The crisis in Myanmar over the plight of the Muslim Rohingya is causing great political agitation in the region. In the past month, the crisis reached a new height. In retaliating against the Myanmar state, on Aug. 25 Rohingya fighters attacked more than 30 police and army posts, prompting an even greater security crackdown on the Rohingya themselves.
The Myanmar government has long been accused of committing ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya. The situation has either driven them to flee their birthplace, or to strike back at the security forces. Some have made it to Bangladesh and some have fled to the shores of Thailand, where they were pitilessly denied entry and pushed back out to sea with scant humanitarian consideration.
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 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.