Rohingya People of Burma

For decades, the Rohingya people have been victims of systematic and widespread human rights violations at the hands of the military junta. In a recent report released by the Irish Center for Human Rights, an expert on international human rights law claimed that these mass atrocities perpetrated by the military government against the Rohingya minority in the country’s western region may constitute crimes against humanity. Overlooked for years, their plight and the root causes of their dire situation remain under-examined.

Brief history of Burma’s Rohingya Minority

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority living in northern Arakan state in western Burma.  They face religious discrimination at the hands of Burma’s military regime, which doesn’t recognize the Rohingya as citizens of Burma.  The regime does not consider the Rohingya people as one of 135 legally recognized ethnic minority groups in Burma, leaving the Rohingya stateless, homeless and rights-less.

The first Rohingya people arrived in Burma as early as 7th century. These early migrants were known to be Arab sailors and merchants who traveled to Burma for economic pursuits. These Muslim settlers came to Burma in a total of three waves: from 7th to 13th century, in the 15th century and from 1826 onward throughout the British colonial rule. Today this day, Burma’s military regime maintains that the Rohingya immigrated to Burma from India while under British colonial rule, flagrantly omitting their earlier arrivals and settlements in the region.

With time, these Muslim settlers married into the local culture and made permanent settlements in western region of Burma. Today, Rohingya Muslims constitute 1/3 of the total population of Arakan State, and the rest belongs to Buddhist Arakanese.