Burma's Path to Genocide

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Burma’s Path to Genocide

This exhibition explores how the Rohingya went from citizens to outsiders—and became targets of a sustained campaign of genocide.

View the full online exhibition at www.ushmm.org/burma-genocide.

TABLE OF CONTENTS History of Persecution Learn about the Rohingya, a religious and ethnic minority in Burma. Find out how they were discriminated against, dehumanized, and attacked.

Chapter 1: Belonging 2

Chapter 2: Targeted 14

Chapter 3: Weakened 27

Chapter 4: Destroyed 38

Chapter 5: Surviving 50

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A Rohingya man looks over a refugee camp in Bangladesh to the Mayu Mountains in Burma. Photo: © Greg Constantine

CHAPTER I BELONGING

“It will take us a hundred years to get back the life we had been living since our forefathers.”

Ayub, a Rohingya man

Beyond the rooftops of the refugee camps, Rohingya can see the mountains in their home country of Burma. Today, nearly one million members of the Muslim minority live across the border in Bangladesh.

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Many fled violent attacks in 2017 by the Burmese military, who murdered their family members and destroyed their homes and villages. Thousands died. The Rohingya remain in the camps because they fear for their lives if they return home.

They have faced persecution before. After a 1962 military takeover, extreme nationalism based on religion and ethnicity began to take hold in Burma. In the decades that followed, the military attacked minority groups including the Rohingya.

This exhibition explores how the Rohingya slowly went from citizens to outsiders—and how the 2017 violence forms part of a larger, sustained campaign of genocide.

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WHERE IS BURMA?

Map: David Lindroth Inc. Burma, also known as Myanmar, is located in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered to the east by China, Laos, and Thailand and to the west by India and Bangladesh.

Burma is at the crossroads of many cultures, religions, and ethnicities. It is an ethnically and religiously diverse nation.

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WHO ARE THE ROHINGYA?

The Rohingya trace their history back to a kingdom known as Arakan in present-day Burma. It is illustrated here.

The Rohingya are a religious and ethnic minority in Burma. They are Muslim. Most Rohingya live in Rakhine State on Burma’s western coast. For centuries, they lived side by side there with the Rakhine Buddhist community. But in the last 200 years, Rakhine State was invaded—first by the British, later by the Japanese. These outside influences created divisions between the local communities that would later intensify

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LEADING A NEW NATION

Rohingya and leaders from other communities meet in 1946. Burma’s founding father, Aung San, is standing fourth from the left. U Nu, fourth from right, would become Burma’s first prime minister. Rohingya leader M.A. Gaffar stands second on the right. Photo: Nurul Islam

Burma gained independence from Great Britain in 1948. In the years leading up to independence, Rohingya played important roles in establishing Burma’s new government.

Two Rohingya served on the country’s governing body, the Constituent Assembly, in 1947. One was a member of the committee that laid out the fundamental rights and citizenship of the nation.

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WHEN ROHINGYA WERE CITIZENS

Nur’s family documents include proof of land ownership and political party membership. They date back to the early 1930s. Photo: © Greg Constantine

Official documents, issued by the Burmese government, provide proof that the Rohingya had the same rights and legal standing as everyone else in the country.

“My documents and all of these documents of my forefathers are the most important things I have.” — Nur, a Rohingya man

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Burma’s first prime minister, U Nu, recognized the Rohingya as nationals of Burma in 1954.

“Located to the southwest of the Union [Burma] is ‘Rakhine’ .... There are two townships [there] called Maungdaw and Buthidaung. The majority of the nationals residing in those townships are Rohingya who are Muslims.”

— Prime Minister U Nu

Photo: AGE Fotostock

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EVIDENCE OF BELONGING For more than a decade after independence, Rohingya engaged in Burmese public life. They held elected office, taught in schools, and served as judges, doctors, and police officers. Most Rohingya worked as farmers. These documents and photographs are proof of the lives they once had.

Rohingya Students Association This photo, taken in the mid-1950s, highlights the active role Rohingya played in higher education. Students from the Rangoon University Rohingya Students Association stand with M.A. Raschid, a cabinet minister and a founding father of independent Burma.

Photo: Bilal Rashid

National Registration Cards Everyone in Burma once carried the same government-issued national registration cards. These served as national ID cards and confirmed Burmese citizenship. Rohingya carried the two cards shown here. Women held pink cards, and men held green cards.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

Teacher Identification Card The government issued this ID for a Rohingya teacher in 1972.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

Police Officer’s National Registration Card This ID card belonged to Rohingya Abdul Hadi, who is wearing his police uniform in this photograph.

Photo: Shwe Maung

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Rohingya Members of Parliament For many years, the Rohingya had a voice in Burma’s government. These men served in Burma’s parliament in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Sultan Ahmed served from 1947 to 1961. M.A. Gaffar served from 1947 to 1961. Abdul Bashor served from 1951 to 1962. Sultan Mahmood served from 1956 to 1962.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS Six members of the Rohingya community share their experiences.

“We were able to pray in the “We were also able to provide “I bought a motorcycle and used to mosque and we were able to provide education to girls [and] women in run it as a motorcycle-taxi.” Islamic education.” our family.”

“My husband … used to run a big “We used to bring cakes, snacks and “I went to school and studied up to a rice mill at home with the help of other food to host gatherings, and I good-high level, used to play sports hired laborers.” was happy.” with friends.”

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READING THE QURAN ON THE RADIO

Irshad sits in his hut in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. Photo: © Greg Constantine Irshad, now 105, served as a Rohingya radio broadcaster during the 1960s. The Burma Broadcasting Service provided all ethnic groups airtime each week. Irshad read from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, and reported news in the Rohingya dialect. After the military seized power of Burma in 1962, the government canceled the Rohingya language program. Other ethnic groups could continue broadcasting.

The military takeover marked the beginning of a long, slow stripping away of rights and freedom for the Rohingya.

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“I AM MOHAMMED AYUB, AND A ROHINGYA”

A National Registration Card issued to Ayub as a younger man. Photo: © Greg Constantine

We were able to write ourselves with our own identity such as, ‘I am Mohammed Ayub, and a Rohingya’ when we were at primary school. And by the time we reached middle school, they prevented us from identifying ourselves as Rohingya and forced us to identify with ‘Bengali.’

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Around 15,000 soldiers marched past statues of dead Burmese warrior kings in celebration of Armed Forces Day in 2007. The government uses this holiday to showcase the Burmese military. Photo: Nic Dunlop/Panos Pictures

CHAPTER II TARGETED

“They systematically planned to destroy our people from the world by using whatever means necessary.”

Nur, a Rohingya man

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In its first years as a new nation, the Burmese government recognized all members of its diverse population as citizens. That changed when General Ne Win seized control of the government in 1962. Slowly, extreme nationalism based on religion and ethnicity took hold.

Ne Win led a military dictatorship in Burma for decades. His government would come to be defined by policies that protected the Buddhist Bamar, the ethnic majority, and restricted rights of minority communities.

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DRIVING OUT “FOREIGNERS”

Rohingya refugees flee from Burma into Bangladesh in August 1978. They are carrying their few remaining belongings. Photo: Getty Images

Burma’s military dictatorship instituted policies in the 1970s that challenged the status of Rohingya and other minority groups. Authorities began by confiscating Rohingyas’ national ID cards. This government-issued document confirmed their citizenship.

The military then launched a nationwide operation to register and verify the status of citizens and people they viewed as “foreigners.” For five months in 1978, soldiers used the operation as an excuse to assault and terrorize Rohingya. They destroyed homes and property throughout Rakhine State.

More than 200,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh. The military later allowed them to return to Burma, but many no longer had their ID cards. The government now considered them “foreigners.”

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STRIPPING AWAY CITIZENSHIP

“Those foreigners who had settled in Burma at the time of independence have become a problem. We made these two laws to solve this problem.”

— General Ne Win, Burma’s President, 1982

General Ne Win’s government passed a new citizenship law in 1982. The law now based citizenship on someone’s ethnicity. Rohingya and other minorities were intentionally excluded.

The law made clear that those who already had citizenship would not lose it. However, many Rohingya no longer had proof of citizenship because authorities confiscated their ID cards in the 1970s. These same Rohingya citizens were told that without their ID cards, they must identify as “Bengalis,” or immigrants from Bangladesh.

A copy of The Working People’s Daily newspaper shows Ne Win addressing members of the government days before it passed the new citizenship law. Image: Rangoon Central Library

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GRADUAL ERASURE

The Burmese government enacted racist policies to slowly strip Rohingya of their citizenship and place in society. This two-minute video explores how this happened.

Play Video (https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/burmas-path-to-genocide/chapter-2/gradual-erasure)

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DRIVING OUT “FOREIGNERS”

Rohingya refugees set up shelters at a camp in southern Bangladesh in 1992. Photo: Liba Taylor Photography

In the late 1980s, unrest spread throughout Burma as citizens called for democratic reforms. To distract people, Burma’s military launched a new campaign against the Rohingya. During the 1991 operation, “Clean and Beautiful Nation,” soldiers executed, raped, and assaulted Rohingya. They destroyed their homes and property.

Rohingya sought refuge again. Between 1991 and 1992, more than 250,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh.

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Burma’s military leaders repeatedly denied that Rohingya were citizens.

“These people are not originally from Myanmar but have illegally migrated to Myanmar …. They are racially, ethnically, culturally different from the other national races in our country.”

— General Khin Nyunt in 1998

General Khin Nyunt served as Prime Minister from 2003–2004. Photo: Associated Press Photo/ Apichart Weerawong

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LIVING UNDER RESTRICTIONS AND ABUSE Rohingya began to return from Bangladesh in 1992. As they did, Burmese authorities created a special border security force, called NaSaKa, to harass and persecute them. Forced labor, marriage restrictions, land seizure, and physical abuse all became part of daily life in Rakhine State.

Forced Labor Burmese authorities forced Rohingya men to build roads and military installations without pay. Many died or suffered injuries while working. Blind in one eye after being beaten during forced labor, this Rohingya man fled to Bangladesh in the mid-1990s.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

Marriage Restrictions Authorities prevented Rohingya from marrying. Many had to bribe security forces in order to get permission to get married. If caught without permission, the husband could have been thrown in jail. The parents of this 26-year-old woman didn’t have enough money to bribe security forces. She and her future husband left their lives and families behind and fled to Bangladesh to get married in 2005.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

Land Seizure The government often seized Rohingya land to make way for Buddhist communities. These two men once owned a shrimp farm in their village. Burmese authorities took their land and destroyed the farm.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

Physical Abuse Security forces beat and harassed Rohingya women. They made these women stand up to their necks in pond water for hours. They told them to stare straight into the sun as the officers pelted them with mud.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

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REGULATING FAMILIES

A family from the village of Tula Toli in 2016. Authorities forced them to wear white numbered cards in this photograph. Photo: © Greg Constantine

The Burmese government required all families in the country to keep detailed lists of their members, called household lists. Authorities used the lists to conduct regular population checks on Rohingya families. In the mid-2000s the government began requiring Rohingya to stand for household registration photos as well. Authorities used these photos as another way to control the Rohingya.

All members of a family must be present for the photo. If someone was missing without an approved excuse, authorities would remove them from the family’s official household list. Once removed from a list, that person was no longer allowed to live in Burma. Authorities could jail Rohingya they found returning to their family homes or in the country at all.

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS Six members of the Rohingya community share their experiences.

“The police and the military jointly “Even before the violence began, “[My] motorcycle used to be used to harass us during our daily we were unable to get married appropriated by the Burmese activities.” freely.” authorities.”

“They would stop our children “We were not able to go to the “They extorted money from us for while going to school.” forest or mountains [for firewood everything.” and logging].”

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THE TIPPING POINT

In June 2012, local Rakhine citizens and extremists attacked Rohingya after Muslim men allegedly raped and killed a Buddhist woman. Burmese authorities and police officers participated in the deadly attacks against the Rohingya.

In October 2012, a second wave of anti-Rohingya violence took place. Armed Buddhist civilians attacked Rohingya. They physically assaulted Rohingya and burned their homes and mosques. Security forces did nothing to stop them and later assisted.

This led to the mass displacement and permanent segregation of more than 120,000 mostly Rohingya survivors to 24 internment camps in Burma.

Local Buddhists carrying weapons walk away from a burning village during the violence in Burma in June 2012. A soldier stands by. Photo: Human Rights Watch

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THE AFTERMATH OF 2012 Since the 2012 violence, Rohingya communities throughout Rakhine State have faced restrictions on almost every part of their lives. These restrictions limit access to medical care, education, and work. Destruction of Property Authorities forced 10,000 Rohingya in the Nazir Muslim Quarter to abandon their homes during the violence in 2012. After they left, the government leveled their homes with bulldozers. In this photo a woman from the local Buddhist community walks her bike through the destroyed neighborhood.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

Segregation into Internment Camps Burmese authorities segregated the Rohingya community from the Rakhine Buddhist community. Displaced Rohingya still live in these internment camps with six or more families crowded into a single makeshift barrack. Authorities prohibit Rohingya in the camps from working. This forces them to rely upon humanitarian assistance for food and basic medical services.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

Restriction of Movement Since 2012, authorities have monitored every move made by the more than 120,000 Rohingya living in internment camps. They are at constant risk of questioning or harassment. In this photograph, Burmese police take a break from patrolling the Rohingya internment camps.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

Restricted Access to Healthcare This Rohingya man living in an internment camp had limited access to routine medical care. Local authorities imposed travel restrictions on Rohingya in the camps. As a result, this man never received treatment for his tuberculosis. He now suffers from advanced symptoms, which include severe weight loss, coughing, and fever.

Photo: © Greg Constantine

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“That’s like you are destroying the roots of a tree [under the ground]. That’s the actual genocide.”

— Nur, a Rohingya man

More than 2,000 Rohingya take shelter in a mosque and religious school outside Sittwe in June 2012. Photo: © Greg Constantine

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Hundreds of Buddhist monks and others from the Rakhine Buddhist community participate in an anti-Rohingya protest in November 2014. Photo: © Greg Constantine

CHAPTER III WEAKENED

“They are making us valueless.”

Bodru, a Rohingya man

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While the military-run government enacted discriminatory laws, it also restricted free expression. Leaders took over or closed independent publications. For decades, they controlled the news. This included what was shared about the Rohingya and other minority groups.

A newly elected democratic government launched reforms in 2011 and changed the news landscape. The reforms introduced new ways to communicate via mobile phone technology and social media.

This increased access came with its costs. There were now more ways for hate speech directed at the Rohingya to circulate online, and it did.

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SPREADING HATE The Burmese government and other prominent sources shared hate speech about the Rohingya for decades. In the years leading up to and immediately after the violent attacks of 2016 and 2017, they used new access to cell phones, the Internet, and social media to amplify those messages. This two-minute video explores how.

Play Video (https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/burmas-path-to-genocide/chapter-3/spreading-hate)

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SOURCES OF HATE SPEECH

Hate speech directed at the Rohingya came from a few main sources. Ultra-nationalist monk-led groups view the Rohingya as a threat to the Buddhist identity of Burma. One of those organizations is commonly referred to by its Burmese-language acronym, MaBaTha. Its publications often included racist language and promoted violence against the Rohingya. These publications primarily served to promote Buddhist values. By slipping in anti-Rohingya messages, they helped to normalize the hate-filled content.

At the same time, the Burmese government used state-run media and state-sanctioned social media channels to convey an official message of discrimination against the Rohingya. Official Facebook pages from several government offices have been involved. They include the office of the de facto head of the Burmese government, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the head of the military, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Burmese citizens shared and commented on these social media posts by extremist public figures, soldiers, and Buddhist monks.

A Facebook post from one of the leaders of the anti-Rohingya movement shows a sign protesting the US Embassy in Burma’s recognition of the Rohingya. Facebook post provided by Burma Human Rights Network.

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HATE SPEECH THAT CLAIMS ROHINGYA DO NOT BELONG IN BURMA One of the most widespread examples of anti-Rohingya hate speech is the claim that Rohingya are not native to Burma. That false narrative has been used for decades. It inspired the policy changes intended to revoke the Rohingya’s citizenship.

Newspaper Article, February 2013 This article quotes a Burmese immigration official telling citizens that “There is no so-called ‘Rohingya’ ethnic race” in Burma. The story appeared in the state-run New Light of Myanmar on February 21, 2013.

Image: Burma Library

Journal Article, October 2016 This article, “Muslims Are Not the Union-Born Indigenous Citizens,” intended to show that the Rohingya, who are referred to only as Muslims, are not native to Burma. The story was published in the MaBaTha journal Tha Ki Thway on October 16, 2016.

Image: Understanding ‘Buddhist Nationalism’ in Myanmar Project

Journal Article, February 2017 This article, “There Is No ‘Rohingya’ At All,” falsely claimed the Rohingya do not exist. It appeared in the February 4, 2017, issue of the MaBaTha journal Ah Tu Mashi.

Image: Understanding ‘Buddhist Nationalism’ in Myanmar Project

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HATE SPEECH THAT TARGETS ROHINGYAS’ HUMANITY Hate speech also painted Rohingya as less than human. It compared them to fleas, thorns, and an invasive species of tree. These characterizations were no accident. This language dehumanized the Rohingya and made violence against them seem less drastic and more acceptable.

Newspaper Opinion Column, November 2016 An opinion piece urged the Buddhist government to take action against the Rohingya. It compared them to a “thorn” that must be “removed if it pierces.” The opinion column appeared in the state-run newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar on November 1, 2016.

Image: Burma Library

Facebook Post, September 2017 One of Burma’s most popular cultural and political cartoonists, APK Cartoonist, posted this cartoon titled, “Crocodile Tears.” It depicts exiled Rohingya as crocodiles crying to the international media about how they want to return to Burma. The crocodile talking to the journalist says, “I had to flee from my native land.” The cartoon appeared on the front cover of the People’s Affair Journal, and APK shared it on September 18, 2017. It received over 6,900 likes and over 4,200 shares.

Image: Facebook

Newspaper Opinion Column, November 2016 Another opinion column indirectly compares Rohingya to fleas. It warned that “those human fleas are destroying our world by killing people and harming others’ sovereignty.” The opinion piece was published in the state-run newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar on November 27, 2016.

Image: Burma Library

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Facebook Post, April 2016 An extremist monk and one of the leaders of the anti-Rohingya movement, Ashin Wirathu, wrote many posts warning that the Rohingya, as Muslims, were trying to overtake the Buddhist majority. In an April 8, 2016, post on his personal Facebook page, he wrote, “Muslims are Like Banyan Trees — If a banyan tree grows on the idol statues, the idol statues get destroyed.” The idol statues symbolized the Buddhist religion.

“If you don’t want to suffer from the Muslim’s destructions, send them away,” Wirathu wrote. “I mean send them away from human society.” Over 1,600 people reacted to this post, and more than 1,140 people shared it.

Image: Facebook post provided by Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar

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HATE SPEECH THAT CLAIMS ROHINGYA ARE A THREAT Another example of anti-Rohingya hate speech suggests that, as Muslims, Rohingya are a threat to the government and Buddhist citizens in Burma. References to Muslims and Islam are generally understood to refer to the Rohingya. Those words are often used in negative messaging about them. These lies included saying that the Rohingya would soon outnumber the majority Buddhist population.

Journal Article, December 2014 The article “Jihad War on Myanmar” was meant to tie the Rohingya to Islamic extremism. The story appeared in the December 12, 2014, issue of the journal

Image: Understanding ‘Buddhist Nationalism’ in Myanmar Project

Facebook Post, October 2016 Famous meteorologist and trusted public figure in Burma, Dr. Tun Lwin, wrote a Facebook post on October 11, 2016, which warned about an enemy invasion coming into Burma from Bangladesh. He had more than 1.5 million followers. The anti-Rohingya post went viral and resulted in more than 46,000 reactions, over 9,000 shares, and 800 comments.

Some people who commented referred to the Rohingya as invaders. Others called for their annihilation. They warned that if “their empire gets stronger, they can even demand autonomous region. Our Rakhine [Buddhist] brothers and sisters will be in trouble.”

Image: Facebook

Facebook Post, September 2017 The Facebook page of the office of the military leader Min Aung Hlaing posted excerpts from a televised and live-streamed event on September 9, 2017. The excerpts point out how Islam is spreading around the world, threatening countries, like Burma. The post received almost 10,000 reactions, over 6,000 shares, and 146 comments. Facebook removed the post in August 2018.

Image: Facebook post provided by Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar

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Facebook Post, August 2017 The Burmese government’s Information Committee Facebook page is managed by the office of the State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, and has over 400,000 followers. On August 27, 2017, the popular page posted about supposed extremist terrorist activities in the Rakhine State. The post details several attacks against Burmese police. It reinforces the claim that the Rohingya are Bengali and not natives of Burma. The post received

2,600 reactions, 1,800 shares, and over 130 comments.

Commenters called for removing “all Bengalis from our motherland,” and wrote, “according to our history we never have Rohingya.”

Image: Facebook

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HOW THE ROHINGYA RESPONDED

Rohingya responded to the years of tightening legal restrictions, racist hate speech, and waves of state-sanctioned violence in numerous ways. Tens of thousands of those who had been physically attacked, or who lost their loved ones or their homes, fled by boat to nearby countries like Thailand and Malaysia. Others stayed in Burma and attempted to cope with the increasing restrictions.

In October 2016, a small group of Rohingya men, later known as ARSA, attacked Burmese police outposts using household knives, stones, and home-made explosives. The military retaliated with another widespread campaign of violence. They burned Rohingya homes and villages to the ground. Tens of thousands more Rohingya fled to neighboring countries for safety. Security forces increased restrictions again on those who stayed.

Burmese police round up, beat, and physically abuse Rohingya in Koe Tan Kauk village, Rathedaung Township, in November 2016. Photo: Ro Nay San Lwin

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MAKING ROHINGYA “VALUELESS”

Several thousand Rakhine Buddhists march through the streets of Sittwe and chant anti-Rohingya slogans in November 2014. Photo: © Greg Constantine

“They said ‘Kalar’ [a racist slur]. Then they said ‘Bengali.’ At last, they said ‘intruder.’” — Bodru, a Rohingya man

Over the course of his life, Bodru has been called all three and worse. He said it feels more unsettling to hear these words from the mouths of acquaintances than from the armed soldiers who used to stop him and demand his identification papers.

“They are making us valueless,” he said, describing the impact of casual slurs and dehumanizing language.

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Fourteen-year-old Yasin stands on a pier as smoke rises from burning Rohingya villages across the Naf River on September 17, 2017. He fled his village two days earlier. Photo: © Greg Constantine

CHAPTER IV DESTROYED

“They are killing people here. Please go into hiding.”

Ayub, a Rohingya man

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The Burmese military increased restrictions on the Rohingya following the atrocities of 2016. Their everyday lives grew more and more difficult. In August 2017, the rebel group ARSA attacked several Burmese police posts. The military used this attack to claim Rohingya were an imminent threat to national security.

On the morning of August 25, 2017, Burmese soldiers launched a planned attack, referred to as a “clearance operation,” on Rohingya throughout Rakhine State. They massacred men and women, slaughtered children in front of their parents, and burned homes, schools, and mosques. They destroyed evidence of the generations of Rohingya who had lived there.

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HOMES BURNING

After the Burmese military attacked their villages in August 2017, Rohingya fled as their communities burned to the ground. They recorded the devastation on their cell phones.

Play Video (https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/burmas-path-to-genocide/chapter-4/homes-burning)

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MAUNG NU, ONE VILLAGE

An aerial photograph of Maung Nu. Photo: Planet

Burmese soldiers targeted villages throughout northern Rakhine State, where Rohingya made up the majority of the population. This is the story of the massacre in one village, Maung Nu, in August 2017, as told by survivors.

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PREPARING FOR THE MASSACRE

“They’re eyeing this place. I worry what they’ll do here.”

In June 2017, military trucks rolled into the village of Maung Nu. Soldiers confiscated kitchen knives and machetes and tore down wooden-fence posts. They told villagers that even with an already-imposed curfew, no lights could be turned on after 6 p.m., even to cook a meal.

“We felt that we were being stripped naked,” recalls 28-year-old Showife, a Rohingya resident of Maung Nu.

Later, the military returned. This time, the soldiers tied pieces of red cloth around several mango trees in front of Rohingya homes and near a mosque.

Showife’s mother watched from a window as a soldier tied the cloth around the tree in front of their home: “They’re eyeing this place. I worry what they’ll do here.”

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THE BEGINNING

Two Rohingya men drew this map of their village, Maung Nu. The red-filled shape near the center-right identifies the Bodru family compound where the military carried out the massacre. Photo: © Greg Constantine

“I went inside Bodru’s house and saw so many people were hiding by the gate of the house: men and women altogether.” — Ayub, a Rohingya man

On the morning of August 25, several members of the rebel group ARSA attacked a border guard and military base near Maung Nu. Two days later, military trucks filled with armed soldiers drove into the village. Many villagers sought refuge inside the compound of one of the town’s wealthiest families, thinking they’d be protected. Instead, the military forced even more villagers into the large property, separating the men and women in the process.

The soldiers made the women remove their clothing. They inspected them with flashlights for valuables, like cell phones and jewelry, and used their head scarves to gag their husbands and sons. The men and older boys were then tied together and kicked and beaten so that they couldn’t move.

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HELPLESS IN HORROR

“Where is my child? Where is my child?” — Jomila, a Rohingya woman

“Mom! Mom!”

Jomila ran outside into the crowded courtyard when she heard Jahingir screaming her name. He was slamming his head against the brick-lined well where soldiers tied him. He had just seen his father murdered in front of him.

Military officers surrounded Jomila, pointing a gun and a sword at her. They cut off part of her finger as she rushed past them to get to her son. Some other women ran out after her and dragged her back inside. The officers turned to her son.

They didn’t kill Jahingir in the same place as his father. Instead, they took him up to an orchard on the compound where others were being murdered. She recognized his screams instantly. She made another desperate attempt to reach him before he died, but soldiers restrained her.

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VIOLENCE ALL AROUND

“In the death toll, the small child was also in the pile.” — Mohammed, a Rohingya man

When Mohammed heard the Burmese military entering his village, he grabbed the hand of his youngest son, 13-year-old Mohammed Anwer, and started to run.

They ran as fast as they could alongside family, friends, and neighbors. In the chaos, his son let go of his hand and fled in a different direction.

Mohammed raced toward the forest outside of town. He searched everywhere for his boys. He finally found his youngest in the forest. The boy told his father what had happened during their separation. He had fled into a large, nearby compound, crowded with other children who sought safety in numbers. But the home he had entered would turn out to be the site of the mass slaughter of up to 100 Rohingya. He told his father he saw his older brothers—Salamat and Zahid Ullah—dragged away and killed.

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CLOSE TO DEATH

“There was a soldier assigned to watch us, and he saw my eyes open. So he came and shot me in the chest one more time.” — Mohammadul, a Rohingya man

Nose pressed against dirt, his arms touching men to his right and to his left, Mohammadul could only guess at what was happening around him.

He heard an officer make a phone call. The officer paused, turned to the nearby soldiers and gave the order: “Get started!”

Soldiers dragged Mohammadul out of the compound. They forced him into a seated position with his two male relatives on either side. The soldiers then shot each man.

Mohammadul’s face slammed back into the dirt. While he was unconscious, a soldier untied his hands and covered his body—presuming him dead like the two men beside him and like all of the others killed around him. Mohammadul fell in and out of consciousness. Eventually, in shock but awake, he dared to look around him. A soldier standing guard noticed the movement. Mohammadul and the soldier locked eyes. And then Mohammadul realized the military man had raised his gun.

Mohammadul felt another bullet rip into his chest, and he faded away again.

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SAVING A LIFE

“I thought to myself, ‘where am I supposed to go now with the baby?’ I picked him up, and I was following the blood trail.” — Rabiya, a Rohingya woman

Rabiya set out in search of her husband and children. She had been in a neighboring village when the military began its slaughter in Maung Nu. She heard conflicting reports from others about whether her family had escaped to the river or had returned home.

Rabiya eventually made her way to Maung Nu. She opened the door to her uncle’s home and saw his body lying lifeless from a gunshot wound.

“I walked to another uncle’s house, then to another. I kept asking myself why I decided to come back to this,” she says. “I saw more bodies …. I looked at the floor and it was flooded with blood from the slaughter. I went inside Zahid Hussein’s house, and I found a baby still alive.”

Rabiya reached for the tiny boy who she instantly recognized.

She searched for his parents without luck and kept the baby on her hip as she turned her attention back to finding her own children. She examined the corpses before walking to the homes of other relatives. In desperation, she called for her daughter, “O Tahera, Tahera!” but heard only silence in response.

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DOCUMENTING THE ATROCITIES

“This is the list of the people, from children to elderly, who we witnessed killed by the military in our village. — Ayub, a Rohingya man

One of the few who escaped the massacre inside the compound, Ayub stayed behind after the soldiers left.

“I visited all these places, risking my life, and made a list of the people who were killed and how they were killed,” Ayub said.

“They destroyed our religion by killing our religious scholars; our education by killing our teachers; and our economy by killing our businessmen and traders. They destroyed every aspect of our lives.”

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DEATH AND DEVASTATION

“I made all these lists not just to keep for my records but to show to the world in order to get justice,” Ayub said.

The military murdered up to 100 Rohingya in Maung Nu on August 27. More than 9,000 Rohingya were estimated to have been killed throughout Rakhine State as part of the month-long government-led massacre.

During this period, soldiers burned thousands of homes, schools, stores, and mosques. They raped Rohingya women. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh.

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CHAPTER V SURVIVING

“I feel like I’m out in the middle of the sea, and I can’t find land.”

Saiful, a Rohingya man

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During the violence in 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh. Many walked barefoot and bleeding from injuries they had no time to treat. They carried young children on their backs. They only had the possessions they managed to stuff quickly into plastic bags.

Struggling to adjust to the loss of their loved ones, Rohingya in refugee camps face a new normal. They can’t work and rely upon humanitarian assistance for basic needs like food and shelter. Children, mostly unable to attend school, try to recover from the trauma they witnessed. Some of the women struggle to recover from the trauma of surviving gang rape. Most long to return home.

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FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE

“We walked on very narrow and windy paths, and I fell, but there was no other way. So I kept walking by holding onto branches, sometimes with thorns on the side, and arrived at a road. Later, we crossed the stream and it was onto the jungle and the mountains.” — Sumida, a Rohingya woman

Rohingya fled their villages for safety after the 2017 massacre. These videos show that journey.

Play Video (https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/burmas-path-to-genocide/chapter-5/from-their-perspective)

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LEAVING THEIR OLD LIVES BEHIND Fearing for their lives, Rohingya left Burma with little notice. They brought the few possessions they could carry. Most lost everything. Families separated in the chaos. Women and children traveled without husbands, sons, and brothers—killed by the Burmese military. Those who survived tried to help elderly relatives make the trip. Once in Bangladesh, Rohingya had to make do with limited shelter and few supplies.

In this photograph, Rohingya coming from Burma wait for small boats to take them to mainland Bangladesh.

Family members carry an older Rohingya woman to their hut in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. Elderly Rohingya were some of the most vulnerable during the 2017 violence in Burma. For some it was impossible to walk the days or weeks it took to get from their destroyed villages to the border of Bangladesh.

Amina holds her sick child in the back of a truck during a heavy monsoon rain. The previous day, the Burmese military attacked her village in Burma. She left for Bangladesh shortly after with a group of other Rohingya. Now, they make the two-hour journey from the border to refugee camps. Women and girls like Amina made up more than half of Rohingya who arrived in Bangladesh.

Rohingya scrambled to find somewhere to settle and rest once in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Many created makeshift tents and huts made from bamboo and plastic sheeting. This woman and her family spent days walking through the jungle to reach Bangladesh after fleeing their village in Buthidaung.

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Dilara, 22, and her children arrived in Bangladesh after the Burmese military destroyed her village in Maungdaw. Sick for more than ten days, she wrapped herself in a heavy blanket to battle the chills from a high fever. Rohingya like Dilara faced crowded living conditions and a lack of clean water, sanitation, and medical care in the refugee camps. Those conditions put them at risk for any number of diseases.

Desperate for food, more than 1,000 Rohingya gravitate toward a truck filled with donations of rice in September 2017. The surge of Rohingya out of Burma in 2017 overwhelmed international relief agencies and sparked a humanitarian crisis in southern Bangladesh.

The sun sets over the refugee camps in southern Bangladesh. The camps are now home to nearly one million Rohingya refugees.

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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Gang rape by Burmese soldiers accounted for 80 percent of the sexual violence against women in 2017. A 25-year-old Rohingya woman describes being beaten and raped by police during their attack on her village on September 1, 2017.

“The military separated the women from the younger girls. The older women were taken out of the house. There were four of us left, and all four of us were raped. We were raped by at least fifteen military soldiers. The next day the military left. We walked seven days through the hills and forest before we arrived in Bangladesh.”

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LOST FAMILIES, LOST FUTURES “They killed eight people in my family. There is no chance my family will recover. When they killed them, they killed the future of my family.” —Sayed, a Rohingya man

Tula Toli Soldiers killed more than 700 Rohingya in the village of Tula Toli. Six members of this family were killed. They are (from left) Sawmira Bibi, age unknown, Farez Alam, 50, Hafez Rahman, 13, Sura Khatu, 48, Abdu Rahman, 27, and Abdullah, 5.

Chut Pyin Soldiers killed around 350 people in the village of Chut Pyin on August 25, 2017. Two members of this family were killed. They are (from left) Jamir Hussein, 15, and Ali Ahmed, 55.

Inn Din The Burmese military executed ten Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din on September 2, 2017, including Rashid Ahmed, 18.

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WHAT CHILDREN SAW

This picture shows soldiers attacking a Rohingya home and killing the family members inside. Photo: UNICEF

Children under 12 make up around 40 percent of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Some of these children have used drawings to process the violence they witnessed in 2017.

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GENERATIONS GONE

Photos: Greg Constantine

Rohingya survivors believe the Burmese military targeted some people because of their status within their communities. Those singled out included teachers, religious leaders, business owners, and students.

Now families safeguard memories of their murdered relatives in the photos they keep on their cell phones.

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS Six members of the Rohingya community share their experiences.

“The military persecuted us ... we “My youngest child cries from “When I see those children who never had hard proof to show .... nightmares and screams ‘they killed used to play with my children, I feel [My] brother is living proof.” Daddy.’” an inner burning.”

“We won’t have happy moments in “Now, we don't see anything in our “Though we will not get back our life anymore.” future.” lost children, we seek justice.”

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HOW LIVES HAVE CHANGED “I feel like I’m out in the middle of the sea, and I can’t find land.” —Saiful, a Rohingya man

Rohingya persist in the camps in Bangladesh because they are afraid to go home. The small population of Rohingya who remain in Burma face continued persecution. Burmese authorities have not guaranteed the safety of those who return and have not committed to restoring their rights.

Physical Effects of Violence Fifty-five-year-old Nozo lost both legs when the Burmese military attacked his village in 2016. Now in Bangladesh, he is unable to walk in his wife’s funeral procession. He watches, slumped over his crutches, as family and friends carry her body to a cemetery.

Relying on Humanitarian Aid Rohingya men wait in long lines to receive food rations at camps in Bangladesh. They are unable to work to provide for their families.

Failing Health Abdul attempts to comfort his sick daughter, Noor. She contracted diphtheria because in Burma she, like many Rohingya, was denied basic healthcare, including life-saving vaccinations.

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No Education Teenage boys pass the time in Kutupalong refugee camp. In Bangladesh, 97 percent of Rohingya youth ages 15 to 18 are denied any form of education in the refugee camps.

No Legal Identities Noor holds her 10-day-old son, Arfat, who was born in a refugee camp. Neither of them have citizenship or legal identity. Since 1994, Burmese authorities have not issued birth certificates to Rohingya children.

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STOLEN ROHINGYA LAND On the charred grounds where Rohingya homes, schools, and mosques once stood, Burmese authorities have begun new construction. The government confiscated the land for use by military as well as Buddhist citizens. This will further erase evidence of Rohingyas’ lives there before the 2017 massacre.

September 2017 The military destroyed Rohingya homes (pictured right) in the village of Inn Din during the violence in August 2017. Buddhist homes (pictured left) remained intact.

Photo: Planet

October 2018 The military has begun constructing new infrastructure, including new military posts, on Rohingya land.

Photo: Planet

October 2019 The construction continues. No trace of a Rohingya community remains.

Photo: Planet

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BURMESE LEADERS DENY GENOCIDE

Burmese leaders have categorically denied any persecution of the Rohingya, which continues today.

“We are concerned to hear that numbers of Muslims are fleeing across the border to Bangladesh. We want to find out why this exodus is happening .... I think it is very little-known that the great majority of Muslims in the Rakhine State have not joined the exodus.” — Rabiya, a Rohingya woman

Aung San Suu Kyi is a former political prisoner of the Burmese military and a Nobel Peace laureate. She has been the elected leader of Burma since 2015. She has denied allegations of genocide against the Rohingya and has minimized the number of people affected.

Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counselor of Burma. Photo: Nigel Waldron/ Collection/ Getty Images

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“SOLVING THE PROBLEM”

“The Bengali problem was a long-standing one which has become an unfinished job despite the efforts of the previous governments to solve it. The government in office is taking great care in solving the problem.” — Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief, Burma’s Armed Forces in September 2017

The current head of the Burmese military, Min Aung Hlaing, directed the violence against the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017. UN investigators have called for him to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities.

His words “solving the problem” can be understood by some to mean the annihilation of the Rohingya community in Burma.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief, Burma’s Armed Forces. Photo: YE AUNG THU/ Collection/ Getty Images

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SEEKING JUSTICE

A banner hangs in the office of a Rohingya community organization in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. Photo: © Greg Constantine

“I want to tell the citizens of the world that I am also a human being, and Rohingyas are also human beings.”

“What they did with a pen actually murdered our lives! After attacking us with a pen and erasing our existence, then they physically attacked us .... The world didn’t see how they have systematically destroyed us. The world just saw their physical attacks on us. There has been no Justice for us .... What they have done to us is genocide.”

— Mohammed, a Rohingya man

Burma’s Path to Genocide | 65 Burma’s Path to Genocide Terms of Use

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum invites its web visitors to use the content of its website for personal, educational, and other noncommercial purposes.

You may not use the Content for commercial purposes. This means that you may not sell the Content or sell materials, products, or services that use or incorporate the Content, nor may you use the Content to promote or advertise yourself or other persons, organizations, causes, products, or services. If you want to use the Content for any purpose other than a permitted use, you must obtain prior, written permission from the Museum or other owner of the Content to whom you are referred by the Museum.

Read the Museum’s full terms of use. (https://www.ushmm.org/copyright-and-legal-information/terms-of-use)

This online exhibition explores how the Rohingya, a religious and ethnic minority in Burma, became targets of a sustained campaign of genocide. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has raised concerns about the risk of genocide facing the Rohingya since 2013. The Museum determined in 2018 that there was compelling evidence that the Burmese military committed genocide against them. Curator Greg Constantine is a photographer who has documented the Rohingyas’ plight for more than 14 years. The exhibition includes many of his photographs and personal stories based on his interviews.

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