TOKYO-2017 Editorial / Political

Who will save the Rohingyas?

  • Prize
    Gold in Editorial/General News, Bronze in Editorial/Political
  • Photographer
    Alain Schroeder

The Rohingya Muslim minority of Myanmar, who are subjected to discrimination and human rights violations and have been stripped of all rights including citizenship, are now living in IDP or internally displaced person camps. In June 2012, a cortege led by radical Buddhist monks, civilians and police slaughtered people, burned down homes and mosques and displaced 140,000 Rohingyas forcing them into camps on the outskirts of the city. Now more than 600,000 have fled to Bangladesh. While the country's historic turn towards democracy should be encouraging, the plight of the Rohingya people is far from over and on the ground the prospects for this traumatized minority look rather grim.