In 2018, the preconditions for genocide in Myanmar were firmly in place. The ethically Burman population faced racism, which is normalized, while the Rohingyas face state oppression, communal violence, and forced to both external and internal exile (Ibrahim, 2016). Since Burma attained its independence, anti-Rohingyas sentiments have been deliberately stoked by many regimes. By 2018, the anti-Rohingyas violence waves were orchestrated by the state, while in other cases, state officials worked closely with other religious and ethnic groups (Ibrahim, 2016). In 2018, the state was preparing for an effective ethnic cleansing by creating a powerless minority, which was discriminated against by the state authorities and neighbors (Ibrahim, 2016). Myanmar today exists as the state that is at the highest risk of genocide.
Following the recent waves of violence, the situation towards the Rohingyas is worsening today. The preconditions towards genocide in Myanmar still exist, which are explainable by the Myanmar government attitude in 2019, to defy the international calls to investigate the violations of human rights against the Rakhine, Shan, Karen, and Kachin States' ethnic minorities (Human Rights Watch Organization, 2020). Additionally, the United Nations-mandated Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) gathered enough evidence necessary in calling for an investigation on crimes against humanity and genocide by the senior military officials against the ethnic Rohingyas Muslims (Human Rights, 2020). The problem tends to be escalating in Myanmar as the government is unwilling to address systematic violence and persecution, continued military impunity, and statelessness crises root causes.
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Currently, the military is applying a variety of tactics to create a powerless minority. According to World Report (2020), the FFM in August 2020 called upon the security forces in Myanmar to stop using gender-based and sexual violence, including rape and gang rape against children, women, and transgender people. Additionally, FFM called upon Myanmar's security forces to stop punishing and terrorizing ethnic minorities. Therefore, through the United Nations' fact-finding activities, it is clear that the condition is worsening towards the Rohingyas as the military groups are using sexual violence to deter girls and women from returning to their homes, thus devastating the communities.
Getting information on the current conditions in Myanmar is difficult. According to World Report (2020), the Aung San Suu Kyi De factor leader and her civilian government refuse to meaningfully cooperate with the United Nations rights investigators in their pursuit for the people accountable for the violations of human rights. Getting updates on the current issues facing the Rohingya can be attributed to Myanmar's government, which is denying visas to independent UN investigators such as members of the UN FFM and special reporter Yanghee Lee (World Report, 2020). More so, the limited access to Myanmar by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights officials account for the limited updates.
Rohingyas remains under threat of genocide. The final report by FFM in September 2019 confirmed that the 600,000 Rohingyas living in Rakhine State were the government's campaign target to deprive them of their identities in which they lived under the threat of genocide (Human Rights Watch Organization, 2020). There were a variety of policies, laws, and practices that remained in place underpinning the government's persecution of Rohingyas, which served as the reasons for the torture, gang rapes, killings, and the forced displacement by the military (World Report, 2020). The government is still not making any efforts to change the discriminatory Citizenship law established in 1982, which stripped Rohingyas of their citizenship rights. According to the World Report (2020), the Rohingyas refugees that want to return to Myanmar are required by the government to sign up for the digitized National Verification Card that identifies them as foreigners in their own country, which makes them vulnerable to restrictions and discrimination on their rights. Therefore, Rohingyas conditions in Myanmar are deteriorating as the Myanmar government ignores changes in the policies, laws, and practices that lead to the abuse of their human rights.
References
Human Rights Watch Organization, (2020). " An Open Prison without End." Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 9 December 2020, from https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/10/08/open-prison-without-end/myanmars-mass-detention-rohingya-rakhine-state
Ibrahim, A. (2016). The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar's Hidden Genocide . Hurst & Company Limited.
World Report, (2020). Myanmar, Events of 2020 . Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 9 December 2020, from https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/myanmar-burma .
