In Omelas, a fictional town envisioned by the science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin, everyone is happy, but they embrace a paradox; the prosperity of the town is sustained at the expense of the misery of a little girl who is locked underground.

The diplomatic approach to the Rohingya crisis by Japan, one of the world's most prosperous liberal democracies, closely resembles the devil's bargain of Omelas.

Beginning in August 2017, the Myanmar military drove more than 730,000 Rohingya out of Myanmar through a large-scale campaign of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The atrocities include mass killings, sexual violence and widespread arson.