The Rohingya – The Overlooked Tragedy

Olympia World Affairs Council

Global Situation Update December 2025

Gary Walker, Board Member

Today in Myanmar, the Rohingya are being persecuted and driven from their lands in the northern part of Rakhine State bordering Bangladesh. Killing, rape, and the destruction of their villages has forced them to flee to neighboring countries, primarily Bangladesh. What is happening there can only be described as genocide by the Myanmar government. Why are the Rohingya being singled out for these horrific actions? How long has this been going on and what are other countries and international organizations doing about it? How does it end and what can be done to save the Rohingya people?

Let us start with a little background about the country. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is a country in southeast Asia that was taken over by the British East India Company and then became a British colony in the 19^th century. The current conflict arises chiefly from the religious and social differences between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. As part of the British colonial structure, the British pitted different ethnic groups against each other. They felt that if these groups were fighting each other, they would not be able to challenge British rule. The conflict between the Rohingya Muslims and the Rakhine Buddhists was exacerbated in World War II. During the Burma campaign in World War II, Rohingya Muslims were allied with the British and were promised a Muslim state in return. They fought against local Rakhine Buddhists, who were allied with the Japanese.  

Myanmar gained its independence in 1948 following the defeat of the Japanese by the allies in WWII. From independence until 1989 the country was called Burma. Since its independence, the country has endured ongoing political and ethnic strife and turmoil. This has included two coup d’etats (1962 and 2021) which have resulted in the country being under military control most of its independence. Following independence in 1948, the newly formed union government of the predominantly Buddhist country denied citizenship to the Rohingyas, subjecting them to extensive systematic discrimination in the country ever since.

Myanmar now has a population of 55 million and is a country with diverse ethnic populations comprised of several ethnic groups; predominately the Burmans but also the Karen, Shan, Rohingya, and other smaller groups.  The country has suffered through ongoing civil wars between the predominant Burman ethnic group and these many smaller minority groups. The Burman make up two thirds of the population and have enjoyed a privileged position in society and hold the vast majority of government and military positions. In 1962 the situation grew significantly worse when the military junta took control of the government and implemented a scorched earth policy and curtailed many rights of the smaller ethnic groups which continues to this day. The international community has issued statements that the military government’s failure to effectively control the borders has resulted in increased cross-border crime such as illegal drugs, human trafficking, and online scam operations. As a result, more than a million people have fled the country, and hundreds of thousands remain internal refugees. Over the many decades, Myanmar has suffered from instability, factional violence, corruption, poor infrastructure, as well as a history of colonial exploitation with little regard to human development.

However, the violent conflict between the various ethnic groups against each other has changed in the last several years, especially since the 2021 military coup. These armed ethnic groups have shifted from attacking each other to now working together with the National Unity Government. This is an alternate government comprised of civilian government officials who were ousted from power by the military in 2021. While tension between the various minority ethnic groups is still present, their focus is now on fighting the military government which is still actively suppressing these armed ethnic groups but with a focus on eliminating the Rohingya population.

As a result of the current military government persecution of the Rohingya over 1.2 million Rohingya refugees have been displaced and are stateless since August 2017. Approximately 89 per cent have sought asylum in Bangladesh and 9 per cent in Malaysia. There are small numbers of refugees also in India, Indonesia, and Thailand. Additionally, there are over 1.3 million Rohingya internally displaced in Myanmar.  The Myanmar military government has destroyed approximately 300 Rohingya villages since August 2017 making it impossible for the Rohingya to survive.  There is nothing for them to return to or provide them with the opportunity to rebuild their lives there.

The death toll from 2017 to the present is difficult to establish accurately and precise numbers are not available. It is estimated that the death toll is in the thousands. These deaths have been attributed to military style executions, murders, and artillery and mortar barrages. Additionally, the refugees are facing starvation in refugee camps due to lack of adequate food, water, and medical care. Disease is common in these camps and the COVID-19 epidermic had a large impact of these refugees. This data does not include the untold number of rapes and torture of Rohingya civilians in Myanmar.

With this humanitarian crisis going on, what is being done to help and assist both the internally displaced and external refugees in the near term? What are, if any, long term plans for helping the Rohingya recover and return to their homeland?

The International Criminal Court (ICC)[1] opened an investigation into the potential illegal deportation of the Rohingya to Bangladesh on or after June 2010. The investigations focused initially on violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017 and the movements of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh that followed the violence. On 27 November 2024, ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan requested an arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing, stating that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Hlaing held "criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya, committed in Myanmar, and in part in Bangladesh" between 25 August 2017 and 31 December 2017 by Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s armed forces), including Border Guard Forces, and by the Myanmar Police Force and non-Rohingya civilians.

In November 2019, Gambia, with the backing of other Muslim countries, filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ)[2] alleging that Myanmar has committed mass murder, rape and destruction of communities against the Rohingya group in Rakhine state since about October 2016 and that these actions violate the Genocide Convention. In January 2020, the court issued a ruling ordering Myanmar to take emergency measures to protect the Rohingya from persecution and killing. The case was referred on to the International Criminal Court which has the authority to try individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. The case before the ICJ is still ongoing and may take several more years to resolve.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), along with several other international organizations and countries, are providing emergency relief support for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and elsewhere. However, given the number of refugees and the dire living conditions they are enduring, they are barely able to support the Rohingya refugees. The aid is focused on emergency shelters, food, clean drinking water, and essential health and medical care. Military forces restrict Rohingya movements in both Myanmar and Bangladesh, thus the refugees are mostly confined to refugee camps. As a result, they are unable to seek ways to be self-supporting and are almost entirely dependent on aid. Unable to exit the country and extreme restrictions on their in-country movements, the Rohingya face a dire and dangerous future.

International aid and support is not meeting the needs of these refugees. The U.S. provided a large amount of financial assistance since 2017 through the World Food Program. Furthermore, in 2025, President Trump reduced of foreign assistance leaving U.S. aid in limbo. Other countries are contributing funds but, overall, the amount of aid flowing to Rohingya refugees is barely enough to meet their basic needs and not enough for them to fully recover and improve their quality of life.

In closing, the situation facing the Rohingya population, both those still in the country and those who have fled, is dire. There does not seem to be a positive outlook for their future whether they return to their home country or try to build a new life someplace else. This is an immense humanitarian crisis that has been ongoing for many decades and does not offer any sort of promising or positive outcome until the Myanmar government has a radical change of heart.

Information obtained through a wide variety of open sources including BBC, The Economist, New York Times, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, NPR, The Arms Control Association, UN, UNHCR, NBC, ABC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Wikipedia, ICC, ICJ, and others.

[1] The ICC  is an independent, treaty-based organization established by the Rome Statute. The ICC’s purpose is to ensure that individuals responsible for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community are held accountable. 

[2] The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It settles legal disputes submitted to it by states and provides advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by other UN organs and specialized agencies. The ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between countries, with its rulings and opinions serving as primary sources of international law.