Where do we go?

This is in line with the divide between the Ronghiya Muslims and the Buddhists clashes in Myanmar. I did not know where this came from, so I did a little bit of research, also to enlighten myself.

In 2012, there were widespread clashes between the Rakhine Buddhists and the Ronghiya Muslims after a Buddhist woman was raped and murdered. Prior to this, there has been a mutual distrust between the two groups of people. In the following years, more deadly riots ensued that left casualties on both sides (BBC, 2014).

In November 2014, the Myanmar government passed a law that requires for Muslim citizens to prove that they have been living in Myanmar for 60 years and that they could qualify for second class citizenship (Perlez, 2014). The Myanmar government had advanced this for quite some time, even appealing to the UN in 2012 to have the right to deport Ronghiya Muslims (also, they have been denied citizenship since 1982). In 2014, this appeal reappeared in the Rakhine State Action Plan. Myanmar's current president, Pres. Thein Sein, was believed to be a reformist. He was hoped to alleviate the people, at least partially, from the repression and discrimination they have been experiencing for decades. But it turned out that this would be intensified in his administration--the Ronghiya Muslims have lost their right to vote in February 2015 and discrimination of the Ronghiya Muslims became state-sanctioned (Burmese Rohingya Organization UK, 2015).

Fearing the social and political conditions they are facing in Burma, many Rohingya Muslims left their country in hopes to find refuge in other SEA countries. However, they were denied passage. Smugglers also left the boats where the Rohingya Muslims are in. Many of them are sick, many are dying.

I do not know where to go. I do not know what I could do. What we could do. The Philippine government already said that they would only allow those who have proper documents; others would not be allowed to enter. As much as I want to yell at our government, I know that they could only do so much.

The UN has urged the SEA countries not to refuse the refugees. But they, also, could only do so much. These countries have big problems that they are currently confronting as well.

I do not know. The thought of the Rohingya Muslims having to face a bleak future bothers me to the very core. Just like them, I came to ask, "where do we go?"

References

BBC. (3 July 2014). Why is there communal violence in Myanmar? Accessed from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-18395788

Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. (2 April 2015). The Rohingya, the Citizenship Law, Temporary Registration, and Implementation of the Rakhine State Action Plan. Accessed from http://www.burmapartnership.org/2015/04/the-rohingya-the-citizenship-law-temporary-registration-and-implementation-of-the-rakhine-state-action-plan/

Graham-Harrison, E. (2 May 2015). Burma's boatpeople 'faced choice of annihilation or risking their lives at sea'. The Guardian. Accessed from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/17/rohingya-burma-refugees-boat-migrants

Perlez, J. (6 November 2014). Myanmar's policy message to Muslims: Get out. The New York Times. Accessed from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/world/asia/rohingya-myanmar-rakhine-state-thailand-malaysia.html?_r=0