This thesis explores the challenges of repatriation of the Rohingyas, an ethnic minority Muslim group of Myanmar who took refuge in Bangladesh after a massive military crackdown in 2017 by the Myanmar army. The study, underpinned by a qualitative approach and a semi-structured interview method, examines the impediments to Rohingya repatriation, the pivotal role of identity politics in the crisis, and how diverse stakeholders, including Bangladesh, UN agencies, NGOs, and international powers, are addressing the crisis. The study was methodologically guided by constructionism and subtle realism, whereas Giddens’ structuration theory informed empirical data collection, and Mbembe’s necropolitics contributed to the analyse the intricacy of identity politics.
The study argues that there are five broad challenges to repatriation, of which identity politics plays the most crucial role. For decades, the military has weaponised this Muslim identity through the interplay of religious, ethnic, racial, linguistic, and cultural differences to maximise political leverage, resulting in ethnic cleansing and genocide. Furthermore, disenfranchisement of the Rohingyas through the 1982 Citizenship Law; insurgency in Myanmar; increased security risks in Myanmar; Bangladesh’s failure to ensure a robust diplomatic approach; and the limited role of key international powers keep the process in a stalemate.
The study contributes to both Rohingya scholarship; and refugee and migration scholarship from two perspectives. Firstly, unlike existing studies, this thesis meticulously analyses the role of identity politics in repatriation. The study collected primary data through interviews with 29 respondents, which provided new empirical insights. Secondly, based on empirical data, the study developed a new theory called the “identity of suppression,” referring to how the Myanmar military conspicuously framed the Rohingyas as Bengalis and outsiders (imposed identity), orchestrated systematic oppression leading to genocide to erase the identity of the Rohingyas. In contrast, the Rohingyas contested that frame and claimed themselves as a distinct ethnic community called Rohingya (claimed identity).
