Why is the world ignoring Myanmar’s Rohingya?

They have been persecuted and discriminated against for decades but few can even pronounce their name let alone know of their plight.

Buddhist attacks on the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, have picked up over the last few weeks following the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman in May.

Human rights groups say the security forces are also involved in the targeted attacks, which started in June.

Thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh – but thousands more have been refused entry. For those who do make it across the border their troubles are far from over.

An estimated 800,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar’s Rakhine state with another 200,000 in Bangladesh. They are not recognised by either country.

Myanmar has long faced tensions with many of its ethnic minorities, and the new government has agreed to a ceasefire with many of the groups.

But last week, Thein Sein, the president of Myanmar, told the UN that the solution was either to send millions of Rohingya to another country or to have the UN look after them.

“We will take responsibility for ethnic nationalities but it is not at all possible to recognise the illegal border-crossing Rohingya who are not of our ethnicity,” he said.

He added that the conflict poses a threat to the democratic and economic reforms his government has launched, warning that: “Stability and peace, the democratisation process and the development of the country, which are in transition right now, could be severely affected and much would be lost.”

Inside Story asks: Is the plight of the Rohingya being deliberately ignored? Why has the world turned a blind eye to them?

Joining presenter Sami Zeidan to discuss this are guests: Justin Wintle, a historian and author of Perfect Hostage, a biography of Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi; Brad Adams, the executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division; Mohamed Noor, a Rohingya political activist; and Dina Madani of the Muslim Minorities and Communities Department at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

WHO ARE THE ROHINGYA?

Their history dates back to the early seventh century when Arab Muslim traders settled in the area. The UN estimates that there are about 800,000 Rohingya in Myanmar, including people of Bengali heritage who settled centuries ago as well as those who entered the country in recent decades. But the law in Myanmar considers as citizens only those who settled in the country before independence in 1948. Post-independence immigrants are officially considered illegal. Adding to the confusion over who is an illegal immigrant is the large exodus of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh in the 1980s and 1990s because of persecution.