Foucauldian analysis of biopolitics and state failure in the Rohingya crisis

Purpose This paper aims to reconceptualize the Rohingya crisis beyond the conventional paradigm of state failure. It employs Michel Foucault's theory of biopolitics, extended by Giorgio Agamben's state of exception and Achille Mbembe's necropolitics, to argue that the persecution of the Rohingya is not a sign of a weak or failing state. Instead, it posits that the Myanmar government's actions – including legal exclusion, movement restrictions and military violence – represent a deliberate and successful strategy of population management, revealing a form of statecraft that governs through the calculated control, exposure and elimination of a specific population. Design/methodology/approach The study is a systematic qualitative review of existing academic literature, legal documents and humanitarian reports. A thematic synthesis approach was used to analyze the material, first by inductively coding for themes like legal exclusion and spatial confinement, and then by deductively interpreting these themes through the integrated theoretical lens of Foucault, Agamben and Mbembe. This method allows for the connection of abstract concepts of biopower and necropolitics to the concrete, empirical realities of the Rohingya crisis, building a coherent analytical narrative that reinterprets state behavior in Rakhine State. Findings The analysis finds that the Rohingya crisis is a systematic, three-stage process of state-engineered exclusion. First, the 1982 Citizenship Law acts as a biopolitical tool to render the Rohingya stateless. Second, subsequent regulations on movement, marriage and healthcare create conditions of “bare life” within a de facto state of exception. Finally, the 2017 “clearance operations” mark a necropolitical shift, using mass violence not as a breakdown of order, but as a deliberate strategy to expel the population. This demonstrates that the state is not failing, but actively and effectively executing a calculated plan of demographic and ethnic cleansing. Research limitations/implications As a literature-based review, this study relies on secondary sources and does not include primary empirical data from the affected communities. Its focus on state-level strategies, while analytically valuable, means it does not deeply explore the lived experiences and agency of the Rohingya people. Future research should address this gap through ethnographic studies that capture subjective experiences under biopolitical governance. Furthermore, comparative studies with other instances of state-engineered exclusion are needed to identify global patterns and refine theoretical understandings of how modern power operates through the creation of disposable populations. Practical implications The findings imply that humanitarian aid alone is an insufficient response to the Rohingya crisis, as it addresses symptoms rather than the underlying political causes. Effective policy and advocacy must shift focus toward dismantling the biopolitical logic embedded in Myanmar's state institutions. This requires challenging the 1982 Citizenship Law, advocating for the restoration of Rohingya citizenship and pursuing legal accountability for crimes against humanity through international courts. International actors must move beyond symptom-oriented relief and confront the sovereign political decisions that legally and physically sustain the exclusion of the Rohingya population. Social implications The crisis demonstrates how biopolitical governance extends beyond national borders, creating significant social upheaval in host countries like Bangladesh. The mass displacement has generated resource competition and local tensions in communities such as Cox's Bazar, illustrating how state-engineered marginalization in one country can destabilize social fabrics in another. The prolonged statelessness of the Rohingya fosters a generation living in legal limbo, deprived of dignity, security and a future. This creates a protracted social crisis where basic human needs are overshadowed by geopolitical inertia, leaving communities in a state of deep uncertainty and vulnerability. Originality/value This paper offers a unique theoretical contribution by systematically integrating Foucault's biopolitics with Agamben's state of exception and Mbembe's necropolitics to analyze the Rohingya crisis as a unified process. It moves beyond simple narratives of ethnic conflict or state failure to reveal a calculated strategy of population governance. By framing the crisis as a form of successful statecraft rather than institutional breakdown, the analysis provides a powerful critical lens for scholars, policymakers and activists. It demonstrates how abstract concepts of power operate in brutal, concrete ways, highlighting the intersection of legislation, bureaucracy and sovereign violence in modern ethnic conflict.