The Synergy Project Magazine - August 2020

A CHILLING EXPOSÉ
ON THE SILENT
DESPAIR OF THE
ROHINGYA MUSLIMS
By Tara Sangal
In a world where babies are being born
with genetically altered DNA, it is hard to
believe that countries are still struggling
with the same issues they faced hundreds
of years ago. The American Bill of Rights,
created over 200 years ago, establishes
countless fundamental rights that
many cannot take for granted. In other
countries, people cannot understand what
it feels like to have these rights. Many
can’t wake up in the morning in a bed, go
to school and learn anything outside the
four walls of their tents. Even worse, the
government of Myanmar believes some are
criminals before they’re even born, taking
their first steps, or saying their first words.
Myanmar; the Texas-sized country nestled
between China, Bangladesh, and Thailand;
is home to a dystopian-like crisis in its
Arakan state where the religious minority,
the Rohingya Muslims, live. Myanmar’s
government plays a major role in the
massive influx of Rohingya Muslims to the
nearby safe-haven, Bangladesh, and has
created what the United Nations has called
the “world’s fastest growing refugee crisis”
(“Myanmar”). Conversely to what many
media sources have depicted, tensions
between the Rohingya and the Burmese
government have been rising since the end
of World War II. As a result, Myanmar’s
government and military have adopted
arrogant beliefs, causing the Rohingya to
suffer from the crimes of genocide.
You might wonder how this
all began. Surprisingly, the Burmese
government has treated the Rohingya
Muslims unfairly since World War II
when each group supported opposing
sides. The Muslims supported the British,
who were ruling Myanmar during the war
while the Buddhists supported Japan who
The image below depicts displaced Rohingya Muslims.
Attribution: Tasnim News Agency / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
16 POLITICAL