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Rohingya people

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File:Arakan state.gif
Region populated by Rohingyas Click on Image to Enlarge

The Rohingya are a minority Muslim ethnic group in Northern Arakan, Western Myanmar.

The Rohingyas have a distinct dialect and culture. They speak a Bengali dialect which is similar to that which is spoken in the Chittagong region of Bangladesh. This is mixed with words from the Urdu, Hindi and Arabic languages, although some words from the Bamar and English are also included. Religion is particularly important to the Rohingya. There are mosques and religious schools in every quarter and village; traditionally the men pray in congregation and women pray at home. It is common for elderly Rohingya men to grow beards, and for the women to wear the hijab. The Rohingya population is mostly concentrated in three northern townships of Rakhine State: Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung.

In the 1940s and especially immediately after Burma gained independence in 1948, brewing tensions between the Arakanese Buddhist Maghs and the Muslim Rohingyas resulted in the exodus of a large number of Rohingyas to Chittagong in Bangladesh. The Burmese government claimed that the Rohingyas were relatively recent migrants from Bengal, and therefore, did not include them among the indigenous groups qualifying for citizenship under the Burmese constitution. The U Nu regime let loose a reign of terror on the Rohingyas accusing them of having questionable nationality.

It is estimated that since Burmese independence in 1948 approximately 1.5 million Rohingyas are in exile. They mostly live in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. A small number of Rohingyas are in the UAE, Thailand and Malaysia.

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