Zoe Lee /
Burma Task Force – Justice For All /
Chicago, IL, USA /
I recognize that the genocide of the Rohingya is unlike any genocide committed before. Whilst it shares a similar violence, repression, and need for humanitarian assistance in shelter, food, and water, in many aspects, the perpetration of this violence is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Perhaps there were little glimpses here and there in the organized violence against Muslims in India. What the two share in common, India and Myanmar, is that social media has amplified violent rhetoric until it steps beyond the bounds of social media and into the real world, oftentimes with the approval of the government.
The impact of social media in this case cannot be overstated. Although my research will focus heavily on this point; prevention and accountability, there are practical needs that must be met. While we fix the system, people must be clothed and fed. There is institutional change on one hand and practical needs on the other. I will thus be responsible for outreach, as networking and fundraising are necessary parts of human rights work, along with setting up panel discussions to increase visibility. With increasing numbers of crises, the Rohingya become a forgotten people, pushed back into the corners of history as they had been before the genocide. Yet the atrocities did not begin with the genocide. It began decades ago, increasing in pace, until ultimately what the world thought unthinkable became reality. The Rohingya always knew, but we would not listen. Thus it is imperative that we make them seen.
Human rights have tended to be more reactionary than preventative; it waits until the crime has been committed before it intervenes. There were plenty of signs, plenty of warnings that rhetoric would escalate into full blown genocide, but for the sake of profit, Facebook did nothing. Part of my work will be addressing the needs; the basic necessities that are lacking. The question I hope to address; the question in the long term, the question which will reverberate for time to come is how to prevent the realization of a similar tragedy.