A New Dimension in Myanmar

Posted: February 7th, 2017

By Wakar Uddin

Dr. Wakar Uddin is Rohingya Muslim, born in Maungdaw, Arakan state, Burma/Myanmar. He is a professor at Penn State University, Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, Founding Chairman of Burmese Rohingya Association of North America, and the President of Muslim Aid America. Arakan Rohingya Union was formed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and it is recognized by all the 57 member countries of OIC as the official organization of the Rohingya people.

October’s attacks on the Border Guard Police bases by the insurgent group Harakah al-Yaqin (HaY) in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and their aftermath have raised concerns over whether the Rohingya crisis in that country, formerly known as Burma, might present an opportunity for expansion of international jihadism.

The persecution of the Rohingya ethnic minority in Rakhine, also known as Arakan, is a major humanitarian crisis that overshadows the core issues of Rohingya citizenship and basic rights. The problem is spurred by half a century of Rohingya persecution by Burma’s military dictatorship. Revocation of citizenship, major human rights violations, terror, and violence against Rohingya people are the key strategic maneuvers by the Myanmar government in pursuit of ethnic cleansing in Arakan, aimed at racial and religious purity in the predominantly Buddhist country.

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