Warning: The magic method Vc_Manager::__wakeup() must have public visibility in /customers/d/b/2/rohingyapost.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/js_composer/include/classes/core/class-vc-manager.php on line 203 Deprecated: Required parameter $width follows optional parameter $attach_id in /customers/d/b/2/rohingyapost.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/js_composer/include/helpers/helpers.php on line 366 Deprecated: Required parameter $height follows optional parameter $attach_id in /customers/d/b/2/rohingyapost.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/js_composer/include/helpers/helpers.php on line 366 {"id":25958,"date":"2020-06-12T11:49:57","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T10:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/?p=25958"},"modified":"2020-06-12T11:49:57","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T10:49:57","slug":"time-to-begin-dismantling-movement-restrictions-in-rakhine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/time-to-begin-dismantling-movement-restrictions-in-rakhine\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to begin dismantling movement restrictions in Rakhine"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Laetitia Van Den Assum | Frontier Myanmar<\/p>\n
On May 25, the government\u00a0published a report<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0The Global New Light of Myanmar<\/em>\u00a0that detailed progress made in Rakhine State implementing recommendations of the\u00a0Rakhine State Advisory Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of the items that drew my particular attention showed the discrepancy in access to tertiary health care between Muslims and other ethnicities. Of 26,860 patients treated between September and December last year at Sittwe General Hospital, the state\u2019s only tertiary medical institution, only 814 \u2013 or just 3 percent \u2013 were Muslim.<\/p>\n Since the flight of hundreds of thousands Rohingya to Bangladesh in 2017, Muslims (Rohingya and Kaman) probably comprise between 20pc and 25pc of the state\u2019s population. This puts the fact that they accounted for only 3pc of admissions to Sittwe General Hospital in a stark light.<\/p>\n This new information is welcome because acknowledging such discrepancies should spark efforts to understand and address them. A new report does just that.<\/p>\n Support independent journalism in Myanmar.<\/strong>\u00a0Sign up to be a Frontier member<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The report,\u00a0Freedom of Movement in Rakhine State<\/em><\/a>, by the Independent Rakhine Initiative, an evidence-based advocacy project, sheds light on reasons for this particular discrepancy, and much more. The study was conducted between March 2019 and January 2020 and used a qualitative methodology consisting of a literature review and interviews and focus group discussions with 211 individuals. It builds on an evidence base of 1,056 interviews conducted for IRI\u2019s earlier reports on access to health, education and livelihoods.<\/p>\n It shows that perhaps more than any other human right, freedom of movement does not stand on its own. It \u201cunderpins the ability of individuals to live free and dignified lives, and is instrumental for the enjoyment of other rights, including access to health care, education and livelihoods\u201d.<\/p>\n IRI researched one of the key recommendations of the\u00a0final report<\/a>\u00a0in August 2017 of the Rakhine State Advisory Commission, led by the late Mr Kofi Annan: to undertake a mapping exercise to identify all existing restrictions on movement in Rakhine affecting the state\u2019s diverse ethnic communities and to develop a roadmap for the lifting of restrictions.<\/p>\n The report is a pretty devastating read, not least because it shows the effects of newly imposed movement restrictions on all communities since the\u00a0intensification of fighting<\/a>\u00a0between the military and the Arakan Army in late 2018. It also shows that enforced ethnic segregation, or apartheid, remains a reality for the Rohingya population.<\/p>\n Wide-ranging restrictions of movement are a critical component of enforced segregation.<\/p>\n IRI\u2019s key finding is that movement restrictions are pervasive and affect every community. It concludes that a limited number of these restrictions may be justified because of the security situation but that most are arbitrary and necessitate revision and removal.<\/p>\n The report focuses on all ethnic communities with particular attention to the Rakhine, Rohingya, Kaman, Hindu and Maramagyi. Although all suffer from marginalisation and exclusion, it finds that freedom of movement restrictions are central to the continued persecution of the Rohingya, who clearly continue to bear the brunt of policies and practices constituting enforced ethnic segregation.<\/p>\n The report is not only one of the most important recent research projects on Rakhine, it also delivers a comprehensive roadmap of recommendations. It addresses freedom of movement as a cross-cutting issue that also affects access to other rights. In doing so IRI has formulated recommendations that aim to implement many of the points made in the Annan commission\u2019s report.<\/p>\n