights abuses by Myanmar’s leaders and military. I believe this is the best option because even though Myanmar is guilty for most of the human rights abuses, this approach can also draw in both Bangladesh, Thailand, and all Myanmar’s neighbor countries who have violated the international principle of non-refoulement by returning Rohingya Muslims back into Myanmar. By putting the United States’ influence in filing this case, we can find a solution to the crimes against the human rights to this community, without getting involved with the countries’ sovereignty.
Another way that the United States can help the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar regarding statelessness is provided by the Human Rights Watch. Although they recommend this to all concerned governments. From this list of recommendations, I believe it is in the country’s interest to provide aid on the reconciliation between the Arakan and Rohingya populations in Arakan State. This alongside publicly press the Burmese government to reform the discriminatory 1982 Citizenship Law and bring it into line with international standards. By doing this, we can ensure the enforcement of the human rights to the Rohingya community.
The United States is a powerful country that many countries what to be allies with, it is a respected country around the globe and it is recognized as one of the leaders. But with this huge recognition, big responsibilities come in hand. It doesn’t matter how much we import or how rich the country is if we witness our ideals and base of what we are today being tainted overseas. President Donald Trump, by providing help to the Rohingya Muslim’s humanitarian crisis, not only we will be helping these individuals, but we will strengthen the reputation we have hold throughout decades. Also, by providing aid to these people, we will eventually aid into the economic, social, and political aspects of Myanmar, strengthening them with the relationship of the country with other countries. And lastly, by helping Myanmar, we can achieve our goal interest of continue to be recognized as the land of the free. Mr. President, I believe that with your help, we can do this not just to make America great again, but to make the world great again, stronger and more united than ever.