40 SE Asia: Cultural Geography I – Ethnic Separatism

Southeast Asia is a culturally complex region. Most of Southeast Asia’s countries contain a large number of ethnic minorities, and in many of them the largest ethnic group makes up less than half the population. While multiculturalism yields vibrant cultural and economic energy in many countries, such as the United States and Canada, ethnic diversity sometimes leads to conflict, particularly when countries are impoverished and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in their governments.

Since independence, a number of Southeast Asian countries have faced the issue ethnic separatism – often violent movements by minority groups to gain political autonomy or independence. For many years, the Philippines faced a separatist insurgency in its predominantly Muslim southwest. In 1989, the government granted limited independence to the separatists, creating the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Nevertheless, some extremists have continued their armed struggle, hoping for total sovereignty. Thailand also faces ethnic separatism, despite being one of the most ethnically homogenous countries in the region. Ethnic Malays in the southern part of the country have been attempting to separate from Thailand since the 1940s, but the struggle has become more violent in recent years, with more than 5,000 people dying in the conflict since the beginning of the current century.

A tragic episode of ethnic conflict recently took place in Myanmar (Burma). The Burmese people are the largest ethnic group in that country, and Burmese rulers have long dominated its government. The periphery of the country is populated by a vast array of ethnic minorities, and many have agitated for independence, including the Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kokang, Mon, Naga, Shan, and Rohingya peoples. These separatist movements were a primary reason for the collapse of democracy in Myanmar in the 1960s. Citing security concerns, the military eventually seized control of the government. From the 1960s through the 1980s, thousands were killed in crackdowns on separatist movements. Over the last forty years, a combination of peace accords and military action have quieted, but not ended, many of those conflicts.

The most recent conflict involved a separatist movement among the Rohingya. The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group of about one million people who have resided in their western Myanmar homeland for centuries. In 2017, Rohingya separatists attacked thirty police outposts. The Burmese military, along with civilian mobs, retaliated by attacking and burning scores of Rohingya villages. More than 6,000 Rohingya, including hundreds of children, were killed, and there were numerous reports of rape and torture. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled across the border into Bangladesh, where many remain in refugee camps to this day. Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar has refused to recognize the citizenship of the Muslim Rohingya, leaving many of them trapped in Bangladesh indefinitely.

Ethnic separatism has also been brewing for decades in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s most populous and ethnically diverse country. Ruled by General Suharto for three decades, the country’s separatist movements were generally kept in check by his authoritarian regime. In 1998, Suharto was forced from office and democracy emerged in Indonesia. Unfortunately, Indonesia’s political situation has since been somewhat chaotic, and its governments have been, at times, weak and ineffective. This has opened the door for a number of ethnic minorities to press their claims for autonomy or sovereignty.

One former region of Indonesia has already gained independence. Most of Indonesia was once a Dutch colony, but the eastern half of the island of Timor was ruled by the Portuguese. Indonesia gained full independence from the Netherlands in 1949, but Portugal remained in East Timor until 1974. East Timor’s independence was short lived, with Indonesia invading and conquering the territory shortly after the Portuguese left. The East Timorese, a diverse set of ethnic groups united by their Catholic faith, were not happy to be part of predominantly Muslim Indonesia. They fought a bitter struggle for independence in the 1980s and 1990s. With Suharto’s fall from power, the Indonesian government scheduled an independence referendum for East Timor in 1999, which voters there overwhelmingly supported. East Timor gained full independence in 2002, and is now known as Timor-Leste.

Unfortunately for Indonesia’s government, Timor-Leste’s independence has inspired other ethnic minorities to press for independence. Indonesia has granted autonomy to its Papua and Aceh regions, but has suppressed other separatist movements with military force. Much of the rest of the world is watching Indonesia with concern. A political and economic collapse similar to the one that forced Suharto from office could certainly happen again. If it does, many fear that it could result in an avalanche of armed separatist movements that the Indonesian government would not be able to contain.

In addition to the tremendous violence that would almost certainly accompany the political fragmentation of Indonesia, the international community has other reasons to be concerned. One is the rise of militant religious fundamentalism. While Islamist militancy has not been nearly as big a problem in Indonesia as it has been in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq, there are militant groups in the country, and some are affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. If Indonesia were to fragment, some successor states could possibly fall under the rule of these militant groups.

Indonesia also borders an incredibly important global shipping lane. The Strait of Malacca is the narrow channel that separates Indonesia from Malaysia and Singapore. It is the most direct shipping route connecting East Asia with South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Each year, one quarter of the world’s sea trade passes through the Strait of Malacca, including half of world’s maritime shipments of oil. Piracy is already a problem in the Strait, while any destabilization of Indonesia could have catastrophic effects on global trade.

Cited and additional bibliography:

Banned Rambo Film Hot Property in Burma. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579082/Banned-Rambo-film-hot-property-in-Burma.html.