Ethnic Cleansing vs. Genocide: The Politics Behind Labeling the Rohingya Crisis

On November 22, aftersome reluctance, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson joined theUnited Nations andUnited Kingdom in calling the current Rohingya crisis an “ethnic cleansing. ” Holding Myanmar’s military, security forces, and local vigilantes responsible for the crisis, Tillerson stated that the United Statescould pursueaccountability via targeted sanctions. While some hailed Tillerson ’s label of ethnic cleansingas a start, it ’s worth taking a closer look at the politics behind it. First, ethnic cleansing does not elicit a legal response, whereas the labels of “crimes against humanity” or “genocide” do. Second, targeted sanctions are known to beineffective, so threatening Myanmar with them seems unproductive.    The currenthumanitarian crisis began on August 25, when theArakan Rohingya Salvation Armycoordinated an attack on Myanmar ’s police and security forces. Myanmar’smilitary crackdown on the Rohingya population was severe, resulting in a mass exodus that is now called thefastest growing refugee emergency in the world. Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, is now host to at leastone million Rohingya refugees, and relief agencies like theUnited Nations Children ’s Fund are struggling to establish ahealth system to try to limitmalnutrition and the spread ofdisease.Stories ofburning villages,massacres,sexual violence andrape are emerging daily. So, then, why is there a global unwillingness to label the Rohingya persecution by the...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs