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The Refugee Exodus in Myanmar
The Rohingya people of Myanmar are part of a Muslim minority that live in a Buddhist-majority country. These people have been denied citizenship for generations and are still currently not formally recognized by the Myanmar government despite being in Myanmar since the twelfth century.
Recent reports say that in the span of 2 weeks from the last days of August to the first week of September, over 140,000 Rohingya Muslim fled Myanmar due to the mass killings and systemic burning of Rohingya villages allegedly orchestrated by the Myanmar government. The number is still on the rise as the crisis continues especially along the mining border of the country.
The current unrest is believed to be sparked by coordinated attacks carried out by the Rohingya militant groups against the police and the military, killing 12 officials on August 25. An outbreak of violence has since ensued and has been sending waves of Rohingya refugees on an exodus out of Myanmar. Many of them are exiting through the northern border that connects Myanmar and Bangladesh where fresh landmines have recently been found. A Bangladeshi official believes the landmines were planted by the Myanmar government to stop Rohingya people from going back to Myanmar territory. However, the Myanmar military claims that they have not seen any landmine planted in the area.
The name of Myanmar’s peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, is being dragged into the issue as many are expecting her to do something to stop the displacement and mass killings of the Rohingya refugees supposedly done by the government. Some are very disappointed that she has kept mum about the issue despite being dubbed as a champion of human rights. Some even believe that she deserves to be stripped of her Nobel Prize because of having knowledge about the killings and choosing not to stop them.
The international community is shaken by the major problem that Myanmar is currently going through, and many are doing their best to help. The United Nations is calling for immediate, holistic, and more effective efforts from the Myanmar government to manage the situation as soon as possible.