INTERNATIONAL NEWS: The Rohingya crisis: what you need to know
Who are the Rohingya? What's happening to them? Read more to find out.
Known as “the most friendless people in the world”, thousands of Rohingya people are leaving Myanmar for Bangladesh.
Once thought to be a shining beacon of hope, Myanmar is becoming the scene of what many are calling a genocide.
But who are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya are an ethnic group who have lived in Myanmar for centuries.
The majority of them are Muslim but some practise Hinduism and have been described as “one of the least wanted minorities in the world”.
There are 1.3 million Rohingyas living in Myanmar and about a million overseas.
Where do they live?
The Rohingya are a stateless people. They live in the Rakhine State of Myanmar and as of August 25, 2017, the United Nations estimates that about 603 000 Rohingya refugees had crossed into Bangladesh.
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This is considered the fastest growing refugee crisis. Bangladesh does not want them, nor does India.
What’s happening to the Rohingya?
By all accounts, the “clearance operations” by the Burmese military are being considered a genocide.
What’s the definition of a genocide?
According to the genocide convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
– Killing members of the group;
– Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
– Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
– Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and
– Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
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How can we help?
There are numerous petitions online and the UN has asked the international community for help.
There have been several marches held worldwide, including one in the Pretoria CBD.
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