It is bordered by chin state to the north, magway region, bago region and ayeyarwady region to the east, the bay of bengal to the west, and the chittagong. Rohingya crisis is the top most recent crisis in the world based on the identity crisis and a part of the ethnic cleansing of the government of myanmar. The ceremony on monday granted 40 muslims citizenship, while 169 received naturalized citizenship, said khin soe, an officer at the immigration department in the arakan state capital sittwe. Arakan muslim candidates participated in the elections of 1947, 1951, 1956, and 1960. At the present time, the presidents office and ministry of immigration. State is the home land of the rohingya muslim community.
History of the rohingyas the untold story of the rohingyas. An ethnic rakhine armed organisation, the arakan army, said in april last year that it was ready to move from its bases in kachin state to rakhine to defend the state. Some rohingya families, understandably, wish to return to burma after spending years in camps in bangladesh, but conditions in the townships in arakan from which. Pdf secessionist aspects to the buddhistmuslim conflict. Therefore many hundreds, indeed thousands of coolies came from the chittagong district by land and by sea, to seek labor and high wages phayre 1836. As to the muslim settlements in arakan, the renowned scholars of the early 20th century, professor enamul haq and abdul karim shahitya visarad wrote in 1935. The rohingyas are a muslim minority from the arakan rakhine state in myanmar. Underthebackdropofthefirstinternationallyrecognizedparliamentary. They were indeed the direct descendants of immigrants from the chittagong. Had all india muslim league championed the case of its arakan counterpart, the political struggle for a muslim homeland in burma would not have metamorphosed into militant radicalism. E under the heading state protection the report states. The demography controversy according to the encyclopaedia britannica, the population in arakan grew to 173,000 in 1831, 248,000 in 1839, 461,6 in 1871 and 762,102 in 1901. Ethnic muslim minority rohingya from the arakan state are not.
Arakan rohingyamuslim issues network myanmar arakan. On friday, burmas representative thet thinzar htun said using muslim community in arakan state, instead of the contentious term rohingya, would help to bring harmony and mutual trust between the buddhist and muslim communities in arakan statewho remain largely segregated since antimuslim violence in 2012 and 20. Thousands of bengalese from the chittagong region settled in arakan seeking work5. The relations between arakan and chittagong were based on historical, geopolitical and ethnological considerations. The census report of 1921 broke with previous practice and enu.
The immigrants coming into arakan included many muslims from chittagong. Muslim identity and demography in the arakan state of burma by dr. Sanctuary under a plastic sheet the unresolved problem. The arakanese in many parts do little or nothing themselves as regards manual. Muslim discont in arakan and the rohingya refugees in chittagong. Habib siddiqui asian tribune october 12, 2011 part 3. Indigenous of assam, the chittagong hill tracts, and rakhine sawako utsumi and lee jay walker modern tokyo times the international media is negating the serious issue of bengali muslims overwhelming the indigenous in assam india, the chittagong hill tracts bangladesh, rakhine myanmar, and other areas. A muslim minority in the overwhelmingly buddhist myanmar, the rohingya are from rakhine state, adjacent to bangladesh, and claim a heritage in myanmar that makes them indigenous. The chittagong region was under the vesali kingdom of arakan during the 6th to 8th centuries and under the mrauk u kingdom of arakan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Since1879, immigration has taken place on a much larger scale, and the descendants of the slaves are resident for the most part in the kyauktaw and myohaung mrohaung townships.
Described by the united nations in 20 as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, the. The burmese government still considers, however, that the migration which. Immigration and refugee board of canada 16 august 2005 bangladesh. British controlled chittagong in east bengal proceeded to conduct raids against the.
Rohingya refugees in bangladesh and thailand danish immigration service 2011. Migration from bengal to arakan during british rule 18261948 occasional paper series no. There were an estimated 1 million rohingya living in myanmar before the 201617 crisis. The british census of 1891 reported 58,255 muslims in arakan. Apart from the muslim population, the other major ethnic group is the rakhine. Burmese invasion of arakan and the rise of non bengali settlements in bangladesh new age newspaper origin of the tribes of chittaging hill tract cht by abid bahar mogh memories of the past and the rise of antirohingya racist jolts and shaking in arakan it was in the kalandan and lemro river valleys where rohingya muslims were farmers and. In my book muslim identity and demography in the arakan state of burma myanmar i have analyzed the british era data and put to rest the xenophobic claims of bengali or more particularly chittagonian infiltration to arakan by showing that there is no credible evidence supporting that myth, propagated by the criminal burmese. Along with them muslim preachers and saints, who penetrated deep into the country and proceeded down the coast to arakan, which also had a muslim. Furthermore, none of the arakan rivers rise in burma, which greatly reduced the potential for waterborne communication between arakan and places to the east. The welcome migrants from bangladesh frontier myanmar. The development of a muslim enclave in arakan rakhine state of. Muslim immigration into arakan and their political movements 2009.
The bengalimuslim workers from chittagong area and soortis from madras had begun to enter arakan. Myanmar, the rohingya minority amnesty international. Muslim citizenship procedure angers burma buddhists, some. In 199192 alone, more than 250,000 rohingya crossed the border into bangladesh and took refuge in some 20 camps in the coxs bazar area. This turned the members of arakan muslim league towards a radical fight for selfdetermination that continues till this very day. A collection of 36 documents on rohingya history rohingya blogger.
History of rakhine state and the origin of the rohingya muslims. Pdf rohingya refugees from the arakan state of myanmar found their ways a number of. District of east bengal presentday bangladesh, who had migrated into arakan after. Conservative political leaders chose parliamentary politics to further their own ambitions and muslim interests. The rohingya, a muslim ethnic minority group in rakhine, are considered among.
He characterizes the slight increase in the muslim population in arakan after the british conquest as the settlement by chittagonian bengali muslims. Print comment send to a friend more from this author. They were classified as the chittagonians or the mahomedan by the british officials. Introduction burma or todays mayanmar is a country of many nations many races, ethnicities and religions. To account for muslim factor in arakan, saw shoots onto his own foot by quoting r. The rohingya were once counted as a part of the mrauku mrohaung kingdom in arakan which stood independent of both the burman kingdoms in the irrawaddy delta and central burma as well as bengal and the moguls to the west. The arakan mountains isolated the region and made it accessible only by sea. Arakan itself was mostly separated from the rest of burma by a long range of mountains, the arakan yoma, with only two practical passes. Muslim identity and demography in the arakan state of burma part 4 by dr. Muslim identity and demography in arakan part 3 by dr.
Both the buddhist arakanese and the overwhelmingly muslim rohingyas have been cohabitating in the general area of what is now known as the arakan state in myanmar and the chittagong division in bangladesh since the precolonial era. Burmas 1982 citizenship law offers degrees of citizenship rights to three categories. The rohingya refugee crisis is a very complex case. Muslim immigration into arakan and their political movements myint thein 2009. By 1911, the muslim population had increased to 178,6476. The history of rohingya muslims of arakan pdf document. Muslim merchants from arabia, iraq, persia and other region of central asia had started coming to chittagong from the 5th century, and some of them had settled there for.
Mohammed yunus first edition published in 1994 a history of arakan. Four of five arakan muslim representatives at the constituent assembly of 1947 were elected as members of the jamiyyat ululama. The theravada buddhists and christians are the two main religious communities groups in myanmar with the muslims being the third, enumerated population of burma tells that, buddhists make up 89. Situation of buddhists, particularly in the areas of chittagong and dhaka. Manual laborers in these areas already earn a mere one hundred to one. The rohingya from burmese perspective ready for print. It is not a country either of or for any particular group be they are the. Apart from that, a study of the creation and consequences of international refugees. Migration from bengal to arakan during british rule 1826. Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by chin state to the north, magway region, bago region and ayeyarwady region to. Arakanese and rohingya criticize new govt term for muslims. Islam in myanmar research notes imtiyaz yusuf myanmar is a nonsecular buddhist majority country.
With the british annexation of arakan into the raj after the first angloburmese war in 1826 came the first modern waves of muslim migration to avail of new agricultural opportunities. This video is very important for every rohingya language people to understand our ancient history. The rohingya refugee crisis sur international journal. Mohammad yunus, president of the rohingya solidarity organisation rso, arakan, is a a welcome addition to the present stock of our knowledge about the history of arakan and her interrelation with. Why both rohingya muslims and rakhine buddhists think they. The development of a muslim enclave in arakan rakhine. Further expansions on agricultural sector were made after the suez canal opened in 1869. It indicated that a possible element of its objective would involve moving ethnic rakhine into the state from bangladesh, though it is difficult to understand how this. In arakan, most businesses were owned by the people of chittagong and north india. At the same time, thousands of rakhine people from arakan also settled in bengal.
Rohingya ethnic muslim minority and the 1982 citizenship law in. Therefore many hundreds, indeed thousands of coolies came from the chittagong district by land and by sea, to seek labor and high. In part of this area, the chittagong hill tracts, the bangladesh security forces have reportedly committed human rights violations in the context of counterinsurgency measures against local tribal. Many more bengalimuslims from chittagong area had entered arakan following that period. The bengali muslim workers from chittagong area and soortis from madras had begun to enter arakan.