The Rohingya Muslim boat people are causing great political agitation in Southeast Asia, where ethno-religious and migration issues remain sensitive and challenge both the definitions of nation-state and regionalism. In the past months, new waves of Rohingya Muslims have arrived at the shores of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, where they were pitilessly denied entry and pushed back out to sea with scant humanitarian considerations.
The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority group residing in the western part of Myanmar in the state of Rakhine, formerly known as Arakan. According to available statistics, more than 140,000 of the estimated 800,000 to 1.1 million Rohingya were forced to seek refuge in displacement camps in 2012 in the aftermath of a series of conflicts with the majority Buddhists in Myanmar. An estimated 100,000 Rohingya have since fled the camps to escape systemic violence and persecution.
Up until now, the Myanmar government has refused to recognize the Rohingya as one of the country's ethnic groups. Thus, the Rohingya have become "stateless entities" and as a result lack any kind of legal protection from the Myanmar government. Victimized by the policy of ethnic alienation, the Rohingya are perceived by the Myanmar government as mere refugees from Bangladesh who have no place in the majority Buddhist society.