Myanmar's Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech

You are warmly invited to a special online conversation between Dr Ronan Lee (Loughborough University) and Dr Anita Schug (co-founder of Rohingya Medics Organisation) as they reflect on Dr Lee's recently-published book Myanmar's Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech.

Chaired by Dr Siti Sarah Muwahidah, Alwaleed Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow on Contemporary Muslim Societies in Southeast Asia, University of Edinburgh.

About the Book

The genocide in Myanmar has drawn global attention, a case at the International Court of Justice and recently a US government genocide declaration. This unique study draws on thousands of hours of interviews and testimony from the Rohingya themselves to assess and outline the full scale of the disaster.

Casting new light on Rohingya identity, history and culture, this will be an essential contribution to the study of the Rohingya people and to the study of the early stages of genocide. This book adds convincingly to the body of evidence that the government of Myanmar has enabled a genocide in Rakhine State and the surrounding areas.

Dr Ronan Lee

Dr Ronan Lee is a Doctoral Prize Fellow at Loughborough University London’s Institute for Media and Creative Industries where his research focusses on the Rohingya, genocide, hate speech, migration, and Asian politics.

Ronan’s book Myanmar’s Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech was published by Bloomsbury in 2021, and he was awarded the 2021 Early Career Emerging Scholar Prize by the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

Ronan has a professional background in politics, media, and public policy. He was formerly a Queensland State Member of Parliament (2001-2009) and served on the frontbench as a Parliamentary Secretary (2006-2008) in portfolios including Justice, Main Roads and Local Government. He has also worked as a senior government advisor, and as an election strategist and campaign manager.

Dr Anita Schug

Anita Schug M.D. is a Rohingya neurosurgeon and human rights activist based in Solothurn, Switzerland. At the age of five she escaped the Rohingya genocide, learned medicine in Ukraine and is a co-founder of the Rohingya Medics Organisation. Dr Schug is former Head of Women and Children Affairs for the European Rohingya Council.

Dr Siti Sarah Muwahidah

Siti Sarah Muwahidah is an Alwaleed Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow on Contemporary Muslim Societies in Southeast Asia. She holds a Ph.D. in Religion (2020) from the Graduate Division of Religion, Emory University, Atlanta, USA. Her PhD dissertation examined Sunni-Shiʿi relations and the development of sectarianization in Indonesia. Her academic interests include interfaith dialogue, religious conflict and peacebuilding, political theology, and identity politics. She has conducted research in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.