Rohingya genocide

The Rohingya genocide is a series of ongoing persecutions by the Myanmar government against the Muslim Rohingya people which consists of two phases, the first of which began in October 2016 and ended in January 2017 and the second of which began in August 2017 and is ongoing as of now. The crisis has forced over a million Rohingyas to flee to other countries, most of whom have fled to Bangladesh with others going to India, Thailand, Malaysia and other parts of South and Southeast Asia.Events leading up to the 2016 persecutions..

In modern times, the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar dates back to the 1970s. Since then, the Rohingya people have been persecuted on a regular basis by the government and nationalist Buddhists.

The tensions between the various religious groups in the country were often exploited by the past military rulers of Myanmar.

According to Amnesty International, the Rohingya have suffered from human rights violations under past military dictatorships since 1978, and many of them have fled to neighboring Bangladesh as a result.

In 2005, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had assisted with the repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh, but allegations of human rights abuses in the refugee camps threatened this effort.In 2015, 140,000 Rohingyas remain in IDP camps after communal riots in 2012.

As early as 2015, the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School found "strong evidence that genocide is being committed against Rohingya."

After eight months of analyzing whether the persecution of the Rohingya in Rakhine State satisfy the criteria for genocide, the study found that Burmese government with the help of extremist Buddhist monks were responsible for ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Rohingya.Before the most recent violence, in its 17 March 2016 Atrocities Prevention Report,

the U.S. Department of State summarized:

The situation in Rakhine State is grim, in part due to a mix of long-term historical tensions between the Rakhine and Rohingya communities, socio-political conflict, socio-economic underdevelopment, and a long-standing marginalization of both Rakhine and Rohingya by the Government of Burma. The World Bank estimates Rakhine State has the highest poverty rate in Burma (78 percent) and is the poorest state in the country. The lack of investment by the central government has resulted in poor infrastructure and inferior social services, while lack of rule of law has led to inadequate security conditions.

Members of the Rohingya community in particular reportedly face abuses by the Government of Burma, including those involving torture, unlawful arrest and detention, restricted movement, restrictions on religious practice, and discrimination in employment and access to social services. In 2012, intercommunal conflict led to the death of nearly 200 Rohingya and the displacement of 140,000 people. Throughout 2013–2015 isolated incidents of violence against Rohingya individuals continued to take place.

Reference: Rohingya genocide 

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