THEY have been called the most persecuted minority in the world. The Rohingyas, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, have been driven from their villages; 140,000 of them have been herded into squalid camps. They cannot vote. Their children are shut out of local schools. They are subjected to mob violence with impunity. A new law seeks to limit how many babies they may have. Small wonder they flee.
In the first half of this year thousands of Rohingyas have crowded into leaky boats and risked their lives to cross the Andaman Sea, seeking refuge in Thailand or Indonesia (see article). Traffickers have beaten them and taken their savings. Their tales of suffering on the open seas are at least as shocking as those of Africans who cross the Mediterranean hoping for a new life in Europe. Yet almost nothing is being done to help them.
The history of the Rohingyas is disputed. Their Buddhist neighbours in Myanmar’s Rakhine state consider them “illegal immigrants” or dismiss them as “Bengalis” because...
from The Economist: Leaders http://ift.tt/1GvJj5P
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