The Rohingya Refugee Crisis

Spurred by the government’s retaliative actions in response to recent attacks by a militant Muslim faction, more than 450,000 Rohingya have made the perilous journey from Rakhine state in Myanmar to the relative safety of the Bangladesh border since August. While tensions over the purported ethnic cleansing campaign in Rakhine State have been mounting for months, leaders like Aung Sun Suu Kyi, the once-hailed golden girl and champion of the Burmese, deny that the actions are designed to silence the stateless Muslim minority in the otherwise Buddhist country. While numerous international organizations have condemned the violence, weakening diplomatic relations, nowhere is the toll of the crisis seen more than on the faces of the fleeing Rohingya. Most have nothing left of their former lives besides the meager possessions they carry on the journey. For those swept along in the exodus, there is no home to return to and no destination where safety and shelter are guaranteed. There is only the journey and the heartbreak of loss.