THE ROOT CAUSE OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS FOR THE PROTECTION STRATEGY IN THE ROHINGYA CRISIS

Abstract

The statelessness of the Rohingya exacerbates the risk of trafficking in persons. Such risk gets bigger for the Rohingya to face during the coronavirus pandemic as safety restrictions and control are emboldened for health concerns. This paper is not to argue for the Rohingya to be or not to be nationally considered. It is due to that being nationally considered does not necessarily guarantee any persons free from trafficking in persons. Instead, this paper is to identify the root cause in order to construct the protection strategy. Thus, the international human rights are theoretically expressed in naturalistic views which are distinguished from positive rights that are inherently applied in Myanmar to bring out the identity conflict that has been the source of crisis between the minority and the majority. Also, a normative perspective of the research in this paper is expected of how international law should function, especially among the ASEAN member states. The ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children are incorporated as legal instruments throughout the identification of the root cause and the construction of the protection strategy for the Rohingya to investigate the trafficking in persons in the Rohingya crisis. It shows that statelessness and trafficking in persons are inseparable under the migration in the form of irregular movement. Furthermore, it is found that the root cause of trafficking in persons in the Rohingya crisis is the inefficiency of legal systems, because the provision cannot quite defend them.