Human Rights Review (2022) 23:289–303 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-022-00654-4 Marginalized and Misunderstood: How Anti‑Rohingya Language Policies Fuel Genocide Lindsey N. Kingston1 · Aroline E. Seibert Hanson2 Accepted: 3 February 2022 / Published online: 21 March 2022 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2022 Abstract Language plays a role in the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar and continues to shape their experiences in displacement, yet their linguistic rights are rarely discussed in relation to their human rights and humanitarian concerns. International human rights standards offer important foundations for conceptualizing the “right to language” and identifying how linguistic rights can be violated both in situ and in displacement. The Rohingya case highlights how language policies are weaponized to oppress unwanted minorities; their outsider status is reinforced by the country’s language education policy and they face additional rights challenges in displacement—including obstacles to effectively accessing humanitarian aid. Moving forward, norms associated with self-determination and language rights offer a conceptual foundation for shifting attitudes and altering negative perceptions of Rohingya identity. Keywords Language rights · Rohingya · Myanmar · Forced displacement · Genocide · Language endangerment In Arakan, they kill and bury you under the treasure of human rights. – From “My Life” by Rohingya poet Pacifist Farooq (2019) The history of the Rohingya people in Myanmar is a long and complicated one, stretching back to the precolonial Buddhist kingdom of Arakan and continuing through the colonial period, military rule, its (controversial) parliamentary republic, * Lindsey N. Kingston Lkingston54@webster.edu Aroline E. Seibert Hanson arolinhanson@gmail.com 1 2 Webster University, Saint Louis, MO, USA Arcadia University, Glenside, PA, USA 13 Vol.:(0123456789)