The State against the Rohingya: Root Causes of the Expulsion of Rohingya from Myanmar

The Rohingya crisis of Myanmar is a longstanding geopolitical predicament that has remained unresolved for 42 years, since 1978. Many of the stateless, and now stranded, Rohingya have been driven out of Myanmar to take refuge in other countries or forced to live in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps within the state of Rakhine. ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) attacks became an automatic excuse for genocidal activities against Rohingyas at the hands of the Myanmar government. ARSA attacks and communal violence in Rakhine both served the Myanmar government's objective, providing justification for acts of violent retaliation. This paper examines root causes of Rohingya exile and displacement. The researcher collected data from 20 expert participants in Bangladesh and 71 displaced Rohingya victims living in the Kutupalong Rohingya Refugee Camp within Bangladesh. These data indicate the interaction of various factors, including historical legacy of conflict, religious dissension, racism, lack of social integration of Rohingyas into the mainstream Burmese community, geo-economic factors, discriminatory state policy and conflict politics of ARSA, all of which contribute to what has become the Rohingya crisis. The paper discusses theoretical and practical implications of these interacting influences.