Absent citizenship: A case study of the Rohingya extreme violence in 2012 and the Rohingya refugee crisis of 2017,13 provide an opportunity to consider how complex humanitarian emergencies intersect with and can reinforce denial of citizenship. Building on the existing body of literature on the subject of discrimination of the Rohingya, this case study will summarise key developments in the Rohingya’s experience of citizenship. In contrast to the available literature on citizenship revocation that has to date largely focused on developed country cases, revocation here will be considered not as an individual procedural act, but as a gradual process conducted through both administrative practice and legal change, and bolstered through the development of a strong nation-building narrative, grounded on a ‘highly exclusive understanding of ethnic belonging’.14 The case study will then turn to the more recent waves of displacement and migration of the Rohingya, which have created humanitarian emergencies that are deeply intertwined with issues of citizenship and its revocation. Finally, drawing on these observations, the case study will outline points for wider consideration by the community of scholars working on citizenship. Why an absence of citizenship for the Rohingya? The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim group of over a million,15 whose ancestors are understood to have resided in what is modern-day Rakhine State from as early as the ninth century.16 Evidence of this long-term lineage continues to be debated, but it is clear that in more recent history, the Rohingya have been citizens of Myanmar.17 Following its independence from the British, Burma, now Myanmar, made allowances for automatic acquisition of citizenship under the 1948 Union Citizenship Act, under which (amongst other conditions), anyone whose grandparents had resided permanently in Burma was a citizen.18 Although citizens could be granted a Union Certificate of Citizenship,19 very few of these were issued, and the vast majority of the population were instead given National Registration Cards (NRCs), which were equated with proof of citizenship.20 At the beginning of the nation’s independent political journey therefore, Rohingya people were part of the national community of Burma and experienced the same entitlements available to others in the newly created country. 13 De Chickera, A. (2018), Podcast Season 2 Episode 5: Statelessness. MOAS. https://www.moas.eu/blogpodcast-season-2-episode-5-statelessness/; Nyi Nyi Kyaw (2017), ‘Unpacking the Presumed Statelessness of Rohingyas.’ Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 15(3): 269-286; Amnesty International (2019), ‘I don’t know what my future will be.’ Advocacy update on Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh. https://www.amnesty.be/IMG/pdf/i_dont_know_what_my_future_will_be.pdf 14 Arraiza, J. M. & O. Vonk (2017), Report on Citizenship Law: Myanmar. Country Report 2017/14. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute. 2. 15 In 2014, over 1.2 million Rohingya were estimated to be residing in Myanmar. As the most recent government census, conducted in 2014, excluded Rohingya from the count on the ground that the group is not a recognised ethnic nationality, this figure cannot be verified precisely (Mahmood S. et al (2017), ‘The Rohingya people of Myanmar: health, human rights, and identity’ Lancet; 389: 1841–50 Published Online Deember 1, 2016). 16 Farzana, K. F. (2017), Memories of Burmese Rohingya Refugees: Contested Identity and Belonging. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US; Wade, F. (2017), Myanmar’s Enemy Within: Buddhist Violence and the Making of a Muslim ‘Other’. London: Zed Books. 17 Nyi Nyi Kyaw (2017), ‘Unpacking the Presumed Statelessness of Rohingyas’, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 15(3): 269-286. 18 Article 5(a-c), 1948 Union Citizenship Act (Act LXVI, 8 November 1948). Cited in Arraiza & Vonk (2017). 19 Arraiza J. M. & O. Vonk (2017), Report on Citizenship Law: Myanmar. Country Report 2017/14. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. European University Institute. 20 Nyi Nyi Kyaw (2017), ‘Unpacking the Presumed Statelessness of Rohingyas’, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 15(3): 271. European University Institute 19