The human rights situation of the Rohingya people

Submitted to: Human Rights Council, 38th Session

Submitted by: Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights (Egypt) with consultative status in the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

Item 2: High Commissioner Oral Interactive Dialogue on the developments in the human rights situation of the Rohingya people (Human Rights Council Resolution S-27/1)

Since 2012, the authorities in Myanmar have waged a devastating campaign of sectarian violence against the Rohingya minority, an ethnic minority that is predominantly Muslim with a population of 1.1 million - according to United Nations estimates - most of whom live in Rakhine State, western Myanmar, on the border with Bangladesh. They have lived in Myanmar for generations, yet the Myanmar government insists that all Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and refuses to recognize them as citizens, rendering most of them stateless.

These horrific events have resulted in the killing of hundreds of Rohingya, the rape of women and girls in front of their families at times, as well as the burning of entire villages and razed to the ground. As a result, more than 600,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring countries.