Historically, the international community has a terrible habit of ignoring mass suffering until after the fact, when they put on a mourning facade and promise that this was the last time.

Hear me out: Let's talk about Nazi Germany.

When referring back to the systematic killing of Jews, Romani Gypsies, homosexuals, Ethnic Pols, Ukrainian Slavs, and more, people commonly ask "How could we let this happen?"

The truth is, the international community ignored it, and even aided it. United States President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in response to the billions of dollars that Germany owed the United States from World War II repatriations, was reluctant to respond to the Holocaust. FDR allegedly told the ambassador to Berlin, William Dodd, to refrain from a protest, saying that the religious and ethnic cleansing was "not a government affair."

The atrocities committed during the Holocaust were so detrimental that they led to a new invention: a word - Genocide.Previously, no word existed to adequately explain the horrors of Nazi Germany. We often consider genocide a thing of the past. We talk about Rwanda, Armenia, and the Holocaust as historical atrocities that we have suffered through, learned from, and will never repeat.

However, an ongoing genocide has already left at least 6,700 Rohingya dead as of December 14, 2017. Once again, the international community has to choose one of two routes: to plunge further into oblivion or to descend further into ignorance.

The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority group who have, for years, resided in the mostly Buddhist state of Myanmar. However, they lack recognition as one of Myanmar's 135 ethnic groups and have been denied citizenship since 1982.

This is an outright violation of the only international law concerning citizenship: You cannot be made stateless. However, the government claims that they are rightful citizens of Bangladesh or Bengali, despite centuries of residing in Myanmar. Similarly, Bangladesh does not consider the Rohingya to be Bangladeshi.

Like most ethnic cleansing, the source can be traced throughout history. The most significant event that sparked persecution severe enough for international recognition surfaced after a failed military coup in 1962. The Rohingya lost their right to apply for identity cards (required for each Myanmar citizen after the Union Citizenship act of 1948) and were declared foreigners. This demolished any preexisting rights they had. This restricted their traveling privileges, limited who they can marry and their right to bear children, and denied decent, if not all employment, health care, and education. The Rohingya became stateless. The persecution continued.

We learn the stories of genocide from survivors. Because of this, most of what we learn about systematic persecution comes afterward. Since the Burma genocide is ongoing, we don't know much, other than what can be gleaned from those in refugee camps or camps for internally displaced people.

Here's what we know:

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, since August 2017, more than 646,000 refugees have fled their homes and arrived only in Bangladesh. At least 58% are children, 60% are women, and 3% are pregnant women. There is a diphtheria outbreak on the rise without adequate medical funding to fight it.

Think about this: Don't allow yourself to be desensitized by statistics. This is 13,980 pregnant women forced to walk miles while suffering severe starvation, dehydration, and physical ailing. This is 20,000 more people than the entire population of Vermont.

This influx was a result of the August 25, 2017 attacks at Myanmar Border Guard Police posts by Rohingya militants against the government forces. This led to the Myanmar military claiming that they are fighting terrorists - their perfect excuse to continue systematically killing and exiling innocent people.

Here's what we can do:

If unable to donate your time or money, there is one, priceless thing you can give the Rohingya: Your acknowledgement. Spread awareness. Demand a response. And always remember this: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."