World isn't an ideal place I assume these guys are being persecuted because of religious differences? Shameful really one can only hope god gives sense to people in power to realise humanity trumps all..
From what I've read it seems like ethnic jealousy that's been built up over generations. Burmese Government don't even use the term Rohingya, they're illegal Bengali migrants from the British era to them.
However apparently there were Bengali settlements in Rakhine state (called Arakan then) as early as the 15th Century
before the colonial era. Their language is Rohingyan hence the name, which is similar to Bengali, and they're mainly Muslims but there is a Hindu minority too. The Bengal Sultanate ruled Arakan for years. Infact there were some Bengali Muslims in the administrations of the Arakanese Buddhist kings after winning independence from the Sultanate.
There was large scale migration under British rule from British India, especially Bengal, to all over Burma but it was Rakhine that had the largest migrant population where they worked on the fertile land and other jobs. The native Rakhine Buddhists
resented this, complaining they were receiving all the economic opportunities. They feared being reduced to a minority in the state.
During WW2, the British armed the Rohingyas to act as
buffers against Japanese invasion, whilst the Rakhine Buddhists were pro-Japanese. During WW2, communal riots erupted between Rohingyas and Rakhines. This caused an
exodus of Rohingyas from Rakhine, plus many Indians and their families who came during the colonial era left after Burmese independence from Britain in 1948.
Some Rohingyas who fled the violence during WW2 later returned - and THEY were deemed illegals by the Burmese !
Burma has 135 ethnic groups, the biggest are the
Bamar. They share the same religion as the Rakhine but they are DIFFERENT ethnic groups. The Rakhine Buddhists complain they're
victims of British colonialism, Rohingya Muslims AND the ethnic Burmese who dominate central Govt. Some have wanted autonomy and independence from Burma.
The Burmese governments, especially the military who took over in 1962, have used xenophobia and anti-Rohingya card to quell the Rakhine grievances and to pander to extreme Buddhist nationalist constituency.
Hope that explains it. Another sad story of divide and rule politics.
