The Unheard Stories of the Rohingyas : Ethnicity, Diversity and Media

The 2017 persecution of the Rohingyas resulted in around a million Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh, India and Malaysia. This book investigates the complex challenges of managing the large-scale refugee exodus in Bangladesh and how best to resolve these challenges in the future. Using a mixed method approach that includes a survey, key informant interviews and numerous short case studies of persecution, the authors also examine the problematic influence of the media, as local depictions of Rohingya refugees often caused further tension and divides in the midst of the refugee crisis. The book’s analysis offers a deeper understanding of the causes and drivers of identity-based politics among Myanmar’s Rohingya. Front Cover 1 The Unheard Stories of The Rohingyas: Ethnicity, Diversity and Media 2 Copyright information 3 Table of Contents 4 List of Abbreviations 5 Foreword 6 Preface 8 1 The Rohingya Human Rights Crisis 12 Aim and methodology 14 The Rohingyas in history 15 The Rohingya disputes problematized 24 ‘Today’ and the past: the intersections 26 The origins of civilization in Myanmar 27 The Mon kingdom (c 6th–11th century) 29 Pagan kingdom (849–c 1300) 29 Restrictions on free movement 32 Genocide has not abated 32 Organization of chapters 33 2 A Theoretical Understanding of Rohingyas and Rohingyas in the Media 35 Theories of Rohingya genesis 35 Refugees and their status 38 Kunz’s typology 38 Refugee status and colonialism 39 Identity crisis and exodus 40 Citizenship as identity 40 The Citizenship Law of 1982 42 Minority identity 44 Rohingya identity 45 Politicization of identity 46 Response of the world community 48 Media coverage of the Rohingya crisis 49 News framing 50 Refugee portrayal in the media 51 Conclusion 52 3 The Path to Refuge: Ethnicity, Politics, Religion, and Global Order 54 Ethnicity, politics, religion, and global order 55 Ethnicity 55 Politics 56 Religion 56 Global order 57 From citizens of Myanmar to statelessness in the world 57 Impact of the Burma Citizenship Law 1982 58 The exodus: historical evidence 61 Unwanted in Myanmar, mistreated in Bangladesh 64 Violence and exploitation in Myanmar and Bangladesh 65 Life in and out of the refugee camps 67 Geopolitics of the Rohingya crisis 72 Conclusion 73 4 Dispossession and Displacement: The Crisis and Media Influence 74 Conceptualizing displacement and dispossession 76 Displacement 76 Dispossession 77 Struggles of the Rohingyas in Bangladesh 79 Media representation of the refugee conditions 80 Media framing 82 The Rohingya crisis in the global media 82 Framing of refugees in the media 84 Framing of Rohingya refugees 86 Rohingya refugees in the Bangladeshi media 89 Crime and sickness among the Rohingya refugees 89 Rohingya refugees in the global media 90 Rohingyas as victims of statelessness, impoverishment, and inhuman treatment 90 Rohingya refugees as victims and disease carriers 91 International community and the media 94 Bangladesh’s media landscape 96 Media influence 98 Media coverage of refugee issues 107 News sources 109 Rohingyas and the media 110 Improving the role of the media 112 Conclusion 113 Data that can be depended upon 114 5 Final Destinations and Policy Implications 118 Voices of the unheard 119 Broken promises 125 Repatriation and international law 128 International support 129 Different tales to tell: narratives from different media houses 132 Contribution to knowledge 135 References 138 Index 173 The 2017 persecution of the Rohingyas resulted in around a million Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh, India and Malaysia. This book investigates the complex challenges of managing the large-scale refugee exodus in Bangladesh and how best to resolve these challenges in the future. Using a mixed-method approach that includes a survey, key informant interviews and numerous short case studies of persecution, the authors also examine the problematic influence of the media, as local depictions of Rohingya refugees often caused further tension and division in the midst of the refugee crisis. The book's analysis offers a deeper understanding of the causes and drivers of identity-based politics among Myanmar's Rohingya.