Since August 2017, rampant persecution and violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state has pushed hundreds of thousands of Muslim minority people, known as the Rohingya, to abandon their homes and seek sanctuary in Bangladesh. According to the United Nations' estimation, 200,000 Myanmar civilians have already sought refuge in Bangladesh following prior displacements. Many more have travelled to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, frequently with the assistance of human traffickers.
In Myanmar, civilian and military authorities vehemently deny targeting Muslims in Rakhine as accused. Even so, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) late last month officially rejected Myanmar's objections and is set to rule on an accusation of genocide by Gambia.
