The Politics of Food in the Rohingya Crisis: Has Starvation been instrumentalised as a form of State Terrorism?

Abstract

The Rohingya crisis is often understood through the frames of ethnic cleansing and statelessness, this paper seeks to provide an alternative reading of the conflict. Specifically, it aims to demonstrate how starvation has been instrumentalized by the Burmese state to achieve its political agenda. It argues that forced starvation should be considered an act of state terrorism due to its destructive capacity and effectiveness in achieving state aims. In doing so, this paper seeks to bring the state into terrorism discourse and broaden the scope of acts of terror.