The Plight of the Rohingya

As her village burned behind her, a young woman named Rajuma was approached by a pack of soldiers. They tore her screaming baby boy out of her arms and dragged Rajuma off. Survivors of the attack, in the Asian nation of Myanmar, say they saw government soldiers burning families in their homes and killing dozens of unarmed people, including children. 

“People were holding the soldiers’ feet, begging for their lives,” Rajuma says. “But they didn’t stop.”

As a young woman named Rajuma watched her village burn behind her, she was approached by a pack of soldiers. They tore her screaming baby boy out of her arms. The soldiers dragged Rajuma off. Survivors of the attack in the Asian nation of Myanmar say they saw government soldiers burning families in their homes. Survivors also saw soldiers killing dozens of unarmed adults and children.

“People were holding the soldiers’ feet, begging for their lives,” Rajuma says. “But they didn’t stop.”

Rajuma is a Rohingya (roh-HING-yah) Muslim. The Rohingya are a minority group from Myanmar (also known as Burma) that has long been persecuted by the majority population, which is Buddhist. The Rohingya have lived there for centuries, long before the country gained independence from Great Britain in 1948. 

Over the past few months, more than 620,000 Rohingya have fled their homes in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State (see map, below). That’s more than half of the 1 million Rohingya who lived there. 

The military and, in some cases, Buddhist mobs have been burning Rohingya villages and killing civilians. Human rights groups say the government troops have one goal: to erase entire Rohingya communities.

“There are lots of ethnic conflicts all over the world,” says John Sifton of Human Rights Watch. “But it’s rare that a government . . . accuses an entire population of not being citizens and targets them for removal.” 

Myanmar’s army claims that it has been acting in response to attacks by Rohingya militants and that it is targeting only insurgents. But according to eyewitness accounts, the attacks have been widespread and largely directed at unarmed Rohingya villagers. 

Rajuma is a Rohingya (roh-HING-yah) Muslim. The Rohingya are a minority group from Myanmar (also known as Burma). Most of the population is Buddhist. Buddhists there have persecuted the Rohingya for a long time. The Rohingya have lived there for centuries. They were there long before the country gained independence from Great Britain in 1948.

Over the past few months, more than 620,000 Rohingya have fled their homes in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State. (See the map, below.) That is more than half of the 1 million Rohingya who lived there.

The military has been burning Rohingya villages and killing civilians. Sometimes Buddhist mobs have done the same. Human rights groups say the government troops have one goal. That goal is to erase entire Rohingya communities.

“There are lots of ethnic conflicts all over the world,” says John Sifton of Human Rights Watch. “But it’s rare that a government . . . accuses an entire population of not being citizens and targets them for removal.”

Myanmar’s army claims that it has been acting in response to attacks by Rohingya militants. It says that it is targeting only insurgents. But according to eyewitness accounts, the attacks have been widespread and directed mainly at unarmed Rohingya villagers.

The conflict between the Rohingya and Myanmar’s Buddhist population goes back to World War II (1939-1945). The Rohingya fought with the Allies, while the Buddhists sided with the occupying Japanese. 

After the Allies won, the Rohingya hoped to be rewarded with independence. That didn’t happen. Instead, leaders of the newly independent Burma (Myanmar’s name until 1989) blamed the Rohingya for the country’s problems, claiming they were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Over time, the Rohingya were stripped of their rights. They have been denied citizenship since 1982, cannot move around the country freely, and have no access to government services like health care and education.

The persecution eventually fueled a Rohingya uprising. The militants attacked Myanmar military outposts in August 2017, sparking the current crisis.

The conflict between the Rohingya and Myanmar’s Buddhist population goes back to World War II (1939-1945). The Rohingya fought with the Allies. The Buddhists sided with the occupying Japanese.

After the Allies won, the Rohingya hoped to be rewarded with independence. That did not happen. Leaders of the newly independent Burma (Myanmar’s name until 1989) blamed the Rohingya for the country’s problems. They claimed that the Rohingya were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Over time, the Rohingya lost their rights. They have been denied citizenship since 1982. This group cannot move around the country freely. The Rohingya have no access to government services like health care and education.

The persecution eventually fueled a Rohingya uprising. The militants attacked Myanmar military outposts in August 2017. That sparked the current crisis.

To escape the violence, many Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh, a Muslim country. To get there, some of them walk for weeks over mountains and through rivers, eating leaves and drinking rainwater to stay alive. Others arrive in rickety boats—or drown trying to escape. Those Rohingya who survive the journey live in the massive refugee camps that have sprung up.

Though Bangladesh is a poor country, its prime minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, has welcomed the Rohingya. Her response stands in contrast to that of one of Myanmar’s leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi. A democracy advocate and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, Suu Kyi has been criticized for failing to defend the Rohingya.

As the crisis continues, human rights groups say it’s critical that the international community speak up and demand justice for the Rohingya. “As a society,” says Rich Weir of Human Rights Watch, “we don’t want to live in a world where governments are allowed to target a group like this and do whatever they want.” 

With reporting by The New York Times

Bangladesh is a Muslim country bordering Myanmar. Many Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh to escape the violence. To get there, some Rohingya walk for weeks over mountains and through rivers. They eat leaves and drink rainwater to stay alive. Others arrive in rickety boats. Some people drown trying to escape. Rohingya who survive the journey live in the massive refugee camps that have sprung up.

Bangladesh is a poor country. Even so, its prime minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, has welcomed the Rohingya. Her response is quite different from that of one of Myanmar’s leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi is a democracy advocate and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. But she has been criticized for failing to defend the Rohingya.

As the crisis continues, human rights groups say it is very important that the international community speak up and demand justice for the Rohingya. “As a society,” says Rich Weir of Human Rights Watch, “we don’t want to live in a world where governments are allowed to target a group like this and do whatever they want.”

With reporting by The New York Times