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Post by Admin on Oct 20, 2017 15:12:28 GMT
Meghan is this week's administrator!   |
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Post by Meghan Miller on Oct 22, 2017 15:10:55 GMT
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Post by Meghan Miller on Oct 22, 2017 15:15:00 GMT
The Rohingya refugee crisis was a matter of xenophobic reactions from the predominantly Buddhist country of Myanmar and was further amplified by the refusal of bordering countries to help or interfere. This topic has not been very prominent on any Western news sources and has not been a very well circulated story (BBC radio now has done articles on the topic but it is not on the forefront of their media coverage). This seems to be because Muslims were the victimized party, contrasting the image of Muslims as terrorists in Western countries. The lack of coverage from Western media puts into perspective how little the West cares about a persecuted minority in the East. The situation as a whole was awful and the resolution of the Burmese government taking the Rohingya people back is a double edged sword. This action allow the Rohingya to be out of the refugee camps in Bangladesh (the horrible conditions of possible disease and isolation within the camps) but the situation in Myanmar does not seem to be much better for these people. The Burmese government does not recognize the Rohingya as a part of Myanmar at all and they refuse to allow them to become citizens (this is the cause of the whole crisis). The Burmese people seem so stuck in their hatred of the Rohingya Muslims that it seems unlikely that the conditions for the Rohingya will truly improve without outside interference. The hatred runs so deep in Myanmar that the predominantly Buddhist country won’t listen to the Dalai Lama (the equivalent of the Pope for Buddhists) and go against their own fundamental belief system (part of the eightfold path is to “ Practice self-less conduct that reflects the highest statement of the life you want to live. Express conduct that is peaceful, honest and pure showing compassion for all beings”). The situation may seem to improve if viewed from the outside because Myanmar wants to keep the situation under wraps and redirect publicity, however, the true state of affairs will not change until the age of terror ends (and maybe not even then). This situation may never be remedied, there are hundreds of people dead or displaced because of the actions of the Burmese government, there is not a way to repay this debt even if the government wished to do so. There is no perfect prevention for horrible acts like what happened in Myanmar, because there will always be terrible people to play out these acts. The effect on the world will be slow to spread because of the lack of media attention but the effect will impact for years to come.
Q: Do you think any outside country will interfere?
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Post by Jonah Foster on Oct 25, 2017 0:20:06 GMT
The Rohingya refugee crisis was more of a racial cleansing rather than a fear of terrorism. This was as much of a problem before the Rohingya people revolted against the myanmar government. As the amnesty.org page said “The Myanmar Government should immediately end the violent crackdown on the Rohingya and amend or repeal the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law to provide the Rohingya people with full citizenship in the country.” So the Rohingya people never had even full citizenship in Myanmar. If the myanmar government accepts the Rohingya refugees back this will make the situation worse. The military, government and other citizens clearly do not like the rohingya people and do not want them in their country. This situation has escalated so fast i do not think it can be fixed but there of course are ways to prevent this from happen. One way is to never exclude of isolate any minority and just because they are different doesn’t mean you need to treat them like they are garbage. Another way to prevent issues like this from happening again is to not escalate the situation so much. So instance if there is a revolt put it down but don’t burn down their villages and push them out for little things. The images on npr.com were very impactful they should the daily lives of the Rohingya refugees but the pictures on scmp.com you could really tell they wanted to sensationalize the event. For instance they made the photographs black and white which shows you, they have pain there is no if ands or buts about it. So since this topic is so muted on the news there might not be very much involvement from other governments, because many citizens do not know about it so why should the federal government intervene. But since these events are just developing recently we could definitely see non-profit organizations going in to provide relief to the refugees and helping them find food and make shelters.
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Post by Olivia Girdwood on Oct 25, 2017 0:31:22 GMT
While many American’s do not watch the news, or may watch it but not pay attention, the Rohingya crisis has not been brought to the attention of my family. This massive emigration seems to be the cause of the racial cleansing of Myanmar. If the reason were to be because they were scared that the Rohingya people were terrorists, they would not be as close to them as to beat them or rape them. If they are terrorists typically people stay as far away as possible. The news may be trying to hide this crisis. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to try to ask other countries to help with this crisis, which may include taking some of them under a country's wing. The U.S. may not want these refugees to come here, so they do not inform its people of the conflict, and therefore do not give any indication on if they are going to help or not. If they chose to turn them away, not allow them into the country, people would get upset and conflict will break out. Conflict would break out no matter what the decision was so why not just not say anything and hope for the best? If Myanmar were to take them back it would not make anything better or worse. They will be back in their homeland, but they will still be facing the same discrimination as before. They will not have to worry so much about trying to find shelter or medical care though. One possible solution is for the Myanmar people to set up a designated section of land for the Rohingya, kinda like the native american reservations in America. Yes it would not be the best life out there, but it would be better than it is right now for them. The pictures are biased, darker lighting and their faces might be staged or edited to make it seem super horrible when it may only be challenging. Overall this situation is going to affect the world only if countries pitch in to help Bangladesh.
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Post by Olivia Girdwood on Oct 25, 2017 0:35:51 GMT
@jonahfoster
I kinda sorta understand what you are saying about don't exclude minorities, but I am still not following about the don't escalate the situation so much. It is just confusing. Like it escalates because of more than one reason on both sides of the conflict, so which do you try to resolve. Or can you?
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Post by Admin on Oct 25, 2017 11:18:40 GMT
Hi Everyone,
Make sure to include direct quotes and/or specific references to the articles that have been provided. When you respond to your peers, either agreeing or disagreeing, provide evidence to support your points. It gives more credibility to your statements.
AM
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Post by Meghan Miller on Oct 25, 2017 13:30:55 GMT
jonah Thank you for being the first to post! Great job in bringing in direct quotes and referencing different sources. It was very thoughtful to discuss the impact the pictures had on you! Another question for you, do you think the Myanmar government could accidentally escalate the situation?
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Post by Meghan Miller on Oct 25, 2017 13:42:28 GMT
@oliviagirdwood Interesting view point! When you said " If they are terrorists typically people stay as far away as possible" (just being devils advocate) what about people who think to fight fire with fire, the idea of hurt them before they hurt you? Do you think there was also bias in other the other articles (A.P. Lang. reference)?
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Post by Maddy Crighton on Oct 25, 2017 14:40:15 GMT
Due to religious and ethnic tensions, riots, and violent attacks between the Rohingya and Rakhine Buddhists, Rohingya Muslims have been forced to evacuate their country and migrate to Bangladesh. The Mayanmar Government states that the Rohingya are not citizens of their country even though they have been there for centuries. More than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims have entered into Bangladesh and more are on their way. Bangladesh is welcoming them into their country but they do not wish to keep them forever. Many shelters and refugee camps have been made for the Rohingya in Bangladesh but it is never enough. U.N. officials have described this crisis as an act of ethnic cleansing. Many of the Rohingya people have been raped, beaten, and killed. There are over 14,000 children who are suffering from malnutrition. It is surprising that this topic has not spread across the news and media. Usually when there is an event that endangers the lives of women and children that would be the only thing you see on the news. This genocide of the Rohingya Muslims from the Mayanmar Government is basically a 2017 Hitler. Many individuals have attempted to help the Rohingya Muslims like the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, who has tried to reach out to other countries and convince them to take this people under their wing. Overall, there are people who are suffering and dying just because they want to be safe. The United States is supposed to be a leader, we as a country should be doing whatever we can to help them out.
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Post by Maddy Crighton on Oct 25, 2017 20:30:51 GMT
@olivia I totally agree with you that if the Burmese citizens and government really did kick them out because they were scared of them being terrorists then they wouldn't be up in the Muslims faces and would not rape them. I also like how you said that the Rohingyas should have their own section of land in Mayanmar. Maybe the Rohingya even if they are small, they could possible break away and make their home area independent.
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Post by Maddy Crighton on Oct 25, 2017 20:37:27 GMT
@meghan To answer your question about if any other country will intervene, I would have to say no because many countries are now seeing Muslims only as terrorists. Take the Burka Ban for instance, countries will not let them wear a face covering because it is a risk for their countries safety let alone take a Muslim into their country. However, more countries should take them in and help them recover. If they were in that sitation I'm sure they would want other countries to help them out as well.
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Post by Brooke Gentile on Oct 26, 2017 0:52:48 GMT
The Rohingya Muslim Refugee crisis no other than an act of racial cleansing. Although the news has not shown much, if any light on this topic, what is happening has got to be stopped. These violent acts are between the Buddhist and Muslim people, in which many Muslims are fleeing because the Buddhists do not agree with their religion, and they strongly feel that the Muslims do not belong there. As stated in the article " Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh have told journalists, rights groups and others that soldiers, along with some local residents, had set fire to numerous villages and had butchered Rohingya men, women and children." Plenty of Muslims have been beaten, raped, and dehumanized by the Buddhists. This is no act of fear, or retaliation, this is proven being that the Muslims have done nothing other than acting on freedom of religion. If Myanmar were to take these people back, the issues may become even greater being that the Buddhists will be extremely outraged that the people they have just kicked out are coming back. There is no possible way to change how the Buddhists view the Muslims, no matter what we do nor how much we try, we will never be able to vanquish all of the evil doings of the people. Also, bringing back the innocent Muslims wouldn't be very beneficial to them at all. It would be incredibly scarring for all of the families to move back being surrounded by the people that have raped their wives, beaten their children, brutally killed their families, and burned down their villages. Nothing good would come of Myanmar taking these innocent people back. Just think, how on earth could they ever live normal lives being neighbors with the people who once wanted them dead? They would never feel safe in their own homes again, and that is something that we as a whole should never wish upon any human being. The gruesome images of the Muslim people really emphasized just how bad this situation is, and that we need to put a stop to it. Sooner or later the news will have to start to bring this crisis to attention. Do we wonder however that maybe they are hiding this from us because they are worried that with the constant worry involving North Korea, and frequent terroristic attacks that including this might be enough to throw the American people over the edge? Maybe this is the soul reason for not giving this topic much light, but we only hope that once more people know about it that more countries step in to make a difference.
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Post by Makayla Rieder on Oct 26, 2017 1:57:33 GMT
So many people have been hurt and forced out in this, as almost every article calls it, “Textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” but it’s just the fear of terrorism. Maybe the Myanmar’s fear was getting to high levels and then when the ARSA, or the Rohingyan army, attacked Myanmar’s police; something just snapped and they decided that the fear wasn’t worth it anymore. They’ve attacked the Rohingyan people and forced over half a million of them to flee the country, after putting together landmines to even further damage the people fleeing. They’re really trying to make it hard for Bangladesh. They’ve taken in all of these refugees while having problems themselves, but have done an amazingly good job at helping them with shelters and camps. I don’t think that Myanmar taking the Rohingyans back will help at all. It will just make things worse. If nothing bad happens when they first return, then the fear is just going to keep building and building until it gets back to this tragic state. They are trying to go back after reaching the point of no return. I hadn’t heard anything about this topic until now, and i’m sure i never would have heard about it if we hadn’t had this discussion board. There are always tragedies in the news, but this one is so massive and impacting so many people that maybe they want to keep it out of the news. Honestly it is such a big issue that i’m surprised i haven’t seen it at all, not even on social media. There really is no way to fix this. No amount of apologies will fix the burned villages and people who are now missing from families and communities, and no family will forgive a government that killed their child, but i’m sure they’ll try. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens next
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Post by Laura Gutauskas on Oct 26, 2017 2:32:25 GMT
Considering that the Rohingya people have officially been denied citizenship since 1982, which is around the time that terroristic acts and threats that have been tied to Islam began sprouting up (70s and on), I see this as an unreasonable fear of terrorism. It isn’t simply that, though, this fear is the REASON for the ethnic cleansing happening because the other 135 ethnic groups of Myanmar do not want to identify with a group that they see as unsafe. I hadn’t heard anything about this prior, although I find it interestingly terrible that according to the Washington Post, China and India are already giving their stance on this issue and saying they are in favor of the removal of Rohingya people as India is trying to do the same. Not only would it not help the situation if Myanmar lets them back in, but it would continue to worsen down the line. It’s not like the country has just completely surrendered out of “goodness” or even guilt, they may be drawing them back in just to kill off more or burn down any other residing areas they build. The government and current recognized ethnic groups are going to continue to oppress them while they’re there since there will never be a mutual trust that can be formed between them. Plus, the only reason the people felt a simple wave of relief being in Bangladesh was because they were fighting a lesser evil there. There’s no way that Myanmar would plan on rebuilding anything for them after burning down homes. It’s also obvious that violence is brushed off, or even encouraged by Myanmar’s leader, which is surprising coming from a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She has no control over the military and “has been conspicuously silent on the issue of Rohingya” (nytimes) yet when finally speaks up, she shows ignorance towards the issue, like most of the world. After npr.org said that "Bangladesh does not want to keep them and Myanmar does not want them back," I wasn’t sure whether or not the Rohingya people would be let in anywhere, so I was surprised when Bangladesh changed their mind to decide on building a camp for 400,000 of them. www.livepopulation.com/country/bangladesh.htmlAlmost 90% of Bangladeshis follow the Islamic faith, while 90% of Myanmar are Buddhist. Bangladesh is also extremely overpopulated and the birth to death rate is nearly 4:1. www.mylifeelsewhere.com/country-size-comparison/pennsylvania-usa/bangladeshI like to have visuals myself so here’s Bangladesh compared to PA; they’re almost the same size and yet Bangladesh has almost 150 million more people packed into the country and somehow they are willing to not only push to accept the Rohingya, but also house them. |
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