About the Crisis

In 2017 the Myanmar (Burmese) government and military intensified their violent ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people. Fleeing the violence, over 700,000 Rohingya people have been forced out of their homes and villages. The situation has received significant news coverage — including articles from the BBC, the Guardian, Politico, Progressive Voice Myanmar, and Lion’s Roar — but the crisis continues. We built this website to educate people about the crisis and support Rohingya refugees.

About the crisis

An ethnic Muslim minority indigenous to South and Southeastern Asia, the Rohingya people are highly persecuted, especially in Rakhine State of Myanmar (Burma). Despite having lived in the region for 1,000 years, the Rohingya people are considered “illegal immigrants” by the Myanmar government, and therefore denied citizenship.

In the fall of 2017 the Myanmar military intensified their campaign of violence and persecution against the Rohingya communities in Rakhine State. Over 700,000 Rohingya were forced to leave their homes, with many refugees fleeing to Bangladesh and India.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein reported, “The situation seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” In a report from October 2017, Amnesty International described the violence as crimes against humanity.

“The military has carried out a campaign of violence that has been systematic, organized and ruthless… the Myanmar military has killed hundreds of Rohingya women, men and children; raped women and girls; and carried out targeted burning of entire villages.” — Amnesty International, October 18, 2017

The extreme and systematic violence is the latest iteration of the Myanmar government’s persecution of Muslim people, which has intensified in recent years but dates back to military takeover during the 1962 Burmese coup d’état. As is true in most cases of state-sanctioned violence, the current violence extremism is actively encouraged and passively supported by many within Myanmar’s public and state institutions, including the military and the press.

Some prominent monastic leaders as well as lay Buddhists practitioners also proclaim that the violence is necessary to protect and preserve Buddhism as the country’s national religion. While it is a minority of Myanmar Buddhists who actively encourage the violence, the State Sangha Committee and other monastic leaders have failed to condemn the violence.

Ethnic conflict in Myanmar

Stopping the violence is vital, not just for the Rohingya people, but for other ethnic minorities in Myanmar. There are 135 ethnic groups who are officially recognized by the government as well as many groups whose existence the government does not acknowledge. Those unacknowledged groups include the Rohingya, but they are not alone in the challenges they face.

This is not a country at peace. There are many small armed groups in the country, most of whom have a flag, fighters and are holding out for independence or autonomy. Even after 51 years of independence from British rule, no government in the country has succeeded in reaching a comprehensive peace settlement. The Kachin, Shan, Karen, and others— have also faced murder and scorched earth for decades. The Rohingyas and many minorities want the same things: if they are to be part of a multi-ethnic Myanmar they must have safety and freedom from violence, legal rights, justice, and full citizenship.

Peace and repatriation efforts

In the winter of 2017, the Myanmar government announced its intentions to repatriate the displaced Rohingya refugees. This proposal is an important first step, but the sincerity of the government’s willingness to support healing, reconciliation, and repatriate remains to be seen. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people are suffering, in Rakhine State, in Bengali and Indian refugee camps, and elsewhere.

In March 2018, the International Interfaith Peace Corps organized a high-level delegation to the Rohingya refugee camps on the Bangladesh/Myanmar border. The delegation included Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Buddhist leaders as well as medical specialists and other professionals. They invited Hozan Alan Senauke, Vice-Abbot of the Zen Center of Berkeley and initiator of the Buddhist Humanitarian Project as well as Richard Reoch, Personal Envoy of the Sakyong of Shambhala and former president of Shambhala’s global community to represent the Buddhist world. It was during this visit that the Buddhist Humanitarian Project announced the launch of our international appeal, urging the global Buddhist community to support Rohingya refugees.

Support the refugees

We have written an appeal to the Myanmar State Sangha and the Union of Myanmar, urging them to condemn the violence against the Rohingya people and calling for reconciliation. Read the letter and sign the letter. We have identified organizations providing direct aid to Rohingya refugees, and we urge you to make a donation. Donations provide important aid and send a powerful message of solidarity to the Rohingya people.

Further reading

The following news articles provide additional information about the crisis:

  • An overview of the Rohingya crisis from the BBC (January 2018)
  • Article from the Guardian, about worsening conditions during monsoon season in Rohingya refugee camps (March 2018)
  • Amnesty International’s call to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), urging action on the crisis (October 2017)
  • Update on the UN’s fact-find mission, which recommends that Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, be tried for “three categories of crimes under international law: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes” (August 2018)
  • Article from Politico about the relations between the United States and Myanmar in light of the crisis (March 2018)
  • “Crimes Against Rohingya,” briefing prepared by the International Interfaith Peace Corps during their delegation to the Rohingya refugee camps on the Bangladesh/Myanmar (March 2018)
  • United News of Bangladesh interview with Richard Reoch about the need for global Buddhist responses to the refugee crisis (March 2018). See also these Shambhala Times pieces (part one and part two) by Richard Reoch about their visits to the Rohingya refugee camps
  • A piece for Buddhistdoor Global by Hozan Alan Senauke that examines the larger contexts of the Rohingya refugee crisis, including the larger context of ethnic conflict within Myanmar, and the societal, political, and economic factors that contribute to the current violence (August 2018)

The Buddhist Humanitarian Project is an initiative of the Clear View Project, a 501(c)(3) organization based in Berkeley, California. Learn more about the Rohingya crisis and the BHP here, or contact us for more information. You can read our privacy policy here.