Burma's Rohingya suffering 'architecture of abuse' – report

No-one gets to decide where they are born, but if people had the power to choose, no one would want to be a Rohingya from north-west Burma.

This Muslim minority of roughly one million people have long been subject to abuse and discrimination at the hands of the Buddhist majority in Burma’s Rakhine state.

The UN says the Rohingya are “one of the world’s most persecuted peoples” – human rights groups call the Rohingya “virtually friendless” – and Channel 4 News has been to Rakhine to witness it. Approximately 140,000 Rohingya were forced into a series of squalid camps, for example, after the outbreak of sectarian violence in 2012.

Such patterns of mistreatment are well established but for the first time, an NGO called Fortify Rights has released a batch of official documents which suggest such conduct is government policy in Burma. “This architecture of abuse contributes to political instability and violence and must be lifted immediately,” says Matthew Smith, Fortify Rights’ executive director.

Confidential reports cited in the organisation’s report, “Policies of Persecution: Ending Abusive State Policies Against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar“, show that Rohingya couples are not allowed to live together unless they are married. In order to get married they must meet a long list of requirements – like asking for official permission from the local authorities – as well as paying exorbitant fees.

A document, entitled “Regional Order 1/2005”, outlines a policy which restricts the number of children many Rohingya can have to two. Married Rohingya must “limit the number of children, in order to control the birth rate so that there is enough food and shelter”.

An addendum to the order states that any Rohingya found in violation of restrictions on child birth is subject to imprisonment of up to 10 years, fines – or both. Campaigners say such penalties leave Rohingya women terrified at the prospect of having three children – or a child out of wedlock. Many women resort to illegal and unsafe abortions, risking harmful medical complications and even death.

Nevertheless, Myanmar’s Immigration Minister Khin Yi publicly affirmed the policy last June: “The Bengali [Rohingya] women living in the Rakhine State have a lot of children. In some areas, one family has 10 or 12 children. It’s not good for child nutrition. It’s not very easy for schooling. It is not very easy to take care of the children…. Almost all of the Bengali [Rohingya] women are very poor, uneducated. It is not easy to take care of the children. The two-child policy or three-child policy is enough for these people. That is my point of view.”

The minister tries to justify the policy on humanitarian grounds – the authorities are simply acting in the “best interests” of the Rohingya – yet his language is drenched in prejudice and there is no discussion here of the effect government policies have on the socio-economic position of Rohingya in Burma.

Documents uncovered by Fortify Rights also detail official restrictions on movement, home repairs, construction of places of worship and other aspects of daily life. When confronted with the evidence in the report, however, the Burmese government dismissed it out of hand. Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut said: “We never pay attention to organisations such as Fortify Rights, which openly lobby for the Bengalis.”

It was a dismissive thing to say – but it was not surprising. The Rohingya are Bengalis from neighbouring Bangladesh, says Mr Ye Htut – another way of simply saying “it’s not our problem”. But it disregards two crucial things: first, Rohingya have lived in Burma for centuries, second, the Burmese government needs to find an acceptable and respectful way to live with them.

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