The Rohingya community is known as the most neglected and highly discriminated ethnic group in the world. The Rohingya people have faced decades of statelessness, mass violence, gruesome large-scale persecutions, and violation of human rights on every scale at the hands of the Burmese government that dominated Myanmar.
The entire world knows the Rohingya community for the never-ending misery that became the fate of thousands of Rohingya refugees; however, not everyone is aware of the causes that led to this illegal exodus that continues to date. Today we will be going over the principal causes of the Rohingya crisis in order to equip ourselves with better knowledge regarding this dark chapter of Rohingya history and the helpless people who lived through it.
List of Causes of Rohingya Crisis
The persecution and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims at the hands of the Burmese government and military date back to the 1970s. The drift created between various ethnic and military groups back in the British colonial period is primarily the reason behind the present-day Rohingya crisis.
Apart from this, many other factors and injustices mentioned below have led to the Rohingya crisis.
1. Enactment of Burmese Nationality Law
This law was passed back in 1982 in order to legalize discrimination against Rohingya Muslims. According to this law, the Rohingya people were denied citizenship rights and freedom of movement in their own homeland. Furthermore, this law fueled the Rohingya crisis by denying Rohingya Muslims their basic rights and further repressing them.
2. Military Crackdown
Burmese military and government carried out mass persecution and military crackdown against Rohingya Muslims from time to time. The Burmese military carried out military operations in order to cleanse entire Rohingya communities. Hundreds of Rohingya people lost their lives due to the large-scale violence and most of them fled Myanmar and took shelter in Bangladesh.
3. Mass Homicide and Executions
The military crackdown isn’t the point where the Burmese military withdrew their forces, they kept on mass murdering Rohingya people in order to ensure complete ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya community. Along with this the local Buddhist community and military initiated the massacre of Rohingya men.
Hundreds of Rohingya men were captured and then brutally executed by the Burmese military. These constant executions forced hundreds of Rohingya Muslims to flee their homeland and take refuge in various regions of the world.
4. Excessive Crimes and Village Burning
According to various UN reports around 300+ Rohingya villages were demolished and burned by the local Buddhists and Burmese military. Millions of settlements used by the Rohingya Muslims were leveled to the ground leaving them shelterless. Apart from the village burning, Rohingya Muslims faced excessive crimes and looting.
They were often robbed of their possessions and in most cases their sole source of income such as livestock and property.
5. Escalated Sexual Violence
Multiple reports of Burmese soldiers carrying out gang rapes and other sexual offenses against Rohingya women came out. The Rohingya women and girls were often subjected to sexual violence and other atrocities of this kind such as sexual slavery due to their identity and faith.
These excessive sexual offenses forced millions of Rohinga Muslims out of their homeland and contributed to the Rohingya crisis.
What can we do to help Rohingya Refugees?
There is no denying that Rohingya refugees have witnessed a kind of horrible fate that most of us can not even begin to imagine. Even though they have escaped the harrowing fate that awaited them back in their homeland, their life is still not smooth enough. Their current condition might not consist of violence or continuous persecution but their living conditions are still not up to the mark.
Thousands of Rohingya refugees still lead a very miserable life in extra congested refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh. Along with overcrowded camps, they are faced with a severe shortage of essentials such as clean water, education, and a sufficient supply of food due to limited resources and the enormous refugee population.
But do you know there is a way through which you can help these people in these testing times? An ideal way for helping Rohingya refugees is by donating to us, so we can make use of your donations in order to deliver life-saving essentials to the Rohingya refugees. Along with delivering essentials, with your Rohingya donations, we work to ensure access to water for the Rohingya refugees.
In case you want to make your contributions towards helping the Rohingya refugees, donate right now and play your part in making life easy for those who have witnessed unimaginably worse conditions back in their native country.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did the Rohingya crisis begin?
In August 2017, a series of violent attacks were carried out against the Rohingya Muslims by the Burmese government and military. These attacks and continuous executions forced millions of Rohingya Muslims to flee their country and seek refuge in other parts of the world.
Who is responsible for the Rohingya crisis?
Discrimination against Rohingya Muslims on religious grounds at the hands of the Burmese government is solely responsible for the Rohingya crisis. Since 1970, the Burmese military and nationalists have forced millions of Rohingya Muslims out of their homeland through mass persecutions and a series of ongoing violent attacks.
What caused the Rohingya to leave Myanmar?
Back in 2017, a new wave of violence against Rohingya was observed. This massive-scale violence against the Rohingya resulted in the largest exodus of millions of Rohingya Muslims.
What is the Rohingya refugees issue?
The primary issue of Rohingya refugees is that they have suffered decades of statelessness, severe discrimination, violence, and mass persecution at the hands of the Burmese government back in their native country.
Conclusion
There are multiple instances of violence and ethnic cleansing that led to the Rohingya crisis. However, the drift and civil fights between various armed groups, the local Buddhist communities, and Rohingya Muslims created during the British colonial period still stand as the primary cause among other causes of the Rohingya crisis.
Apart from this, the fueled nationalism of the local Buddhist community and the violence carried out by the Burmese government further contributed to the Rohingya crisis. In addition to that, the mass violence and executions of millions of innocent Rohingya Muslims further fueled the Rohingya crisis and forced them to flee their homeland.
