Human Rights and Statelessness

The Rohingya are a Muslim community in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) considered by the Burmese government to be illegal immigrants. They have been denied citizenship since the publication of the 1982 Citizenship Act, reducing them to the status of illegal aliens since most Rohingya lack formal documents to prove otherwise. Since becoming stateless, the Rohingya have faced oppression and persecution at home and in neighbouring countries of refuge. This research analyzes the complex situation that the Rohingya people are facing: persecution, statelessness, internal displacement, asylum seeking and human smuggling on different levels: governmental, regional and international. Through a humanitarian and legal perspective, this book argues that since the loss of their citizenship, the Rohingya have been denied basic human rights.