Protecting the world's most persecuted: the responsibility to protect and Burma's Rohingya minority

The Rohingya in Burma have been called ‘the world's most persecuted minority' and subjected to pervasive human rights violations, including ethnic cleansing, statelessness and possibly genocide. Despite the international community's commitment to the responsibility to protect (R2P), which includes violence prevention, the plight of vulnerable populations such as the Rohingya has been relatively ignored. This article encourages dialogue about the R2P's potential for preventing direct and structural violence, building on its foundation of sovereignty as responsibility. While preventative action to assist the Rohingya comes with an array of challenges, the normative foundations of R2P – including connections to combatting internal displacement and ‘unbundling' protection to challenge structural inequalities – provide a toolkit of responses apart from military force. It is imperative that scholars and practitioners alike critically consider the practical value of R2P, as well as re-examine glaring and overlooked cases of widespread human rights abuse. In addition to thwarting mass atrocities and preventing future violence, further consideration of ongoing structural violence is also necessary for protecting basic human rights.