# Rohingya Genocide Explained: Myanmar's Muslim Massacres

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Explained
**Published:** 2024-08-26
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/am5qpQl4KfQ
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/explained/rohingya-genocide-explained-myanmars-muslim-massacres
**Topics:** History, Politics & Practical Theology, Social Justice

## Description
Seven years ago this week, Myanmar’s military unleashed a brutal campaign against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Rakhine State. This campaign decimated villages, killed thousands, and forced over 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, all because of their ethnic and religious identity. Dr....

## Transcript
**[0:00]** Just imagine that right in front of you, your house is on fire, there's smoke everywhere, gunshots are being fired at you while your own daughter is being burned alive right in front of your eyes. This might sound like a nightmare, but this is actually an ongoing reality for our brothers and sisters from the Rohingya.

**[0:19]** Seven years ago today, the military of Myanmar, also known as Burma, launched a brutal campaign against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Rakhine State. This campaign destroyed villages, killed thousands, and forced over 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, targeting them solely for their ethnic and religious identity.

**[0:39]** Villages were systematically burned to the ground and families were torn apart, with countless men executed in cold blood, women and girls subjected to unspeakable sexual violence, and children mercilessly killed. The military's actions were the culmination of decades-old

**[0:57]** calculated policies aimed at erasing the Rohingya from the very fabric of that society. Insidious propaganda painted them as outsiders and threats from the 1960s onwards. Draconian laws restricted every aspect of the Rohingya's lives, marriage, childbearing, and citizenship,

**[1:16]** stripping them of their humanity and turning them into ghosts in their own land. In August 2017, the military of Myanmar killed over 25,000 native Rohingya and then forced over 700,000 of them to become refugees that now find themselves scattered across the world in places like Thailand, India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia.

**[1:38]** The atrocities are staggering. An estimated 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped and 36,000 were thrown into blazing fires. The Rohingya were not only murdered, they were subjected to acts of barbarism intended to instill terror and hopelessness in them forever so that they never find peace again.

**[1:58]** We cannot let human displacement that disproportionately targets Muslims become the norm of the world. The coastal shores of Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh holds over a million Rohingya living in terrible conditions. They are dependent on humanitarian aid for survival. They lack adequate shelter, clean water, and access to education.

**[2:18]** This area is climate vulnerable, meaning all of the global impacts on climate change has made this refugee zone even more dangerous. The area itself is prone to cyclones, wildfires, and landslides. Undisplaced Rohingya are on the front lines of climate crisis.

**[2:35]** Imagine their shelters being scraped together with tarps and bamboo trying to fend off strong winds, rains, and cyclones. The refugees already intense with bare belongings now have to flee from rising water and sudden fires, a constant dread they live with every moment of their lives.

**[2:51]** The influx of refugees has led to the loss of over 8,000 acres of forest in Bangladesh, causing deforestation and erosion. Their future remains shrouded in uncertainty, and the world's response has often lacked the substantive action needed to bring about real change. We must not treat this like an isolated incident.

**[3:11]** The Rohingya, like others that are suffering around the world today, are certainly connected to the Palestinians who have faced decades-long military occupation, displacement, and discriminatory policies. Both groups are subjected to systematic efforts to erase their cultural and national identities,

**[3:29]** while also enduring the severe consequences of environmental degradation driven by cruel human actions. In Palestine, long before October 7th, the Israeli occupation has been guilty of numerous climate-related crimes, with settlers trying to remove us from our land one olive tree at a time.

**[3:49]** And for the climate activists that claim to care, think about what havoc settlement expansion wreaks upon the environments. Deforestation, water depletion, and soil degradation. These actions directly contribute to a worsening global climate crisis,

**[4:05]** undermining the ability of Palestinians in particular to sustain their land and livelihood. These interconnected crises highlight the urgent need to address not only human rights abuses, but also the deliberate environmental harm that compounds the suffering of these communities.

**[4:21]** It is no surprise then to recognize that, as we draw comparisons between the Rohingya and the Palestinians, they both happen to be betrayed by the exact same country. The 2000-year-old dream of a Jewish state in Palestine was born out of violence and bloodshed,

**[4:38]** suffering and tragic death. The partitioning of Palestine under the British Mandate rule had been the signal for open warfare. Just as the British betrayed the Palestinians by giving away their homeland, they also betrayed the Rohingya. During the period of World War II, Myanmar was invaded by the Japanese.

**[4:57]** The Burmese Buddhist majority had aligned with the Japanese, while the Rohingya had actually stayed loyal to the British.

**[5:13]** The British had in turn made promises to the Rohingya with regards to land and autonomy because of their loyalty during this conflict. However, after the war ended, the promises were of course not honored. In the aftermath of World War II, tensions between the Burmese majority and the Rohingya became intensified

**[5:35]** due to what the Burmese viewed as conflicting loyalty on the part of the Rohingya. Of course, today it wouldn't be hard to find a statement of condemnation from the United Kingdom of the human rights abuses of the Rohingya. But does it sound familiar to you? The international community has shown a pattern of condemnation without consequence,

**[5:55]** of promise without fulfillment. We must recognize that the cycle of suffering is perpetuated by dishonesty from the West, inaction from global organizations, and the pervasive shadow of Islamophobia. Systemic dehumanization, insidious propaganda, draconian laws, ethnic slaughter, burnt villages, sexual violence,

**[6:15]** displacement, all while enduring the roughest end of the climate crisis. The Rohingya crisis is indeed overwhelming. But there are sparks of resilience. In 2019, in the face of global impotence, the Gambia, a small nation with a big heart, led the charge under His Excellency Abubacarr Tambadou

**[6:34]** by filing a case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice, seeking justice for the Rohingya. Similarly, of course, South Africa brought a case against Israel at the ICJ in December of 2023. These legal battles are a collective cry for justice,

**[6:50]** and while they're not enough, they serve as a testament that hope still exists. But as we wait for humanity to find itself, the Rohingya, like the Palestinians, have been wondering, where are the Muslims? And so it's incumbent upon every single Muslim

**[7:06]** that is supposed to feel the pain of every single part of this Ummah to rise up and do what it can for the Rohingya, for the Palestinians, and for every other suffering group of this Ummah. There are four things everyone should do to help our brothers and sisters. Number one, educate ourselves.

**[7:24]** Number two, raise awareness. Number three, donate generously. And number four, make sincere du'a. The Rohingya should not become another forgotten people. The power of our united conscience, paired with decisive action and heartfelt prayer, is the force that can turn the tide towards justice.

**[7:43]** The Prophet (ﷺ) said that the parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for one another is that of a single human body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever. Oh Allah, relieve us of our pain,

**[7:59]** and bring victory and relief to our brothers and sisters from the Rohingya, the Palestinians, the people of Sudan, the people of Yemen, and around the world. Ameen.

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