Imagine being declared stateless and not able to return to your country of birth because of your tribe, ethnicity, skin colour or religion.
Myanmar is Asia’s newest democracy after elections last year, which saw the end of a military dictatorship and the return to world favour. But the United Nations says the long-running conflict between the Buddhist majority and Muslim minority population is a humanitarian tragedy in the making.
Ethnic Rohingyas are being denied citizenship in their own country and herded into camps where they face a triple threat from violence, starvation and disease. The UN estimates about 13,000 Rohingya fled western Myanmar and Bangladesh in 2012, and an estimated 500 refugees have already died at sea with more deaths expected.
Myanmar is Asia’s newest democracy after elections last year, which saw the end of a military dictatorship and the return to world favour. But the United Nations says the long-running conflict between the Buddhist majority and Muslim minority population is a humanitarian tragedy in the making.
Ethnic Rohingyas are being denied citizenship in their own country and herded into camps where they face a triple threat from violence, starvation and disease. The UN estimates about 13,000 Rohingya fled western Myanmar and Bangladesh in 2012, and an estimated 500 refugees have already died at sea with more deaths expected.
South2North talks to Maung Tun Khin, a human rights activist from Myanmar:
"The military government is killing the Rohingyas silently. They are blocking aid. And many Rohingyas cannot go to the hospital. More than 230 Rohingya women are facing serious difficulty in delivering their babies."
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