{"id":16627,"date":"2017-11-17T13:27:30","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T21:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=16627"},"modified":"2017-11-28T10:54:04","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T18:54:04","slug":"a-reflection-on-exclusion-and-language-by-paul-jeffrey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/a-reflection-on-exclusion-and-language-by-paul-jeffrey\/","title":{"rendered":"A reflection on exclusion and language by Paul Jeffrey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By the Rev. Paul Jeffrey<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Rev. Paul Jeffrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some ten million people in the world today are stateless. They aren\u2019t recognized as citizens of any nation. Without legal status, they are subjected to repression and exclusion.<\/p>\n

Two million of those are Rohingya<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, who are mostly Muslim. Although the Rohingya have lived in Myanmar<\/strong><\/span><\/a> for generations, growing Buddhist extremism, unquestioned militarism and heavy Chinese investment in Rakhine State have manufactured a consensus that the Rohingya are simply not Burmese<\/strong><\/span>, that they are at best Bangladeshi<\/strong><\/span> and at worst a form of vermin. That attitude forms the ideological foundation for a vicious campaign of ethnic cleansing that has driven more than 600,000 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh, where they\u2019re living in crowded primitive camps in the south of the country.<\/p>\n

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A section of the Jamtoli Refugee Camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled government-sanctioned violence in Myanmar for safety in Bangladesh. Photo courtesy of Paul Jeffrey. Used with permission.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bangladesh has done its best to host the Rohingya, but it refuses to call them refugees, as under international law that would obligate them to offer certain conditions. Instead it refers to the Rohingya as \u201cdisplaced Myanmar nationals\u201d,<\/strong><\/span> and hopes they\u2019ll soon go home. Bangladesh is already overcrowded and there\u2019s no room for the newcomers. Yet the Rohingya, who fled burned villages and scenes of mass rape<\/strong><\/span>, aren\u2019t willing to go home. So, for now, they wait, knowing that no one wants them.<\/p>\n

The ethnic cleansing in Myanmar didn\u2019t emerge from nowhere. Ask just about anyone in Myanmar today, including leaders of the Methodist Church, what they think of the Rohingya, and they\u2019ll tell you how evil they are, how they should be driven out, and how claims of genocide against them are simply fake news invented by western human rights activists. Even the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>has been unable to hide her racism and Islamophobia. Sickeningly, the Burmese church, as the church universal has been wont to do throughout history, has collaborated with this ideological campaign.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis<\/strong><\/span><\/a> will visit Myanmar later this month, and the country\u2019s Catholic bishops have asked him not to even mention the R-word<\/strong><\/span>, to literally forget about the Rohingya. But Francis doesn\u2019t take orders easily, and in August he mentioned the Rohingya by name, calling them sisters and brothers and noting their suffering. Whether and how he uses the R-word inside Myanmar will be closely watched in the days ahead.<\/p>\n

Yet as we watch Pope Francis, let us also watch our own language.<\/strong> What do we say about migrants and refugees?<\/strong><\/span> It\u2019s easy to criticize the overt racism of neo Nazi groups and politicians who characterize Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals<\/span><\/strong>. What\u2019s hard is to challenge that rhetoric of fear with a language of solidarity and hope.<\/strong><\/span> We in the church must speak words that unequivocally break through the stereotypes that exclude others from our communities. We must practice radical hospitality<\/strong><\/span> that welcomes the stranger<\/strong>,<\/span> knowing that we are entertaining angels and perhaps even embracing Jesus himself.<\/p>\n

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A Rohingya boy flies a kite in the Jamtoli Refugee Camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where members of the ACT Alliance provide humanitarian support for the refugees.\u00a0More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled government-sanctioned violence in Myanmar for safety in Bangladesh.\u00a0Photo courtesy of Paul Jeffrey.\u00a0Used with permission.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let us watch our language.<\/strong><\/span> Let us speak words that welcome refugees and the displaced,<\/strong><\/span> words that shelter the homeless and wrap the brokenhearted in love. When others speak or tweet words of hate, let us stand strong and speak powerful words<\/strong><\/span> that proclaim that the Rohingya\u2013or whoever is pushed to the margins, excluded, or made into non-persons\u2013are our sisters and brothers with whom we share a beloved community.<\/p>\n

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Gallery: Rohingya seek refuge in Bangladesh<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

By the Rev.\u00a0Paul Jeffrey<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n