วารสารวิชาการนิติศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยทักษิณ

There are more than 100,000 Rohingyas have escaped from Myanmar by leaky open boat to Malaysia, Bangladesh and Thailand. 1 The wooden vessel carried many women and children. Unsurprisingly, some of them had died and gone missing during the journey. According to this image, it can be said that Rohingyas become a vulnerable group who needs of international protection from International instruments and needs support from Human rights organizations. Who are Rohingyas? Rohingyas are people who have been living in Rakhine state, formerly known as Arakan state, in the western part of Myanmar. Even though the United Nations (UN) and other international communities called this religious ethic group as “Rohingyas”, the government of Myanmar ( GOM) usually describes this group is an illegal migrant who arrived from Bangladesh. 2 Where originally Rohingyas come from has still been a controversial issue. In contrast, it is widely accepted by GOM that Rohingyas are Begali Muslims from Bangladesh. GOM has insisted on the fact that this group has lived unlawfully in Myanmar’s territory while Bangladesh denounces that Myanmar government applies extreme policy in order to return these Muslims to Bangladesh. 3 For this reason, Rohingyas have not recognized as citizenship either by Bangladesh or GOM. This leads to the condition of being “statelessness” 1 Human Rights Watch (2013) “Dispatches : Decisive Action on Burma’s Rohingya Crisis” Available from http:// www.hrw.org/news/2014/10/20/dispatches-decisive-action-burmas-rohingya-crisis, ( Accessed : 31st October 2014) 2 International Crisis Group (2013) The Dark Side of Transition : Violence against Muslims in Myanmar, Asia Report, No. 251, p.3. available from : http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/files/asia/south-east-asia/burma-myanmar/251- the-dark-side-of-transition-violence-against-muslims-in-myanmar.pdf ( Accessed : 28th October 2014). 3 Nehginpao Kipgen,(2013) “Conflict in Rakhine State in Myanmar : Rohingya Muslims’ Conundrum”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 33, No.2, p.4. วารสารวิชาการนิติศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยทักษิณ ปีที่ 5 ฉบับที่ 7 มกราคม - ธันวาคม 2557 