Understanding Genocidal Violence: The Discursiveness of Camp-Based Rohingya Narratives from Bangladesh

Through micronarratives, this chapter examines the lived experiences of Rohingyas in Myanmar, illuminating how both physical and structural violence influenced their way of life. As a stateless group, the Rohingyas faced direct atrocities, institutionalised discrimination, and systemic exclusion, which many consider to be acts of genocidal intent. The state's attempts to protect so-called national races served as justification for their marginalisation, leaving the Rohingyas defenceless and exposed. They fled violent persecution and took sanctuary in Bangladesh, where they currently reside in temporary camps. To better understand how Rohingya people view violence and protection in the past and in their imagined futures, this study puts individual voices front and centre, moving beyond macro- and meso-level perspectives. The chapter makes the case that decades of structural violence have solidified cycles of physical violence. It concludes that resolving the Rohingya crisis requires a fundamental transformation of the Myanmar state, particularly its constitutionally embedded racial and communal frameworks, to ensure justice, human dignity, and equal rights for all.