Social Constructivist and Rights-Based Analysis of Global Governance of Statelessness: The Case of the Rohingya Crisis

Abstract

In Myanmar (formerly Burma), there is a long history of human rights violation against the Rohingya, an ethnic minority, predominately Muslim and stateless. The international society started giving stronger consideration after the holocaust in 2012 involving over 200 Rohingya, instigated by the majority ethnic group, Rakhine, who are predominately Buddhist. Stakeholders of global and regional governance express concerns for populations who had to flee their residential homelands, whereas stateless people are generally excluded. Typically, refugees with recognized legal nationalities have been the predominant focus of the international community. However, following Myanmar’s military attack against the Rohingya and their subsequent forced relocation in August 2017, international organizations as well as the US government openly criticized the Myanmar government for violent attacks that were labeled as “crimes against humanity,” “genocide,” and “ethnic cleansing.” In the case of the Rohingya, the statelessness status became an additional aspect of a violation of human rights. The authors analyzed the state of global governance in regard to the Rohingya Crisis with constructivist framework which focuses on multiple perspectives among stakeholders. With the results of the analysis, the authors examined the implications for social work practice, including increased sharing along with more involvement of social workers to end this long history of human rights violation.