Myanmar violence: Thousands of Rohingyas flee to the Bangladesh border
As Myanmar's Rakhine state spiraled into violence, thousands of Rohingya refugees are fleeing to the nearby Bangladesh border, only to be turned back by Bangladeshi border guards. While the tense situation between Muslim-Rohingyas and the Buddhist-majority population has existed for years, the latest round of violence broke out recently after Rohingya fighters attacked over 30 police stations. Let's know more on this!
What context is this happening in?
Rohingya extremist groups including the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army has been unleashing violence upon Myanmar's security establishment. This triggered a military crackdown, surrounded by allegations of rape and torture of Rohingyas. The UN is currently investigating Myanmar's security establishment for human rights violations.
Rohingyas believed to be world's most persecuted minority
The Rohingyas are an ethnic Muslim group who constitute around one million of Myanmar's predominantly Buddhist 50 million population. They speak a Bengali dialect, mainly reside in the country's impoverished northern Rakhine state. Myanmar views them as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and doesn't officially recognize them as its citizens, rendering them stateless. The Rohingyas have allegedly been subjected to human rights abuses by Myanmar.
Persecution: The root of the Rohingya refugee crisis
Rohingyas allege that a number of restrictions faced by them in the Buddhist-majority society amount to ethnic persecution; this has driven thousands of them to flee to Bangladesh, often as an exodus in the past few years. Years of persecution has further led to the rise of extremism among Rohingyas, with militant groups periodically unleashing violence on the state's security officials.
Unwanted by Bangladesh or Myanmar, left with nowhere to go
Burdened by its own dense population, Bangladesh is not keen on taking them in; Rohingyas on the other hand claim to be driven to the Bangladesh border with violence. While some 3000 Rohingyas have already entered Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi police reportedly turned back around 70 of them. The refugees were pleading with the police to not send them back to the horror in Myanmar.
