A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF IDENTITY POLITICS AND DISPLACEMENT OF ROHINGYAS AND UYGHURS

Identity politics has long played a significant role in shaping the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, often leading to their marginalization and displacement. In recent years, the Rohingyas in Myanmar and the Uyghurs in China have emerged as two of the most persecuted groups in the world. While the Rohingyas, a stateless Muslim minority, have faced mass displacement due to systematic violence and denial of citizenship, the Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim group in China’s Xinjiang region, have been subjected to mass surveillance, forced internment, and cultural erasure. Both cases illustrate how governments use identity politics to justify exclusionary policies, leading to forced migration, statelessness, and human rights violations. Both cases underscore the devastating consequences of a state leveraging identity politics to solidify political control, ultimately targeting marginalized communities and attempting to erase their cultural and religious presence. This study examines how identity politics has fueled the displacement of these two communities, comparing the state policies, international responses, and long-term consequences of their persecution. The Rohingya crisis stems from Myanmar’s exclusionary citizenship laws and military violence, resulting in mass displacement to neighboring countries. In contrast, the Chinese government’s policies towards the Uyghurs involve large-scale internment camps and forced assimilation rather than direct expulsion. Despite these differences, both groups face severe human rights violations and limited avenues for justice. By analyzing these cases, this paper aims to highlight the broader implications of identity-based exclusion and state-sponsored persecution. It seeks to answer the following questions: How do identity politics influence the forced displacement of the Rohingyas and Uyghurs? What similarities and differences exist in state policies and international responses? What are the global consequences of these crises? The paper is structured as follows: The first section explores the historical and political foundations of identity politics in Myanmar and China. The second section examines the specific policies that have led to the displacement of the Rohingyas and the repression of the Uyghurs. The third section analyzes international responses and the challenges of addressing these crises. The fourth section provides a comparative analysis, highlighting both similarities and differences between the two cases. Finally, the conclusion discusses the broader implications for global human rights and policy recommendations for addressing ethnic persecution.Together, these cases illustrate how state and nationalist actors can distort and weaponize identity politics—transforming it from a potential tool of empowerment into a mechanism that deepens exclusion, erases cultural diversity, and perpetuates cycles of discrimination and violence.