Why won’t anyone help the Rohingya?

Considered the most persecuted minority in the world, the Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority who live mainly in the Rakhine state of western Myanmar. There are over a million Rohingya in Myanmar and another 500,000 refugees in southern Bangladesh.   The Myanmar government considers the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and extremist Buddhist preachers claim Muslims are a threat to Myanmar. However, the Rohingya have had a documented presence in the Rakhine state since at least the 15th century, when Rakhine was called Rohang by Muslim administrators.   Since a military coup in 1962, the majority Buddhist government has persecuted the Rohingya minority, controlling movement and access to resources, and stripping their citizenship in 1982, leaving them stateless.   After the famous political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi was elected in 2015, many hoped the plight of the Rohingya would improve. Instead, it has deteriorated. Suu Kyi has supported the narrative pushed by Buddhist extremists against the Rohingya.The UN and the international community have also avoided criticizing Suu Kyi after she became a symbol for democratic success. Recent conflicts have led to almost 90,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar in the past two weeks alone, after intense violence which killed almost 400 Rohingya. Unable to enter Bangladesh, and with the Myanmar military burning and torching their villages, the Rohingya have nowhere left to go.   Raise awareness for their plight, support them however you can, and most importantly, keep them in your Du’a.  

“And surely we will test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, who, when disaster strikes them, say “Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him, we will return. Those are the ones upon whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord. And it is those who are the rightly guided.”   al-Baqarah, 155-157