MOSTResource.org

Resources on Muslims for the Entertainment Industry

  • Story Bank
    • Business & Technology
    • Entertainment
    • Culture & Lifestyle
    • Medical
    • National
    • Faith
    • Sports
    • Women
    • World
  • Resources
    • Faces & Places
    • Statistics
    • Infographics
    • Research / Reports
    • Quick Takes
  • Perspectives
  • Events
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Staff
    • Parent Organization
    • Videos
  • Story Bank
  • Business & Technology
  • Entertainment
  • Culture & Lifestyle
  • Medical
  • National
  • Faith
  • Sports
  • Women
  • World
mostresource storybank video

Explored Our Story Bank Yet?

Our curated collection of thousands of stories has helped top Hollywood writers, producers, and creatives. Watch our brief video to learn more.

World — July 8, 2018   

Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, Backstory on their Plight…

Original article by MEGAN SPECIA published in the New York Times on 09/13/2017

Photo Credit: Adam Dean for The New York Times
Photo Credit: Adam Dean for The New York Times

A military crackdown against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar has driven hundreds of thousands of men, women and children from their homes. United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called the expulsion a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” For decades, the Rohingya have faced violence and discrimination in the majority-Buddhist country. The New York Times provides background on the situation and how we got here:

— The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group that practices a form of Sunni Islam and have lived in Rakhine, one of Myanmar’s poorest states, for generations. Before the latest exodus, an estimated one million Rohingya lived there, but even then they were a minority in the state. The group has its own language and cultural practices.

— Since a 1962 coup in Myanmar, the country’s successive governments have significantly limited the rights of the Rohingya.

— A law passed in 1982 denied them citizenship, leaving them off a list of 135 ethnic groups formally recognized by the government. This limited the Rohingyas’ access to schools and health care and their ability to move in and out of the country. The government in Rakhine at times has also enforced a two-child limit on Rohingya families and has restricted interfaith marriage.

— Tensions in Rakhine have often erupted into violence, prompting hundreds of thousands to seek refuge in Bangladesh and Pakistan in different waves over the decades.

— In May 2012, the rape and murder of a Buddhist prompted a series of revenge attacks against Muslims. In October 2013, thousands of Buddhist men carried out coordinated attacks on Muslim villages throughout Rakhine.

— A 2013 Human Rights Watch report said violence in Rakhine was a “coordinated campaign to forcibly relocate or remove the state’s Muslims.” The response from world leaders, however, has been limited.

— Last October, an armed Rohingya insurgency came to light when militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, then known as Harakah al-Yaqin, attacked three border guard posts. Over the four months that followed, Myanmar’s army, known as the Tatmadaw, and the police killed hundreds, gang-raped women and girls, and forced as many as 90,000 Rohingya from their homes.

— On Aug. 25, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked again, targeting police posts and an army base. Security forces cracked down on the wider population, and rights groups accused them of killing, raping, burning villages and shooting civilians from helicopters. The exodus into Bangladesh began: More than 370,000 Rohingya fled.

Read more ...

Our Experts Are Here To Help

Want to start a conversation with our experts for help with your project?

Related Articles

  • M Film Lab Now Accepting Applications for Screenwriting Program
  • American Eid – Interview with Director Aqsa Altaf
  • Post vaccine, Muslim travelers are heading to… Israel

More From The Story Bank

Post vaccine, Muslim travelers...

Last year the Abraham Accords were signed between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. This marked a public normalization of relations not seen in decades. And with this new … [Read More...]

Meet the first Muslim head...

As new head coach for the New York Jets, Robert Saleh is making history as the first Muslim American to lead a team in the National Football League. The Lebanese American is also the third Arab … [Read More...]

Meet American’s Youngest...

According to The Hill, Bushra Amiwala "is part of a new generation stepping into politics." In 2019, she was elected to the Skokie Board of Education in Illinois, making this Pakistani-American … [Read More...]

Riz Ahmed Is Oscars’ First...

Riz Ahmed has become the first Muslim nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards for Sound of Metal, not long after Mahershala Ali made his own history with two Best Supporting … [Read More...]

More Women Study Physics in...

A recent report from Physics magazine finds that physics departments in many western universities have a "significant gender disparity, with far fewer women than men taking up the subject." However, … [Read More...]

Enter your email to receive periodic updates

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

About | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy© 2002–2023 MOST ResourceMOST Resource globe


We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and to collect anonymous data to enable us to manage our website. Our Privacy Policy is a complete disclosure of our data collection policies, including the choices you have to control information we might collect. Your use of this site represents your consent to our Privacy Policy.