GENOCIDE IN MYANMAR

COUNTDOWN TO ANNIHILATION: GENOCIDE IN MYANMAR
These and other historical events have been resurrected and manipulated by the Myanmar government to
fuel the current Rakhine sense of injustice and insecurity. A Rakhine politician explained how this feeds
directly into the current climate of distrust between communities:
There is fear between Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims … the Rakhine dare not go to Bengali
areas ... Before the separation of the two communities, I dare not go into Muslim communities
just outside town. I never go there, I didn’t go there at any time, at night, but any Muslim can
come here … It’s a long story, in 1942, 200 Rakhine villages disappeared, killed by Muslims …
Probably if I go there I will disappear. 126
Impact of the 2012 conflict
Prior to the massacres of 2012, Sittwe appears to have been a thriving, multicultural town where
Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim religions, and Rakhine, Rohingya, Kaman and Maramagyi ethnic communities
coexisted in relative harmony. There were over 140 Muslim businesses in downtown Sittwe; 38 mosques;
schools were mixed and the different communities traded with each other, conducted routine business
transactions and engaged socially. 127 Intermarriage and the sharing of cultural traditions and festivals
were not uncommon.
The following extracts from interviews with various Rakhine Buddhists reflect how the 2012 violence
shattered the friendships and cooperation that had existed between Buddhists and Muslims:
• I was surprised by the conflict… Before, I lived with the Muslims in a brotherly way. I had a
friend and we were together. I haven’t seen my friend since the conflict. I haven’t seen any
Muslims since the conflict. The government separated us. And I don’t want to see them. They
are bad and they kill Rakhine. 128
• I was working in Buthidaung… The school was in a Rakhine village but the students were
mixed. There was only one other teacher who was also Rakhine. There were no problems
between Rakhine and Muslim students, no discrimination. The kids played and worked together.
The village was also all integrated. Villagers were integrated... Most of the students were
Muslims so I have a strong feeling regarding Muslims. I have very close Muslim friends... I felt
sad when I heard Muslim students killed a Rakhine headmaster. I felt sad to hear this. I also
felt sad about violence against Muslim friends… 129
Following the 2012 conflict, relations between the communities in Sittwe and Mrauk U were effectively
severed. Given the level of apartheid segregation now dividing the two communities it is hard to see how
former relations will be restored.
126 ANP spokesperson, 21 January 2015, Sittwe.
127 Interview with elder, Aung Mingalar Rohingya ghetto, Sittwe, 24 January 2015.
128 Interview with a 55-year-old Rakhine man, Sittwe, 5 December 2014.
129 Interview with 44-year-old Rakhine woman who was born in Maungdaw in 1970, grew up in Sittwe, and worked as a teacher
in Buthidaung between 1994 and 1998, interviewed in Sittwe, 24 November 2014.
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