Thailand and its responsibility to protect the Rohingya

Myanmar's has long been troubled by ethnic tensions and conflicts. One case that has attracted widespread attention is the plight of the Rohingya in Rakhine state in Myanmar. Despite claims that the Myanmar government is failing to protect the Rohingya from ethnic cleansing, the international community has been reluctant to take any significant action to protect the Rohingya community in Myanmar. The question remains as to what can be done given the current difficult circumstances. It will be suggested that if protection of the Rohingya cannot be effectively guaranteed in Myanmar by the Myanmar authorities or the international community, then protection needs to be provided to the majority of stateless Rohingya refugees residing in refugee-hosting countries. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine whether Thailand as a refugeehosting country has a responsibility to protect the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar within its borders. It will argue that Thailand has a responsibility to (1) assist Myanmar and (2) respond collectively with other actors ofthe international community to provide protection for the Rohingya within its borders under the principles ofR2P. While the Thai government already protects the Rohingya under specific conditions, it still needs to expand its efforts to fulfill this responsibility in its entirety. By complying with the principles of R2P, Thailand can increasingly solidify its responsibility to protect the Rohingya and strengthen its commitments to achieve this objective as a responsible actor of the international community. Key words Responsibility to Protect, protection, refugees, statelessness, RohingyaMaster of Science (Strategic Studies