Rohingya people

The Rohingya people

The Rohingya are an Aryan ethnic group of Southeast Asia, considered as Gypsy of Burma.^[1] They are Muslims. They live in the Arakan State in western Myanmar (or Burma), and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in south-eastern Bangladesh. They are not citizens of either Burma or Bangladesh.

Starting from 2017, many Rohingya refugees began to arrive in Bangladesh in order to escape the genocide against them in Myanmar.

History

The Rohingya say that they are native to the region now known as Arakan. They are the product of the mixing of different cultures.

The Rohingya are quite different than other people in Burma. While most people in Burma are Buddhist and speak Burmese, the Rohingya are Muslim and speak the Rohingya language, which is quite similar to the Bengali language spoken in the neighboring country of Bangladesh. Because of these differences, a lot of people look down on the Rohingya and treat them wrong. They are worried that the Rohingya are not loyal to Burma and will try to take over the country, even though Rohingya are outnumbered by other groups.

The Burmese government does not like the Rohingya people. They say that the Rohingya are Bengalis and do not belong in the country. Because of this, Rohingyas cannot do things that other people in Burma can, such as go to school and vote.

In the 2010s, the Burmese government started to put the Rohingya in concentration camps and not allow them to leave. They also took away their ID cards so that they can't say that they were seen as Burmese citizens in the past.

In 2017, the Burmese army started burning down Rohingya villages. They also killed a lot of Rohingya men and said that they were part of terrorist groups. However, most Rohingya are not involved in terrorism and just want to live peaceful lives.

In Bangladesh, a mass-Circumcision, Sünnet like was done for Rohingya Muslim boys^[2]

Rohingya People Media

A coin from Arakan used in the Bengal Sultanate, minted c. 1554–1555
Set against the backdrop of the Arakan Mountains, Mrauk U was home to a multiethnic population, including the poet Alaol
An old mosque in Akyab during British rule
A picture of a mosque in Akyab in colonial Burma
A Royal Indian Navy ship in Akyab Harbour
Australian officers with Rohingya men wearing typical lungis
M. A. Gaffar, a member of Burma's constituent assembly, called for recognising Rohingyas in 1948
Emergency food, drinking water and shelter to help people displaced in Rakhine State, western Burma, 2012.
2014 view of ruins of Narzi, former Rohingya neighbourhood in Sittwe town destroyed and razed in the 2012 anti-Rohingya pogroms.
Rohingyas at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh, October 2017