Jasmine Burnley
in how successive waves of Rohingya were received by the Bangladeshi authorities, only some were
granted formal refugee status,55 a condition which further compounds their lack of formal recognition.56
A number of observations on the experience of the Rohingya should be given further consideration
by the wider community of scholars engaged on issues of citizenship and its revocation. Firstly, the
experience by the Rohingya and other groups who do not enjoy full citizenship in Myanmar is an
example of citizenship revocation as an ongoing process rather than a distinct act. The processual nature
of citizenship revocation sets these practices in the global South apart from how this is typically
characterised in the developed world. Hence, as others have argued,57 there is a need to invest in research
on citizenship revocation in developing countries and expand the focus to comparative analysis of
policies in the global South. Secondly, in the case of the Myanmar, it is clear that ethnic nationalities
now provide the foundation for defining membership of the body politic, with profound consequences
for how and whether citizenship is enjoyed by different groups.58 With the growing number of internal
disputes and civil wars seen since the end of the Cold War,59 this may have implications for how
citizenship as recognised in International Law, is treated, particularly in volatile and fragile contexts
where rule of law is weak. Thirdly, the case study raises questions for how the international community
deals with citizenship and its revocation, in the case of protracted emergencies and where denial of
entitlements has the potential to be operationalised through humanitarian settings. The risk of such
protracted crises further entrenching the discrimination of groups and denial of their fundamental rights,
in turn raises the issue of how international actors can in such situations, ensure they do no harm, and
take steps to consider citizenship and its revocation as connected to the elements of a protracted
humanitarian crisis.
55
UNHCR (2007), Bangladesh: Analysis of Gaps in the Protection of Rohingya Refugees.
56
At the 8477th meeting of the UN Security Council on 28th February 2019, the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, Shahidul
Haque, also announced that Bangladesh would no longer be able to accommodate people from Myanmar (source:
https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sc13727.doc.htm).
57
Birnie, R. & R. Bauböck (2020), ‘Introduction: expulsion and citizenship in the 21st century.’ Citizenship Studies, 24(3):
265-276.
58
Advisory Commission on Rakhine State (2017), Towards a peaceful, fair and prosperous future for the people of Rakhine.
Final Report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State.
59
Barnett, M. & Weiss, T. (eds.) (2008), Humanitarianism in Question. Politics, Power, Ethics. Cornell University Press.
24
Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Working Papers