Humanizing the Rohingya Beyond Victimization

A Portrait

Authors

  • Grisel d’Elena Florida International University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/bsrv.43218

Keywords:

Rohingya, Myanmar, Buddhism

Abstract

This article is based on interviews with U Ashin Wirathu and an analysis of Buddhist nationalist discourses of violence against religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar. I explore a fundamental issue that continues to plague the Rohingya—the emphasis on the Rohingya as victims of nationalist systemic Buddhist violence. This chapter sets out to bring Rohingya agency to the forefront. Rohingyas are characterized as immutably foreign and Muslim—that is, they are labeled with an identity convenient to state-sangha oppression. Through interviews with relocated Rohingya society members and the mentoring of Dr. Jerryson, this work is dedicated to the rehumanization and devictimization of the Rohingya.

Author Biography

  • Grisel d’Elena, Florida International University

    Grisel d’Elena is an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida. She is also an Academic Advisor for the Honors College and PhD student at the School of International and Public Affairs at FIU. Her research interests are in Buddhist Violence, Women and Religion, The Rohingya, and International Response to Conflict.  She serves on the board of UN Women USA, Miami, leading the Young Professionals Committee. Grisel also volunteers as a mentor for the national bullying and suicide prevention nonprofit, National Voices for Equality, Education, and Enlightenment (NVEEE).

References

Ahern, Kathy. 2018. "Institutional betrayal and gaslighting: Why whistle-blowers are so traumatized." Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing Volume 32(1): 59-65. January/ March 2018. Accessed April 17, 2020. https://nursing.ceconnection.com/ovid-files/00005237-201801000-00014.pdf. https://doi.org/10.1097/JPN.0000000000000306

Amnesty International. 2016. "What is government responsibility sharing?" Human rights: The rights of refugees. (accessed June 18, 2020). EDX Course Materials.

Begum, Jamalida. 2018. "Rohingya Survivor." Interview by Michele Mitchell. Visual History Archive Online, USC Shoah Foundation, March 10, 2018. (accessed August 15, 2020). Video, 1:27:19. https://vhaonline.usc.edu/viewingPage?testimonyID=59815&returnIndex=0#

Buchanan, Francis. 1799. "A comparative vocabulary of some of the languages spoken in the Burma Empire." Asiatic Researches 5: 219-240. (accessed March 11, 2014). http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/8050/1/BuchananComparativeVocabulary.pdf.

Chatterjee, S.K. 1998. "Traditional calendar of Myanmar (Burma)." Indian Journal of History of Science 33: 143-160.

Council on Foreign Relations. 2020. "Global Conflict Tracker: Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar." (accessed May 17, 2020). https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/rohingya-crisis-myanma

Della-Giacoma, Jim. 2013. "Myanmar's 'Nasaka': Disbanding an abusive agency." International Crisis Group. July 16, 2013. https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-east-asia/myanmar/myanmars-nasaka-disbanding-abusive-agency

Farzana, Kazi Fahmida. 2017. Memories of Burmese Rohingya Refugees: Contested Identity and Belonging. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58360-4

Guruge, Ananda W.P. (trans. and annotator) 1989. Mahavamsa: The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka chapters one to thirty-seven, 635-637 Colombo: Associated Newspapers of Ceylon.

Habiburahman and Sophie Ansel. 2020. First, They Erased Our Name: A Rohingya Speaks. Scribe Publications.

International Court of Justice. 2020. "Application of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar)." (accessed June 6, 2020). https://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/178/178-20200526-PRE-01-00-EN. pdf

Jerryson, Michael K. 2011. Buddhist Fury: Religion and Violence in Thailand. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793235.001.0001

---. 2018. If You Meet the Buddha on the Road: Buddhism, Politics, and Violence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190683566.001.0001

Kamal, Mawaha Nurul. 2018. "Rohingya Survivor." Interview by Michele Mitchell. Visual History Archive Online. USC Shoah Foundation. March 6, 2018. (accessed August 14, 2020). Video, 1:04:38. https://vhaonline.usc.edu/viewingPage?testimonyID=59810& returnIndex=0#.

Khatun, Jamela. 2018. "Rohingya survivor." Interview by Michele Mitchell. Visual History Archive Online. USC Shoah Foundation. March 9, 2018. Accessed August 14, 2020. Video, 1:34:35. https://vhaonline.usc.edu/viewingPage?testimonyID=59808&retur nIndex=0#

OHCHR. 2017. "Human Rights Council 36th session opening statement by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights." (accessed June 28, 2020). https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22041&LangID=E

Paddock, Richard C. 2020. "U.N. Court orders Myanmar to protect Rohingya Muslims." New York Times. January 23, 2020. (accessed March 11, 2020). https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-genocide.html

Poling, Gregory. 2014. "Separating fact from fiction about Myanmar's Rohingya." Center for Strategic and International Studies. February 13, 2014. (accessed November 11, 2015). http://csis.org/publication/separating-fact-fiction-about-myanmars-rohingya

Smith, Martin J. 1991. Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity. Dhaka: University Press.

Tuholske, Oliver. 2018. "Distribution of UNHCR funds for the Rohingya in Bangladesh." Interview by Grisel d'Elena. UNHCR Headquarters. July 21, 2018. Transcribed by author.

Ullah, Ahmed H. 2017. "Ahmed Hashim Ullah-Being a Rohingya Refugee in Canada." Interview by The Stateless. March 2017. (accessed June 15, 2020). https://www.thestateless.com/2017/05/ahmed-hashim-ullah-being-a-rohingya-refugee-in-bangladesh-and-canada.html.

UNHCR. 2001. The 1951 Refugee Convention. UNHCR Public Information Section.

---. 2018. "Culture, context and mental health of Rohingya refugees." (accessed April 14, 2020). Retrieved from: https://www.unhcr.org/5bbc6f014.pdf

---. 2019. "Rohingya crisis: Through the eyes of a refugee child. Interview: Myshara." April 29, 2019. (accessed August 14, 2020). Video, 2:21. https://youtu.be/EYkbx_loxNM.

---. n.d. "Rohingya emergency." (accessed April 26, 2020). https://www.unhcr.org/rohingya-emergency.html

UNICEF. 2019. "Beyond survival: Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh want to learn." UNICEF Advocacy Alert. August 14, 2019. (accessed August 2020). https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/rohingya-beyond-survival-alert

Wirathu, Ashin. 2015. "The gender problem of Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar: The 969 movement and Theravada nuns." Interview by Grisel d'Elena. FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Florida International University. June 25, 2015. Audio, 39:52.

Yusof, Mohiuddin M. 2012. "Crisis facing Burma's Rohingya people." Interview by The Stateless. October 2012. (accessed April 17, 2020). https://www.thestateless.com/2012/10/interview-on-the-crisis-facing-burmas rohingya-people.html

Published

2021-07-28

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

d’Elena, G. (2021). Humanizing the Rohingya Beyond Victimization: A Portrait. Buddhist Studies Review, 38(1), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsrv.43218