This is the latest episode in the series of government crackdowns on Myanmar’s Rohingya population. The Rohingya are an ethnic minority, the majority of which are Muslim whose population ranging around 2 million people live mainly in Myanmar state of Rakhine.
Due to Myanmar’s law they cannot receive citizenship and are not recognized as a race in Myanmar. There are 100 races in Myanmar.
In 2015, the 25,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar on boats dubbed by the global community as Boat People. They boarded the boats of human traffickers. The boat people went to many different countries that did not want them including Malaysia and Indonesia until the United Nations asked the nations to respect international law and help those stranded at sea.
Today's crisis is different. The number of people who have fled Myanmar is around 400,000, and all of them are fleeing to Bangladesh which already houses 400,000 Rohingya Muslims from past refugee crisis. The government is different too, and this crisis is tarring the reputation of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi who had recently come to power last year after over 20 years of imprisonment by the Burmese military which carried out military rule in her absence. Her governments suggest that it is only hunting down terrorists.
The terrorists the government claims it is cracking down on is an organization called Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which attacked Myanmar polices station and army bases. The group has been seen by Bangladeshi officials around the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. However, the United Nations does not believe the Myanmar government and has strongly condemned its actions as ethnic cleansing which "is the deliberate and systematic removal of a racial, political, or cultural group from a specific geographical area". Meanwhile, Myanmar is trying to consolidate support from two other members of the United Nations Security Council: China and Russia.
As of right now there are around 10,000 Rohingya are trapped in No Man's Land between the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. Some Rohingya want to return to their villages- some which are viewable distance from the camp. The problem is somehow there are mines placed on paths back to the country which have already injured four people. No one knows for sure who put these mines. Some believe it is the Myanmar military, but the Myanmar claims insurgents put the mines.
The situation is unpleasant for the trapped Rohingya who are living in feeble tarpaulin, plastic, and bamboo shacks. The Bangladesh forces are not allowed to let them in, and many are waiting for the Myanmar military crackdown to end so they can return to their home of Rakhine. Aid is difficult to come by for the refugees because Myanmar is restricting aid agencies. It remains to be seen if the Rohingya will ever be able to return home or will forever be a displaced population.
