Tough Times for Rohingya Muslims

Rohingya refugees offer Eid prayer at Kutupalong refugee camp near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border (AFP)

Even though the Rohingya Muslims have faced persecution for most of the past century, the true picture of their state has only become public knowledge in recent times. Following a recent attack by Rohingya militants on Burmese forces in the state of Rakhine (Arakan), the government has once launched indiscriminate overt attacks on Burma’s Muslim population. In the past few weeks, over 18,000 Rohingya refugees fled Burma to Bangladesh with smaller numbers fleeing to other neighboring countries such as India and Nepal. The relative ease enjoyed by the Rohingya refugees might however be cut short as the Bangladeshi and India governments in the past have carried out mass deportation Rohingya refugees back to the nation they ran away from…Burma.  The Indian government revealed last week that it has urgent plans to deport around 40,000 Rohingya refugees back to Burma. Last week, Bangladeshi operatives recovered the bodies of 20 Rohingya women and children from waters. Their boat is said to have capsized while they were fleeing the bullets and torture of Burmese forces. An official of the UN’s International Organisation for Migration, Sanjukta Sahany, said about the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, "They are in a very, very desperate condition. The biggest needs are food, health services and they need shelter. They need at least some cover, some roofs over their heads". Some of the refugees are said to have bullet wounds. In-spite of the inhumane condition, the refugees were able to spare some time to observe Salatul Eid in their refugee camp. Prior to the current waves of violence against the Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state of Burma, the UN had declared the Rohingya Muslims to be the world’s most persecuted minorities. Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi despite international praises as a human rights activist is not known to be a critic of the Burmese governments policies on the Rohingya Muslims. Suu Kyi told reporters after receiving a ‘peace’ award in 2012 that she did not know if the Rohingya Muslims could be called Burmese citizens.  The Burmese government insists that the Rohingya Muslims are Migrants to Burma but historical facts show that the Rohingya have been living in Arakan (Rohingya word for Rakhine) since the 8th century and only became part of Burma when Arakan was annexed by Burmese forces in 1785.