Call It Genocide
The UN calls the Myanmar army’s aggression against the Rohingya “ethnic cleansing”. “Ethnic cleansing” is a term invented by Slobodan Milosevic. It’s a euphemism for forced displacement and genocide. It’s an insidious term because there is no international treaty law against it, whereas there are international laws against forced displacement and genocide.
“Ethnic cleansing” is not a crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It has no legal meaning in international law. Another term without legal meaning is “atrocities”.
Genocidal massacres are acts of genocide. Genocide is defined as acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. They include killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and inflicting conditions of life on a group calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part.
Over 600,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh in the past three months to escape systematic massacres by the Myanmar army that has slaughtered thousands of Rohingya and burned over 500 Rohingya villages to the ground. The killings continue today.
Genocidal massacres are precisely what the Myanmar army and Rakhine militias are committing against the Rohingya. Myanmar is committing both “ethnic cleansing” [forced displacement] and genocide. The crimes often go together. Genocidal massacres are used to terrorise a victim group into fleeing.
Why does the so-called “international community” avoid using the word “genocide”?
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Rohingya: Walk A Mile In Their Shoes
My reminiscences of Cox’s Bazar are deeply rooted in my childhood during family vacations taken with my parents and three siblings - horse rides on the beach, sunsets against the widest horizon, charcoal barbecues by nightfall, and copious amounts of seafood throughout our stays. My recent trip to Cox’s Bazar, some 20 odd years later, however, was starkly contrasting in that the circumstance was dire, one which continues to sit steep in my mind.
Suu Kyi Risks Losing Ground To Military Over Rakhine Crisis
YANGON • Locals like to joke that Myanmar has two governments. That’s not very far from the truth.
Satellite Images Show Sprawling Rohingya Refugee Camps
Massive, makeshift refugee camps are sprawling over farms and open land in southern Bangladesh as more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims flee violent attacks in their predominantly Buddhist homeland of Myanmar.
Akhtarun Nahar Ivy's 9
UNB Cultural DeskArt is a unique, powerful tool of connecting people, culture, says Ahn Seong-Doo
Ganasangeet Festival Still Showing Hope For Music
Ganasangeet Festival Still Showing Hope For Music
Trump Hurtles Toward Three Nuclear Crises
Trump Hurtles Toward Three Nuclear Crises
What Bangladesh Stands To Gain From Bangabandhu-1
What Bangladesh Stands To Gain From Bangabandhu-1
Where Good Voices Must Go Bad
Where Good Voices Must Go Bad
The minister's one hundred taka
The minister’s one hundred taka
Dhaka Wants Delhi Pressure For Rohingya Return
Indian foreign secretary visits Bangladesh, no development on Teesta front
