The stateless Rohingya refugee: A critical analysis of nation-states of Myanmar and Bangladesh

Abstract

In every nation-state, there usually underlies a genealogy of incongruent relationship within its elements that determines the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion of members in this system. Although this issue is well-researched in the ‘refugeehood and nation-state’ scholarship, such crises are not over at all. Thus, many more studies are required not only to devise a way out but also to create a consensus against the production of refugees in the future. Therefore, this study takes up the case of Rohingya refugee crisis in the parlance of Arendt’s (1979) critique of nation-state and Agamben’s (1998) sovereign power, whereby the passage of nation-state initially creates refugees and then bare lives in the camps. To that end, exploration of nation-state principles, political development of Myanmar and Bangladesh as well as relevant studies on Rohingya refugee crisis helped to draw the conclusion that the nation-state system cannot end refugee crises. Moreover, an increasing level of critical aspects of this state system regarding refugeehood constitutes an ethical impetus for something alternative to this political entity.