Key Terms

• Myanmar: A republic in southeast Asia, on the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The area where all the cases start as a result of our agenda item.

• Burma: Burma is a traditional name of Myanmar, and was the official name in English until 1989 when Myanmar was still dependent on Britannia. It is still used to express disapproval of the military government which changed the name.

• Rohingya: Rohingya is a term commonly used to refer to a community of Muslims generally concentrated in Rakhine (Arakan) state in Myanmar (Burma), although they can also be found in other parts of the country as well as in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh and other countries.

• Rakhine State (Arakan State): Rakhine State is a state in Myanmar. Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by the Magway Region, Bago Region, and Ayeyarwady Region to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the west, and the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the northwest. It is one of the places where an ethnic group of Muslims live.

• Buddhism: A religion based on the teachings of Buddha which is also the belief of Myanmar’s majority.

• Cox’s Bazar: Cox’s Bazar is a town on the southeast coast of Bangladesh. It’s known for its very long, sandy beachfront, stretching from Sea Beach in the north to Kolatoli Beach in the south. The place where refugees (mostly Rohingyas) flee and are accepted.

• Genocide: The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group to destroy that nation or group. Under the topic of the Rohingya Crisis, it is understandable that Rohingyas are being slaughtered by a specific or several governments.

• Ethnic Cleansing: Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous.

• Internally Displaced Person (IDP): A person or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.

• Refoulement: The act of forcing a refugee or asylum seeker to return to a country or territory where he or she is likely to face persecution. The Rohingyas are forced to return to Myanmar from other countries.