Crosswise Conversations

On the subject of Rohingya refugees and how they came to be displaced, conversations quickly become quite tense here.

Let’s say you and I were chatting, and let’s say you were Burmese, born in Yangon. Right away you might start to bristle at my use of the word “Rohingya.” Maybe you wouldn’t say anything, but you might be thinking that the word must have its roots in the word “Rakhine,” the Myanmar state that the refugees left from on their way to Bangladesh. You might feel it’s wrong for Bengalis (the word you likely prefer) to claim anything having to do with that state: not status, not land, not a name.

I might carry on using the word, knowing that many Myanmar people don’t like it, but taking the view that groups have the right to call themselves whatever they want.

Then you and I might turn the talk toward the suffering of those people. You might suggest that the Bengali brought many of their problems upon themselves: either by teaming up with “radical Islamists,” or by burning down their own villages as they departed in the hope that political points would be gained when the destruction was blamed on the Myanmar military. I might counter that an exodus this large—over half a million and growing—doesn’t just happen by itself, and that nobody should have to endure violence and loss because of their ethnicity.

“Oh, taking a human rights approach,” you might say. “What about a country’s rights? I stand by my government. I stand by my army. I stand by Aung San Suu Kyi.” To which I might sadly shake my head, thinking about how not so very long ago most Myanmar people had no use at all for their government and their army. Their dislike for those institutions explained the 2015 electoral victory by Suu Kyi’s party. Yet on this ethnic issue, when the military’s clearance actions line up with the severe dislike most Myanmar people feel for Muslims, then it’s suddenly OK to support Min Aung Hlaing and the other generals.

The point being: storylines here are miles apart. The “international” take on the recent ethnic conflict, as voiced by the U.N. and other rights-based agencies, tends to be polar opposite the “local” viewpoint, which shows up starkly on facebook and in Myanmar’s English language newspapers. I’m told the comments in Burmese are even rawer and louder.

As it happens, such polar views arose a few times this past week while I was in Rakhine State itself. Three local pals joined me and an American friend for a long-scheduled cycling trip. These Burmese bikers are used to hanging around foreigners but don’t make a habit of talking politics. They’re all very nice guys. In the way of many humans, I often think that because they are my friends they must generally think the way that I do.

Our trip took place far south of the areas where Rohingya and Rakhine people live(d) side by side. (We wouldn’t have been permitted to cycle up there.) During our trip, the folks we waved to each day were mostly Rakhine, mostly Buddhist, and mostly poor, even by Myanmar standards. We didn’t ask what they thought about the atrocities taking place in the northern part of the State, nor how they felt about Rohingya refugees some day returning to again live near Rakhine people.

One evening we were sitting around after dinner, looking at our phones. I received a Burmese-language text message from my phone service provider. The message included the English language acronym, ARSA, for the Rohingya resistance army. I asked my friend to translate. He explained that the text offered phone customers the opportunity to donate money “to those affected by the ARSA.”

I was surprised that this company, a government entity, would think it appropriate to promote a funding appeal that many customers would read as aimed at helping only people who hadn’t fled. The message didn’t specifically say “help Rakhine people only,” but I guessed it might be interpreted that way. Despite a historical rivalry between the Rakhine people and the rest of Myanmar, for the moment the Rakhine are seen as victims, the last defense against Muslim extremism.

The message also didn’t say “help those affected by the Myanmar military,” which is what an international NGO’s funding request might say. I asked my friend what he thought about the message. At first he replied, “You have awakened me.” I figured he would agree with my sense that the company was being one-sided. Then he continued, “I didn’t know about this opportunity. I think I will make a donation.”

Later I learned that the government has requested that all phone providers send similar texts to their customers. This is the same government that has attacked ARSA as a terrorist group, saying that it kills civilians.