164,000 Rohingya muslims continue to flee Myanmar due to violent attacks

More than 164,000 of Myanmar’s 1.1 million ethnic Rohingya minority have fled to Bangladesh and the number is expected to increase as the violence by the Myanmar ( formerly Burma ) military continues to wreck havoc to the Rohingya communities in Rakhine state. The exodus began in the last week of August after Rohingya militants killed 12 members of a security police force on August 25.

Thereafter, the military retaliated by burning homes, razing villages, intimidating, threatening and expelling the stateless Rohingya Muslims. As reported by Guardian, Rohingya Muslims’ rights are severely curtailed in Myanmar—they can’t practise their religion (Islam) freely, cannot meet in large gatherings, face discrimination when they look for work, and there are restrictions on the number of children they can have.

They are not included in the census, and they do not have voting rights. In June, Myanmar didn’t let UN investigators visit Rakhine. They have faced years of similar persecution with tensions between them and the majority Buddhist population in Rakhine leading to deadly communal violence in the past.