The Rohingya persecution in Myanmar refers to the ongoing military crackdown by the Myanmar military forces on Rohingya Muslims in the country’s western region of Rakhine State.
The crackdown was in response to attacks on border police camps by unidentified insurgents and has resulted in wide-scale human rights violations at the hands of security forces, including extrajudicial killings, gang rapes, arsons, and other brutalities.
The military crackdown on Rohingya people drew criticism from various quarters including the United Nations, human rights group Amnesty International, the US Department of State, and the government of Malaysia.
The de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi has particularly been criticized for her inaction and silence over the issue and for not doing much to prevent military abuses.
About Rohingya:
The Rohingya people in the northern Rakhine State of Myanmar is known as the world’s most persecuted minority group.
The official stance of the Myanmar government, however, has been that the Rohingyas are mainly illegal immigrants who migrated into Arakan following Burmese independence in 1948 or after the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971.
In modern times, persecution on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar dates back to 1970s.