The Rohingya are an ethnic Muslim minority in the majority Buddhist Myanmar. Many of their enemies refuse to acknowledge that the Rohingya are an ethnically distinct group. They claim instead that the Rohingya are Bengali and that their presence in Myanmar is the result of illegal immigration (more on that later). The Rohingya, for their part, claim to be pre-colonial residents of Myanmar’s Rakhine state, the Middle East Institute explains, with the earliest known appearance of the term Rohingya in 1799.
Hundreds of Rohingya migrants drifting at sea in fishing boats, as part of a failed attempt to leave for Malaysia.
Thailand, which was being used as a smuggling route by people traffickers, has cracked down on the trade and a senior Thai officer has been charged in connection with trafficking. And the Dalai Lama has joined other international voices calling on Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out about their plight.