3. BACKGROUND 3.1 THE ROHINGYA IN MYANMAR: A HISTORY OF PERSECUTION The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority residing primarily in the northern part of Rakhine State, situated in the west of Myanmar. Rakhine State, home to several ethnic and religious groups, is one of Myanmar’s poorest and most under-developed regions. The Rohingya have been subjected to decades of state-sponsored discrimination, persecution, and oppression that has been extensively documented by Amnesty International and others.6 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has referred to the Rohingya as “one of, if not the, most discriminated people in the world”.7 The Myanmar authorities severely restrict the Rohingya’s freedom of movement, effectively segregating them from the rest of society.8 Access to health care, education, and work opportunities have also been severely limited.9 Amnesty International has concluded that this discriminatory and dehumanizing regime, which targets the Rohingya as a racial group and is implemented by the state through a range of laws, policies, and practices, constitutes a widespread and systematic attack on a civilian population, and amounts to the crime against humanity of apartheid.10 As one Rohingya youth described the situation to Amnesty International: “We were born into oppression, in a prison, in Myanmar. Our fathers, their parents, and their parents only ever knew human rights violations.”11 The situation of the Rohingya deteriorated significantly from 2012 onwards. Violence erupted in several waves between mainly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine civilians, who were at times supported by the security forces, and Rohingya and other Muslims in Rakhine State.12 Many were killed, and thousands of homes destroyed, resulting in massive displacement. By 2017, some 127,000 people – mainly Rohingya – remained confined to squalid internally displaced person (IDP) camps and unofficial settlements that they are unable to leave without permission.13 For Rohingya living outside of the camps, restrictions on their See, for example, Amnesty International, “We will destroy everything”; Amnesty International; Amnesty International, “Caged without a Roof”: Apartheid in Myanmar’s Rakhine State (Index: ASA 16/7484/2017), 21 November 2017; Amnesty International, “My World Is Finished”: Rohingya Targeted by Crimes Against Humanity in Myanmar (Index: ASA 16/7288/2017), 18 October 2017; “We Are at Breaking Point”: Persecuted in Myanmar, Neglected in Bangladesh (Index: ASA 16/5362/2016), 19 December 2016; Amnesty International, The Rohingya Minority: Fundamental Rights Denied (Index: ASA 16/005/2004), May 2004; Amnesty International, Rohingya: the Search for Safety (Index: ASA 13/07/97), September 1997; Amnesty International, Human Rights Violations against Muslims in the Rakhine (Index: ASA 16/06/92), May 1992; Human Rights Watch, “All You Can Do Is Pray”: Crimes against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State, April 2013; Human Rights Watch, Perilous Plight: Burma’s Rohingya Take to the Seas, May 2009; Human Rights Watch, The Rohingya Muslims: Ending a Cycle of Exodus?, September 1996; and the Irish Center for Human Rights, Crimes against Humanity in Western Burma: The Situation of the Rohingyas, 2010. 6 Antonio Guterres, “Opening remarks at press encounter with President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim”, 02 July 2018, Cox’s Bazar, un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2018-07-02/remarks-press-encounter-world-bank-president-jim-kim 7 8 Amnesty International, “Caged without a Roof”, pp. 42-58. 9 Amnesty International, “Caged without a Roof”, pp. 59-79. 10 Amnesty International, “Caged without a Roof”, pp. 88-98. 11 Interview by video call with Sawyeddollah, 6 April 2022. See, for example, Human Rights Watch, “All You Can Do Is Pray”; and Human Rights Watch, “The Government Could Have Stopped This”: Sectarian Violence and Ensuing Abuses in Burma’s Arakan State, August 2012, cited in Amnesty International, “We will destroy everything”. 12 Amnesty International, “Caged without a Roof”, pp. 22, 53; UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Myanmar: IDP Sites in Rakhine State (as of 30 April 2018), reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Myanmar_IDP_Site_Rakhine_Apr2018.pdf 13 THE SOCIAL ATROCITY META AND THE RIGHT TO REMEDY FOR THE ROHINGYA Amnesty International 13