Erasing the Rohingya: The Historical Roots of Myanmar's Crimes Against Humanity
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, Myanmar is a majority Buddhist country that recently transitioned from an authoritarian regime to a nominal democracy. Despite this, violence against the Muslim Rohingya minority of Rahkine State has only escalated. In August 2017, Myanmar’s military began a scorched-earth campaign against the stateless Rohingya, committing crimes against humanity and driving thousands of Rohingya into Bangladesh. One year later, the UN has recommended for Myanmar to be criminally investigated for the most egregious crime in international law: genocide. Though the Rohingya have been present in the Rahkine region for centuries, the military claims that they are illegal immigrants. From a contemporary human rights perspective, this thesis analyzes the historical, political and religious origins of today’s genocide of the Rohingya people. Employing history as a means to understand the Rohingyas’ current suffering, this thesis situates the Rohingya narrative in the larger context of post-colonial Burmese state-building and in comparison to other Burmese minorities in order to understand the Rohingyas’ vulnerability. Through historical analysis, this thesis strives to raise awareness of the Rohingyas’ erasure and human right to national belonging.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | May 2019 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Schnider, Kanani Sofia |
|---|---|
| Advisor | Cohen, David |
Subjects
| Subject | International Relations |
|---|---|
| Subject | human rights |
| Subject | genocide |
| Subject | ethnic cleansing |
| Subject | crimes against humanity |
| Subject | Rohingya |
| Subject | Myanmar |
| Subject | national identity |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Schnider, Kanani Sofia. Erasing the Rohingya: The Historical Roots of Myanmar's Crimes Against Humanity. 2019. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/fs527kb3838
Collection
Stanford University, Program in International Relations, Honors Theses
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- Contact
- kananis@stanford.edu
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