Current Events > Genocide in Myanmar- Will the international community intervene? Another Rwanda?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/world/asia/rohingya-myanmar-atrocities.html

Survivors said they saw government soldiers stabbing babies, cutting off boys heads, gang-raping girls, shooting 40-millimeter grenades into houses, burning entire families to death, and rounding up dozens of unarmed male villagers and summarily executing them.
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Human rights investigators said that Myanmars military killed more than 1,000 civilians in the state of Rakhine, and possibly as many as 5,000, though it will be hard to ever know because Myanmar is not allowing the United Nations or anyone else into the affected areas.

Peter Bouckaert, a veteran investigator with Human Rights Watch, said there was growing evidence of organized massacres, like the one Rajuma survived, in which government soldiers methodically slaughtered more than 100 civilians in a single location. He called them crimes against humanity.

On Wednesday, the United Nations human rights office said that government troops had targeted houses, fields, food-stocks, crops, livestock and even trees, making it almost impossible for the Rohingya to return home.

Government troops in Myanmar are literally lining people up in villages and executing them, raping people, etc.

This is an important moment for the international community. 143 countries have signed the Genocide Convention, pledging to prevent and punish actions of genocide in war and in peacetime. Note that Myanmar itself has signed. This means that the UN may end up creating a tribunal to prosecute war criminals for violating it, as happened after Rwanda and Serbia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_Convention

Will the international community form some sort of response, or will the government of Myanmar be allowed to commit the worst human rights violations imaginable with complete impunity? Will the intervention only come after the killing has stopped because they have run out of people to kill, just to find a scapegoat to prosecute?
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It is so fucking awful.

Humanity is a giant shit stain
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I stopped having hope in the international community after the Rwandan Genocide
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Sativa_Rose posted...

Human rights investigators said that Myanmars military killed more than 1,000 civilians in the state of Rakhine, and possibly as many as 5,000, though it will be hard to ever know because Myanmar is not allowing the United Nations or anyone else into the affected areas.

Then the United Nations needs to enter the areas by force. Didn't want a war? Don't genocide your own people.
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The "international community" is usually lead by the US and we know Trump doesn't give a shit.
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Is this all happening under the watch of Aung San Suu Kyi?
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Sativa_Rose posted...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_Convention

In hindsight, this seems like a really poor coincidence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen_Con
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The UN is as useless as the League of Nations before it
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DreadedWave posted...

The "international community" is usually lead by the US and we know Trump doesn't give a shit.

It doesn't have to be lead by the US. The first step is for the UN to decide to get forcefully involved in the first place though, and we haven't gotten there yet.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

Is this all happening under the watch of Aung San Suu Kyi?

Yes.

Duncanwii posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

Human rights investigators said that Myanmars military killed more than 1,000 civilians in the state of Rakhine, and possibly as many as 5,000, though it will be hard to ever know because Myanmar is not allowing the United Nations or anyone else into the affected areas.

Then the United Nations needs to enter the areas by force. Didn't want a war? Don't genocide your own people.

The difficulty is that the UN has no military. It needs to use the militaries of other nations in its peacekeeping operations, and it never does anything remotely offensive with them. To do anything offensive would require additional cooperation with a national military of a country that wanted to get involved.
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ChromaticAngel posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_Convention

In hindsight, this seems like a really poor coincidence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen_Con

Lol, that is funny

MakoReizei posted...

The UN is as useless as the League of Nations before it

It's probably gotten a little more done, but it seems quite useless indeed at times like these.
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UN will write a strongly worded letter demanding that hostilities cease. Will be incredulous when it doesn't work.
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What a disappointment and a disgrace Suu Kyi has shown herself to be.

Did you know that in a BBC interview she recently said she didn't know she was going to be interviewed by a Muslim?
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GOATTHlEF posted...

Americans: *shoots prize horse in leg*
Also Americans: Why can't the prize horse win races?

World: America, stop getting involved in other countries' issues
Also World: Where is America? Why aren't they getting involved here?
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Once you start actively committing genocide it really should be open season on your government and military.

Unless you have some resource to be exploited though, the rest of the world doesn't care. They sure will pretend they do with this though:

ThePrinceFish posted...

UN will write a strongly worded letter demanding that hostilities cease. Will be incredulous when it doesn't work.

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This is why citizens need strong firearm rights. Absolutely horrendous what is happening there. IIRC it is illegal to own firearms there. Only government officials can have them.

Duncanwii posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

Human rights investigators said that Myanmars military killed more than 1,000 civilians in the state of Rakhine, and possibly as many as 5,000, though it will be hard to ever know because Myanmar is not allowing the United Nations or anyone else into the affected areas.

Then the United Nations needs to enter the areas by force. Didn't want a war? Don't genocide your own people.

I don't get it either tbh. Why would you need to have to ask the country if they're okay with you stopping the genocide? What's the point of having these organizations if they're powerless to actually do anything?

Tho I'm not sure if it's the UN itself that is useless or if it's governments like ours and others that hold extra sway in the UN that are behind this level of weakness
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Fuck the UN, we should just invade and make it another American territory.

Love how the amazing gift of the War in Vietnam keeps giving. Love how the last two major wars America has started have fucked over the world entirely
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Letron_James posted...

Love how the amazing gift of the War in Vietnam keeps giving. Love how the last two major wars America has started have fucked over the world entirely

What does Vietnam have to do with the ethnic disputes between the people in Myanmar?

The UN is such a toothless organization.
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pls posted...

Letron_James posted...

Love how the amazing gift of the War in Vietnam keeps giving. Love how the last two major wars America has started have fucked over the world entirely

What does Vietnam have to do with the ethnic disputes between the people in Myanmar?

Sure, Myanmar has had constant civil wars since 1948 but somehow America destabilized the region during the Vietnam war.
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The leader of Myanmar received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990. Probably time to take that back.
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ThePrinceFish posted...

pls posted...

Letron_James posted...

Love how the amazing gift of the War in Vietnam keeps giving. Love how the last two major wars America has started have fucked over the world entirely

What does Vietnam have to do with the ethnic disputes between the people in Myanmar?

Sure, Myanmar has had constant civil wars since 1948 but somehow America destabilized the region during the Vietnam war.

Yeah I wonder what @Letron_James was talking about.

We are too busy dealing with our own domestic problems to worry about others' problems.
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DragonGirlYuki posted...

We are too busy dealing with our own domestic problems to worry about others' problems.

We should drop some weapons and food in the area. The people need a way to defend themselves from the government soldiers.

s0nicfan posted...

GOATTHlEF posted...

Americans: *shoots prize horse in leg*
Also Americans: Why can't the prize horse win races?

World: America, stop getting involved in other countries' issues
Also World: Where is America? Why aren't they getting involved here?

lol too true
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This really is an awful situation that's basically a mass ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims. Like, random mass graves being found and a mass refugee crisis to Bangladesh.
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I read that same article earlier this afternoon and it broke my heart. I just don't understand how people can treat other people like that.
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How much control does the government have over its military. With those countries that get military coups it can be hard to keep the army in check.
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Of course the international community won't intervene because countries like China and Russia don't care and the United States has no interests in Myanmar worth intervening for.
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Callixtus posted...

Of course the international community won't intervene because countries like China and Russia don't care and the United States has no interests in Myanmar worth intervening for.

Trump could redeem his image by becoming the "savior" of a Muslim minority.

He is too busy tearing up NAFTA.
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The Admiral posted...

The leader of Myanmar received the Nobel Peace prize in 1990. Probably time to take that back.

the same person is still leading the country?

DragonGirlYuki posted...

How much control does the government have over its military.

not much at all, i dont think
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Seems like she can't effectively stop it even if she wanted to with how much influence the military has.
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DragonGirlYuki posted...

Seems like she can't effectively stop it even if she wanted to with how much influence the military has.

She's making it worse with her denial of the problem and anti-Muslim rhetoric.
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And create another Yugoslav War?
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There has been quite a few genocides in recent history, including ones carried out in Cambodia, as well as brutal child conscription and slavery in places like Sierra Leone and other African nations over the past few decades.

But for some reason Kony is a joke and internet meme and Myanmar is serious business and a humanitarian crisis.

It's almost like people only care about Genocide when it suits a political agenda.
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Giant_Aspirin posted...

I read that same article earlier this afternoon and it broke my heart. I just don't understand how people can treat other people like that.

For a bit of context:
The muslim and buddhist communities in that region fought on opposite sides of World War 2. After, they were lumped together into one nation even though the muslims wanted to be given their own nation ("East Pakistan"). Since then, the buddhist government has considered their muslim population an illegal occupying force and in turn the muslims have segregated, armed, and have recently taken to military action against buddhists to try and force themselves into being given their own nation.

The answer to "how can people treat others like this" is "75 years of having to share your land with your literal enemy". The fact that it took this long for something to happen is astonishing.
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s0nicfan posted...

Giant_Aspirin posted...

I read that same article earlier this afternoon and it broke my heart. I just don't understand how people can treat other people like that.

For a bit of context:
The muslim and buddhist communities in that region fought on opposite sides of World War 2. After, they were lumped together into one nation even though the muslims wanted to be given their own nation ("East Pakistan"). Since then, the buddhist government has considered their muslim population an illegal occupying force and in turn the muslims have segregated, armed, and have recently taken to military action against buddhists to try and force themselves into being given their own nation.

The answer to "how can people treat others like this" is "75 years of having to share your land with your literal enemy". The fact that it took this long for something to happen is astonishing.

Something similar happened in India with Hindus and Muslims. The British was in control of the whole region at the time so they literally Trail of Tears style marched all the Muslims to Pakistan and all the Hindus to India because they wouldn't stop killing each other.

Gandhi rose to power around the same time and was later assassinated by another Hindu because he suggested that Hindus should try to make peace with the Muslims.
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ChromaticAngel posted...

It's almost like people only care about Genocide when it suits a political agenda.

Man, remember when Saddam Hussein was genociding Iraqi Kurds by gassing entire towns and Bush sent in the US military?

Remind me what Dems think of the Iraq war.

Sorry, but Myanmar will just be another Iraq 2.0. They can sort it out themselves.

HiddenRoar posted...

Sorry, but Myanmar will just be another Iraq 2.0. They can sort it out themselves.

I agree.

If it's one thing recent events have taught me, in general, is that you can't help people that don't want your fucking help.

If Myanmar asks us to help out, that's a different story. Otherwise we should just stay the fuck out as we'll only make things worse.
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Agreed on the part of not intervening if help is unwanted.

Look at how bad things got in the middle east when we got involved. Until they settle the underlying social tensions western military help will only make them hate us more.
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Sativa_Rose posted...

It doesn't have to be lead by the US. The first step is for the UN to decide to get forcefully involved in the first place though, and we haven't gotten there yet.

That will never happen. Hell, there was a genocide in Europe not too long ago, and it was still up to the Americans to do most of the heavy lifting.
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If the U.S. does nothing, then no one will. It's that simple. China and Russia do similar stuff(though it's generally much more gradual and quiet than sending soldiers to slaughter defenseless villagers). Ideally, you'd undertake a peace-keeping mission. Myanmar's army is crappy and rife with corruption, so they're basically counting on the idea that nobody cares to get away this(they're right, unfortunately).

The very least we could do is pay-off Bangladesh to settle the refugees and grant them citizenship, but not even that will happen. Trump can hardly be bothered to care about Puerto Ricans(U.S. citizens!), so the odds of him caring about the Rohingya are basically zero.

GOATTHlEF posted...

Americans: *shoots prize horse in leg*
Also Americans: Why can't the prize horse win races?

This one is on the UK.
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U.S. should stay the fuck out of this like everyone else in the world wants them to.

Why should we be subsidizing other countries if we can't even take care of our own. We got enough domestic issues to worry about.
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No matter what America does, were the bad guy. Let Germany or the UK handle this one.
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DragonGirlYuki posted...

Why should we be subsidizing other countries if we can't even take care of our own. We got enough domestic issues to worry about.

It's annoying how many people automatically assume, particularly when talking about the international community:

"We should do something" = "The US government needs to do something"
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