The worsening plight of Muslim Rohingya communities in Myanmar's Rakhine state could soon imperil the country's government, as well as the reputation of its leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The crisis has been escalating since October, when Myanmar's military launched an offensive in which 130 Rohingya were killed and dozens of their buildings were torched.
At the time, the military's leaders claimed that the attack was part of an effort to locate unidentified insurgents who were thought to be responsible for the slayings on Oct. 9 of nine policemen at three border posts in the district of Maungdaw.
According to a Human Rights Watch analysis of satellite images, still more Rohingya villages were destroyed over the course of nine days in November, bringing the number of buildings razed to 1,250; meanwhile, 30,000 people have reportedly been displaced. The United Nations considers the stateless Rohingya to be among the world's most persecuted minorities.