Muslim residents take shelter at a house in Thabyu Chai village near Thandwe, in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state on October 2, 2013. Terrified women and children hid in forests and security forces patrolled tense villages in western Myanmar as police said the toll from fresh anti-Muslim unrest rose to five. Soe Than Win AFP/Getty Images
CHICAGO — Myanmar may be the newest poster-child for democracy, but the country continues its campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has dubbed the violence by Myanmar, otherwise known as Burma, “crimes against humanity.” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said earlier this year that Myanmar urgently needed to address the “disturbing” humanitarian situation of the Rohingya.
Dawood I. Ahmed and Nadia Ishaq offer commentary on the dire circumstances facing the ethnic minority for GlobalPost.