Rohingya genocide

Rohingya genocide
Destroyed village in Rakhine State in September 2017.
Date9 October 2016 (2016-10-09) – January 2017
25 August 2017 (2017-08-25) – present
LocationRakhine State, Myanmar
Type
ThemeMilitary crackdown on Rohingya by Myanmar's armed forces and police
Cause
  • Historic mistreatment of the Rohingya by the government
  • Existing tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities
  • Attacks on Burmese border police posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
MotiveAnti-Rohingya sentiment, Islamophobia, ultranationalism, ethnic cleansing, religious persecution
Outcome
  • Destruction of many villages
  • Tens of thousands killed or raped
  • 25,000+ killed by 2018[3]
  • 700,000+ refugees fled abroad

The Rohingya genocide is a series of war crimes committed against the Rohingya people by the Burmese military.[a][2]

Overview

The genocide has been commited in two phases[4][5] to date: the first was a military crackdown that happened from October 2016 to January 2017, and the second has been happening since August 2017.[1][6] The crisis forced over a million Rohingya to flee to other countries. Most fled to Bangladesh.[7] Others escaped to India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other parts of South and Southeast Asia.

Background

Since Myanmar went independent in 1948, violence towards the Rohingya has happened from time to time.[1]

Events

Genocidal attacks[1] against the Rohingya happened in August 2017,[1] involving mass rapes, massacres and burning of villages.[1] At least 700,000[1] Rohingya lost their homes and fled to Bangladesh.[1] The displaced Rohingya lived in overcrowded camps,[1] facing a humanitarian crisis.[1]

Reactions

United Nations

A fact-finding mission of the United Nations Human Rights Council concluded in September 2018 that Myanmar's government had committed crimes against humanity against the Rohingya.[1]

United States

On March 21, 2022, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) to announce that the US government recognized the Rohingya genocide.[1]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ A Muslim minority in the Rakhine (or Arakan) State of Myanmar,[1] which borders Bangladesh.[1] Myanmar's government has not recognized the Rohingya as an ethnic group but considered the Rohingya "illegal immigrants".[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 "Atrocities against Burma's Rohingya Population". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2
  3. ↑ "Myanmar's military accused of genocide in damning UN report | Myanmar | The Guardian".
  4. ↑ "World Court Rules Against Myanmar on Rohingya". Human Rights Watch. 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  5. ↑ "Myanmar's Rohingya Crisis Enters a Dangerous New Phase". Crisis Group. 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  6. ↑ Katie Hunt. "Rohingya crisis: How we got here". CNN. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  7. ↑
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