The Lose of Identity - Spotlight #10

“I see humans but no humanity“
-Jason Donohue

People talk about what has happened in their favorite sports .People talk about Prince William’s new haircut. People talk about which name Kim Kardashian West gave her daughter. But the issue people do not talk about which has been going in Myanmar since August 2017. A situation which many of us would describe as the probably fastest progressing emergency situation of refugees in the world. In Myanmar Muslim Rohingyas have been hunted and discriminated against over decades. Although they have lived there this whole time, the government amongst others refuses to give them citizenships. The conflicts between the majority of Buddhists and the minority of Muslims escalated at the end of August, when Rohingya rebels attacked soldiers and police. They also killed lots of security forces. The army responded to this with violence, hundreds of people were killed and their houses were set on fire.

This has happened in the federal state of Rakhine from wehre more than 640.000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh since August 2017 because the army burnt down their houses, killed their family members in front of their eyes, raped girls and women and destroyed everything that they have built in their lives. The UN classified this course of action done by the army as ethnic cleansing.

People risk their lives and cross dangerous roads with the hope for safety and shelter. As soon as they reach Bangladesh they face new problems like a lack of sanitary facilities, no access to water or food and nearly no help from human rights organizations because these organizations are held back by laws and limitations. Also, some people, who live near the area where Rohingya go to in Bangladesh try to take advantage of their situation by taking lots of money from the Rohingyas to transport them into camps or safe areas.

Human rights organizations criticize the country and government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. She is seen as a hero and global icon for non-violent battles, democracy and liberty.

Due to this huge ongoing problem we have to think about on what kind of earth we would really like to live. A place of equality, appreciation and peace is much better than knowing that on the other side of our world people have to flee because of their faith or their affiliation to a certain section of the population. So what we can do is not just to listen to the news and then go back to normal. We should try to change something even though it might seem like a problem we cannot influence. Human rights organizations try their best to support the Rohingya but laws and limitations prevent these organizations to help in the way people in refugee camps and elsewhere need so badly.

In conclusion we can say that the Rohingyas and what they have to experience right now is a symbol for the way minorities and people with other opinions, religions and other lifestyles are still treated in our world, and how humanity is still missing in our developed world.


Karishma Stutz
LEO-Club of Neckar-Franken,
Germany

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