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By now you've probably heard that a refugee took his own life on Manus Island yesterday. He was a Rohingya, had been found to be a genuine refugee, and had epilepsy, for which he had not received treatment for two years despite urgent requests from the medical community. In my view, the Australian government is not just responsible for this man's death; they are responsible for his murder.
In an odd coincidence, I had just finished reading the following article about the Rohingya when I logged on to share the link and read the news from Manus: Murderous Majorities (New York Review of Books, 18 January 2018). It positions the genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar in the context of majoritarian politics in South Asia. I think it contains a warning for the West: "Majoritarianism insists on different tiers of citizenship. Members of the majority faith and culture are viewed as the nation’s true citizens. The rest are courtesy citizens, guests of the majority, expected to behave well and deferentially." That idea, that some Australians are more equal than others, is strikingly familiar.
More on the Rohingya:
Understanding the Rohingya Refugee Crisis (MSF, 2 January 2018)
Explainer: Who are the Rohingya Muslims? (SBS, 24 October 2017)
The Genocide of Rohingyas in Myanmar from the Australian Migrant Prison on Manus Island (Funambulist Nov/Dec 2017), reproduced by Manus refugee Imran Mohammad in his Facebook.
Faces of the Rohingya (SBS, n.d.). Interviews with Rohingya people living in Melbourne.
On an unrelated note, my ego swelled at the discovery that a letter of mine to the paper (almost certainly the Sydney Morning Herald) about the Tampa was reproduced in a 2007 thesis about Iranian immigrants and refugees. Letters to the editor - especially if they're concise and factual - are an excellent way to get pro-human rights viewpoints in front of readers.
In an odd coincidence, I had just finished reading the following article about the Rohingya when I logged on to share the link and read the news from Manus: Murderous Majorities (New York Review of Books, 18 January 2018). It positions the genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar in the context of majoritarian politics in South Asia. I think it contains a warning for the West: "Majoritarianism insists on different tiers of citizenship. Members of the majority faith and culture are viewed as the nation’s true citizens. The rest are courtesy citizens, guests of the majority, expected to behave well and deferentially." That idea, that some Australians are more equal than others, is strikingly familiar.
More on the Rohingya:
Understanding the Rohingya Refugee Crisis (MSF, 2 January 2018)
Explainer: Who are the Rohingya Muslims? (SBS, 24 October 2017)
The Genocide of Rohingyas in Myanmar from the Australian Migrant Prison on Manus Island (Funambulist Nov/Dec 2017), reproduced by Manus refugee Imran Mohammad in his Facebook.
Faces of the Rohingya (SBS, n.d.). Interviews with Rohingya people living in Melbourne.
On an unrelated note, my ego swelled at the discovery that a letter of mine to the paper (almost certainly the Sydney Morning Herald) about the Tampa was reproduced in a 2007 thesis about Iranian immigrants and refugees. Letters to the editor - especially if they're concise and factual - are an excellent way to get pro-human rights viewpoints in front of readers.
