Migrant or Outcast: An Analysis on the Identity of “Rohingya” Within the Context of Myanmar’s Nation-Building

Rohingya identity is a politically constructed “imaginary community”, shaped by the dynamic interplay of historical contingencies, state policies, and collective political imagination. The foundational “split but not unified” nature of precolonial Burmese polity was exacerbated by British colonial policies, which institutionalized a factual division between Muslim and Buddhist communities in Rakhine. In response to shifting geopolitical circumstances, Muslim migrants from Chittagong forged a cohesive identity under the “Rohingya” ethnonym to pursue political claims. The failure of these ventures led to their stigmatization as “traitors” and “outcasts”, becoming “forgotten people” by both Myanmar and Bangladesh. The collective experiences of statelessness and persecution have crystallized this once-vague political imagination into a potent and distinct Rohingya identity. Additionally, the evolution of the Rohingya issue has, in turn, profoundly impacted Myanmar’s tumultuous democratization process, creating a vicious cycle that complicates any resolution. The political friction between the Burmese majority and the Rohingya is structural, and the possibility of full reconciliation is relatively low. Disparate identity has become the core factor in either building or dismantling nations. The divergent demands of both sides may continue to fuel domestic conflicts and regional instability.