M.MAS 7/22/15 Introduction Myanmar has been the site of serious conflicts between Buddhist and Muslim communities, particularly in Rakhine State where at least 146,000 persons have been displaced since the first riots in June 2012.2 This violence has been the subject of regular international English-language media coverage as well as responses by diplomats and the United Nations (UN), including a closed-door briefing on Myanmar at the UN Security Council.3 International attention has focused on the situation for Muslims who seek to be recognized as ethnic Rohingya, periodic riotous violence, and the extreme anti-Muslim rhetoric of some Buddhist leaders. As far back as 2013, but with increasing frequency, international organizations dedicated to monitoring and early warning of mass violence have been issuing alarms. These include the International State Crime Initiative at the University of London, which says it has found evidence that violence has been organized and has moved through four identified stages of preparation for genocide.4 ‘The parallels to the Nazi genocide are striking,’ George Soros told attendees at a conference the Norwegian Nobel Institute hosted in Oslo during May 2015.5 The conference also included an appeal from three Nobel laureates to stop violence and persecution in Myanmar that they called ‘nothing less than genocide.’6 The Government of Myanmar has been quick to reject these allegations and has steadfastly refused citizenship for any people that identify as Rohingya.7 Following the conference in Oslo, for example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement calling the proceedings ‘unbalanced and negative.’8 This response mirrored the way that the state in Myanmar has long responded to external criticisms of the country’s human rights record and in that sense it was not particularly unusual. But the response by U Zaw Aye Maung, the Rakhine Affairs Minister for Yangon Region, is more telling; a few days after the Oslo conference, he was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying, ‘if genocide was taking place in Rakhine State, then it was against ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.’9 2 For data on displacement as of January 2015, see UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Myanmar: Internal Displacement in Rakhine State (Jan 2015)” (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), January 2015), http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Affected_Map_IDP_Sites_Rakhine_OCHA_Jan2015_A4.pdf. 3 Louis Charbonneau, “U.N. Council Has First-ever Briefing on Rights in Myanmar,” Reuters, May 28, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/28/us-myanmar-un-idUSKBN0OD2K320150528. 4 “The Most Persecuted People on Earth?,” The Economist, June 13, 2015, http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21654124-myanmars-muslim-minority-have-been-attacked-impunitystripped-vote-and-driven. 5 George Soros, “As a Jew in Budapest, I Too Was a Rohingya,” Newsweek, May 31, 2015, http://www.newsweek.com/soros-jew-budapest-i-too-was-rohingya-337443. 6 “Burma Rejects ‘Unbalanced’ Rohingya Remarks by Nobel Prize Winners,” The Guardian, May 31, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/31/burma-rejects-unbalanced-rohingya-remarks-by-nobel-prizewinners. 7 It should be noted that very small numbers of Muslims in Rakhine State have been granted citizenship if they identify as ‘Bengali’ and can provide documentation to demonstrate that they meet the requirements defined in Myanmar’s 1982 citizenship law. Yet even this population has not been allowed the freedom of movement and other rights that go along with citizenship. See, Nyein Nyein, “New Citizens Kept Grounded in Myanmar’s Rakhine State,” The Irrawaddy, June 16, 2015, http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/new-citizens-kept-grounded-in-arakanstate.html. 8 “Burma Rejects ‘Unbalanced’ Rohingya Remarks by Nobel Prize Winners.” 9 Timothy Mclaughlin and Aubrey Belford, “Myanmar Says Persecution Not the Cause of Migrant Crisis (Corrected),” Reuters, June 5, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/05/asia-migrants-wrapup-2-pix-tvgraphicsco-idUSL3N0YK51P20150605. 1