Why Rohingya Has Never Been Granted Citizenship ?

Rohingyas, Burmese Muslim minority group, have been living with the fear of violence and religious discrimination while they have been still considered as the stateless people and unwanted group on the Earth. Historically, Rohingyas were illegal immigrants who fled from the Bengali in Bangladesh. They have lived in Myanmar’s state of Rakhine for many decades, yet they have not been granted citizenship and recognized as legal ethnic groups in the country.   

  

When talking about the human rights abuses in Myanmar, people never forget the Muslim minority Rohingya who are residing in Northern of Rakhine state. Rohingya refugees have been severely repressed and discriminated by Myanmar's government and citizens especially after breaking out of the religious conflict in late 2011. Myanmar's government always considers Rohingyas as the illegal immigrants who fled from its neighboring country Bangladesh and many people called them Bengali. Historically, some of them have been in Myanmar for centuries while some just fled to live in Myanmar in the recent decades. Those refugees have never been granted citizenship and listed into 135 official ethnic groups in the country. They have been traumatized by the bloody and brutal violence and suffering from the health crisis. Having not been recognized by the authority as citizens, Rohingyas have actually become the de jure stateless people and faced up with the social restriction including the limit of family size, land confiscation, and eviction and cultural oppression. 

In response to the violence and human rights abuses, international agencies and organization, including UN refugee agencies, have tried to call on the Myanmar's government to give those Rohingyas the civil, economic, and political rights and protect them from any rights intrusion and religious discrimination. Government itself should give up systematic human rights violations against those minorities. Moreover, the government has been also asked to offer Rohingyas more humanitarian aid. But the government has done very little thing to prevent escalating of violence against Rohingyas and in response to the appeal from international community. It has so far been doubtful why Myanmar government never recognizes and discriminates Rohingyas. There are many reasons motivating Myanmar's government not to grant Rohingyas citizenships. However, I just list only three possible reasons here. 

First of all, it is a religious division in Myanmar. Myanmar is definitely divers with more than hundred ethnic groups, and they also have different religions. Rohingya is generally Muslim while most of Myanmar people are Theravada Buddhists. If the government took action unilaterally to help Rohingya or grant them citizenship, it would surely face the massive public reaction from the major Myanmar people. It is undeniably true because even opposition leader and Nobel Peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has still largely remained silent for long time upon the discrimination. It is because she fears of losing her popularity in country’s political affairs.

Second, it comes to the historical antagonism. Actually, Myanmar people always consider Rohingya ethnic group as a threat to their territorial integrity since these Muslim people used to rule the Rakhine state since the pre-British colonization. Politically speaking, Myanmar's politicians claim that Rohingyas are trying to Islamize their country with a very high birth rate. According to the government official, the Rohingya population growth is ten time faster than that of Buddhist native. Thus, if the government still kept them as legal immigrants and offered them citizenship, Myanmar would become a Muslim state in the future.

  Third, it is because Myanmar’s government fears of the emergence of separatist movement in Rakhine state. The Myanmar authority also believes that if they don’t strictly control Rohingyas, those ethnic peoples will stand up and take up arms against the central government clearing the way for proclaiming the new independent state.  As it is claimed that Rohingya population keeps increasing dramatically, and this is emerging as a threat to unity and solidarity of Myanmar. 

 However, it's 21st century already. The government should end all kind of human rights violations, and it should also treat every people in the society equally regardless of their race, languages, sex, and religions. Peace won't last long if the hatred still emerges in the society.