Fear and Fire Send Rohingya Fleeing to Bangladesh

Buddhists are often stereotyped as peaceful and loving people, fundamentally different from the violent and dogmatic adherents of monotheistic religions. But in northwestern Myanmar, this stereotype is shown to be tragically ill-conceived.

There, in Rakhine State, the Government of Myanmar - a majority Buddhist state - is engaged in a wide-scale ethnic cleansing of the country's Rohingya Muslim minority. Claiming that these people are 'Bengali' migrants who entered the country illegally from Bangladesh, Myanmar's government has condoned a campaign of state violence – often enabled by Buddhist monks – to try to force these people out of its country.

In recent years the violence has risen and fallen, with each new flare-up further marginalizing the Rohingya. Over the last week, a new spasm of inter-ethnic violence has engulfed the region. Ironically presided over by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's military, known as the Tatmadaw have cracked down on Rohingya areas in Rakhine State, allegedly in retaliation for terrorist attacks by a group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).

More than 100 people have been killed over the last few days (with some claims the toll could be over 1000), and tens of thousands have been forced to flee to Bangladesh. Videos have emerged online of whole villages being burnt down, as the Tatmadaw appears to be engaging in a campaign of punishment against areas it believes support the ARSA.

Poppy McPherson's article for Time catalogs this violence, through interviews with those who fled to save their lives. With the situation once again on the brink of genocide, this article is a sobering reminder that all humans are capable of mass violence, no matter their religion.