The Misfortune of the Rohingya PeopleMaria Reylan M. Garcia
Minority groups are living relics of a countrys history and
culture. Their existence retells stories that tattered manuscripts
and chipped artifacts cannot. Their preservation ought to be a
burden shared universally, because each state is essentially
identified by such history and culture. However, the misfortune of
the Rohingya people contradicts this premise. These ethnic migrants
are lost at sea, depraved and famished. They are denied citizenship
and persecuted to the point of seeking refuge with human
trafficking syndicates. This ongoing human ping-pong depicts the
lack of sympathy to minority and ethnic rights in Southeast
Asia.
But of course, why would the developing states prioritize the
minorities, much so foreign ones, when they are in fact struggling
to wiggle out of the mainstream economic quicksand? As it is, the
rules of survival justify them from refusing sanctuary to the
Rohingya. Although less diplomatic when a state turns a deaf ear to
foreign mendicants, it is merely being pragmatic when it rather
allocates the supposed aide for stable national food supply or
potable water systems. The states have to protect their own.
Poverty, after all, is a valid excuse.
Yet, the war against poverty may it be local or global cannot be
isolated from the preservation of ethnicity. The International
Labor Organization recently released the results of a study in Peru
that correlates ethnicity with economic status. It was revealed
that households of indigenous origin have significantly higher
poverty levels than those of households of non-indigenous origin.
Sixty-two percent of households of indigenous origin are poor
compared to 35% of households of non-indigenous origin. The study
concluded that coming from a household of indigenous origin
increases the probability of becoming poor. This, among other
studies, proves that the indigenous and tribal peoples survive as
among the poorest of societies.
Poverty and ethnicity are apparently inseparable. Thus, the
minorities are prone to the pangs of human rights abuses, conflict
discrimination child labor, forced labor, and gender-based
marginalization problems that even mainstream communities cannot
easily prevail upon. To win against poverty, those who are stricken
most must be remedied most. More upsetting is the emerging
hopelessness of their living conditions as they would often accept
the status quo and will ultimately be denied effective
representation in national development and decision-making.
This misfortune of the Rohingya people appears to be also an
irony. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is set to
begin its one region goal this 2015 where it descriptively yearns
for educational reform and regional cooperation all for each
member-states economic and social stability. The misfortune of the
Rohingya people is a missed opportunity for such implementation.
Though technically not citizens of any ASEAN member state, the
Rohingya people shares common cultures, tradition and more
importantly, ancestry. Shouldnt their economic and social stability
matter as well?
How can it be an ASEAN community when there are reservations to
extend territorial sanctuary? How can there be one ASEAN region
when the member-states play Im not my brothers keeper? There will
be food and shelter to spare as society rests upon an equilibrium.
The exclusive relief of one state from hunger becomes the woe of
the poorer neighbor. It has been proven time and time again that
when resources are combined tsunamis, earthquakes and even
super-typhoons can be survived, or at least rehabilitated.
***BIO-NOTE: Maria Reylan Garcia, Juris Doctor III, University
of St. La Salle College of Law (Bacolod City, Philippines)
[email protected]
