The Grimshaw Review of International Affairs Vol. 2, No. 1 gendered lines, but moreover perpetuates the process of ‘othering’4 the recipients of aid (Daigle, 2022; cited in Lough et al., 2022: 44). Whilst diversity in the staffing of humanitarian responses is important, research has suggested it is not enough if local actors have little power to influence decisions, with inclusion being counterproductive if they are only reduced to “tokenised roles” or expected to single-handedly transform organisations (Lough et al., 2022, p. 44). As a result, such practices further perpetuate a “state of being of vulnerability,” which depoliticises the Rohingya’s plight and undermines their agency (Clark, 2007; Miller et al., 2010; Turner, 2019; Sözer, 2019; cited in Lough et al., 2022, p. 15). Indeed, another critical flaw in current humanitarian responses is that of a tendency for “inclusion” to emerge as a late priority, often after “bad habits or flawed assumptions from the early days of response get locked in and are hard to change” (Lough et al., 2022, p. 8). Consequently, a prioritisation of immediate needs arises often without critically examining the historical and systemic exclusions that have contributed to the crisis. It thus becomes clear that the limitations of current humanitarian efforts cannot be overcome without a significant shift in how the Rohingya’s plight is understood and addressed. As such, there is arguably an opportunity for constructivist and postcolonial frameworks to work in tandem. Constructivism stresses the importance of rethinking roles and relationships between those who receive and provide humanitarian assistance – an invaluable contribution – but is ultimately unable to address the historical structures which gave rise to and sustain these identities. Postcolonialism’s emphasis on the inertia of empire arguably provides the necessary critique of the power dynamics that persist behind seemingly neutral or altruistic acts of aid. Given the evident ongoing legacies of colonialism and the persistent power imbalances that continue to affect the Rohingya, a more historically conscious and informed approach to humanitarian aid is essential. Constructivist conceptions of the centrality of identity to the plight of the Rohingya must be accompanied by postcolonial critiques of the legacies which underpin the crisis. It is this fusion which is perhaps best suited to meaningfully challenging the domestic incentives and frameworks which make repressing the Rohingya a politically attractive strategy. Without such a shift, the humanitarian response will 4 ‘Othering’ refers to the process where “staff begin to treat marginalised groups as caricatures based on flawed and simplistic assumptions around their behaviour or capacities” (Lough et al., 2022: 44). 19