Human dignity is inherent in every human being. It is not granted by a government, determined by ethnicity, nationality, religion, age, gender, social position or political circumstances. Every person enters this world possessing an intrinsic human worth that must be recognised and respected.
For the European Rohingya Council (ERC), this principle has particular importance because the history of the Rohingya is not only a history of displacement, persecution and denial of rights. It is also a history of systematic attempts to strip an entire people of their dignity, identity, belonging and place in their own homeland.
The Rohingya have too often been treated by successive authorities in Myanmar as though they were people whose lives, identity and aspirations carried less value than those of others. Such treatment is fundamentally contrary to the inherent dignity of human beings.
Dignity is inherent, not granted by the state
No government creates human dignity. Governments have an obligation to respect and protect the dignity that every human being already possesses.
A person's ethnicity cannot make that person less human. A person's religion cannot reduce his or her human worth. Nor can citizenship laws, administrative classifications, political propaganda or discriminatory policies legitimately transform a people who have lived for generations in their homeland into people supposedly undeserving of equal treatment.Yet this is precisely the kind of injustice that Rohingya have experienced over many decades.
Their identity has been challenged and denied. Their historical belonging has been questioned. Their freedom of movement has been restricted. Their opportunities for education and employment have been constrained. Their ability to marry, establish families, travel, work and participate normally in society has at different times been subjected to discriminatory controls.
When such restrictions are imposed systematically upon a population because of who they are, the damage extends far beyond the denial of individual rights. It becomes an assault upon human dignity itself.
The attempt to erase Rohingya identity
One of the deepest forms of indignity inflicted upon the Rohingya has been the attempt to deny them the right to identify themselves by their own name.The nameRohingyarepresents identity, history, community and belonging. Attempts to compel Rohingya to accept identities imposed upon them by others are therefore not merely disputes over terminology. For Rohingya, they concern the fundamental right of a people to exist and identify themselves in their own name.
A durable future cannot be constructed by requiring Rohingya to surrender their identity as the price for recognition or security.ERC firmly believes that Rohingya must be able to preserve and express their identity, culture, history and traditions without intimidation or coercion.
Decades of humiliation and exclusion
The persecution of the Rohingya has involved not only physical violence but also prolonged humiliation and exclusion.Successive restrictions have affected everyday aspects of life. Families have faced barriers to movement, education, livelihoods and public participation. Generations of young Rohingya have grown up seeing opportunities available to neighbouring communities placed beyond their reach.The consequences are profound.
When children are denied equal educational opportunities because of their identity, their dignity is violated. When adults cannot travel freely to work or support their families, their dignity is undermined. When communities cannot participate equally in decisions affecting their future, they are treated not as citizens and stakeholders but as subjects whose voices supposedly do not matter.
ERC rejects this approach completely.Rohingya are not a population whose future should simply be decided by governments, armed organisations or international actors.Rohingya themselves must have a meaningful voice in determining their future.
Dignity during displacement
The mass displacement of Rohingya has created another profound challenge to human dignity.Large numbers of Rohingya now live outside their homeland, particularly in Bangladesh and across other countries in the region and beyond. Many depend upon humanitarian assistance and face severe limitations on education, employment, movement and long-term opportunities.
Humanitarian assistance saves lives and remains essential. But humanitarian assistance alone cannot constitute a permanent future for an entire people.
A human being needs more than food and physical survival.People need education. They need meaningful work. They need the ability to support their families. Young people need opportunities to develop their abilities. Parents need hope that their children can have a better future. Communities need the ability to participate in decisions affecting their lives.
This is the difference betweensurvival and a life lived with dignity.
Rohingya women, children and future generations
Protecting dignity also requires particular attention to people who bear especially severe consequences during persecution and displacement.Rohingya women have endured enormous hardship while holding families and communities together through repeated displacement and insecurity. Children have been born and raised in refugee camps or under conditions where access to normal education and opportunities is severely constrained.
A generation must not be allowed to grow up believing that exclusion, statelessness and dependency are their natural condition.
Rohingya children possess the same intelligence, potential, dreams and human worth as children anywhere else in the world. They deserve education, safety and the opportunity to determine the direction of their lives.Protecting their dignity therefore means investing not only in their immediate survival but also in their future.
Return must be a return with dignity
ERC believes that any sustainable solution for displaced Rohingya must be based uponvoluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable returnto their homeland when conditions genuinely permit it.Return cannot simply mean transporting people from refugee camps across a border.
A dignified return requires restoration of rights, recognition of identity, security, freedom of movement, access to education and livelihoods, the ability to rebuild communities, and meaningful participation in political and social life.Rohingya cannot be expected to return merely to exchange one form of confinement or insecurity for another.
Nor should return require them to abandon their identity or accept discriminatory conditions.The purpose must be to restore people to a life in which they can stand as equal human beings in their own homeland.
Rohingya must speak for themselves
Dignity also means representation.
For too long, decisions concerning the Rohingya have frequently been discussed by governments, international organisations, political actors and armed groups while Rohingya participation has remained insufficient.
ERC believes that nothing concerning the fundamental future of the Rohingya should be determined without meaningful Rohingya participation.Rohingya civil society, community representatives, women, youth, professionals, refugees and people remaining inside Arakan all have perspectives that should contribute to discussions about their future.
Speaking on behalf of Rohingya while excluding Rohingya voices reproduces the very pattern of marginalisation that must be overcome.The Rohingya must not merely be the subject of international discussions.They must be participants in those discussions.
Dignity requires equality
Ultimately, dignity cannot be separated from equality.
A society cannot claim to respect human dignity while dividing people into those entitled to full rights and those expected to live permanently with fewer rights because of their ethnic or religious identity.Rohingya should be able to live in their homeland without constantly having to prove that they deserve rights enjoyed by others.
They should be able to educate their children, earn livelihoods, own and protect their property, practise their faith, preserve their culture, move freely, participate in public affairs and contribute to the development of their homeland.
These are not extraordinary demands.
They are elements of a normal human life.
ERC's commitment
The European Rohingya Council places human dignity at the centre of its work because justice without dignity is incomplete, and a political solution that leaves Rohingya permanently humiliated, marginalised or dependent cannot be considered a durable solution.
ERC will continue working with Rohingya communities, civil society organisations, governments, international institutions and other partners to advocate for conditions in which Rohingya can live as equal human beings with recognised identity, security, opportunity and voice.
Our objective is not merely that Rohingya survive persecution.
Our objective is that Rohingya canlive with dignity.
Every Rohingya child, woman, man and elderly person possesses an inherent human worth that no government, military, armed organisation or political movement has the legitimate authority to take away.
Dignity belongs to every Rohingya because dignity belongs to every human being.