The Myanmar junta has revoked a publication licence for a book about Rohingya refugees

on Jun 01, 2022

Myanmar's junta has withdrawn a publishing house's licence for distributing a popular foreign book about the military's deadly crackdown on the Rohingya minority, according to state media on Tuesday.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya left Buddhist-majority Myanmar amid a military crackdown in 2017, carrying horrific accounts of murder, rape, and burning with them.

The US officially stated in March that the violence against the Rohingya amounted to genocide, citing convincing evidence of an attempt to "exterminate" the group.

In March, the United States declared that the violence against the Rohingya amounted to genocide, finding convincing evidence of an attempt to "exterminate" the group.

According to the author's website, the book addresses Rohingya history and identity, as well as the community's historical marginalisation and injustices.It is based on significant Rohingya testimony and historical study, and it has received praise from international observers on Myanmar and the Rohingya.

Selling the book "violated the publishing and printing law," according to the Myanma Alinn statement. Expressions that could lead to "racial and cultural conflict between ethnic groups" are prohibited under the law.

The notice stated that Lwin Oo's operating licence was revoked on May 28. The publisher was unavailable for comment. In neighbouring Bangladesh, around 900,000 Rohingya are currently housed in the world's largest refugee camp.

The approximately 600,000 Rohingya who remain in Myanmar are widely viewed as intruders from Bangladesh and have been denied citizenship, privileges, and access to services.

Min Aung Hlaing, the chairman of the Junta during the 2017 crackdown, has denounced the name "Rohingya" as "an fictitious term."

Before publishing, all books, newspapers, and periodicals were needed to be vetted by a government censor under a previous junta.