The Rohingya people (/roʊˈɪndʒə, -hɪn-, -ɪŋjə/; historically also termed Arakanese Indians[17][18]) are a stateless[19] Indo-Aryan people from Rakhine State, Myanmar. There were an estimated 1 million Rohingya living in Myanmar before the 2016–17 crisis.[1][20] The majority are Muslim while a minority are Hindu.[21][22][23][24][25] Described by the United Nations in 2013 as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world,[26][27][28] the Rohingya population are denied citizenship under the 1982 Myanmar nationality law.[29][30][31] According to Human Rights Watch, the 1982 laws "effectively deny to the Rohingya the possibility of acquiring a nationality. Despite being able to trace Rohingya history to the 8th century, Myanmar law does not recognize the ethnic minority as one of the eight "national races".[31] They are also restricted from freedom of movement, state education and civil service jobs.[31][32] The legal conditions faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar have been compared with Apartheid.[33][34][35][36][37][38][39]
The Rohingyas have faced military crackdowns in 1978, 1991–1992,[40] 2012, 2015 and 2016–2017. UN officials and HRW have described Myanmar's persecution of the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing.[41][42] The UN human rights envoy to Myanmar reported "the long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya community... could amount to crimes against humanity,"[43] and there have been warnings of an unfolding genocide.[44] Yanghee Lee, the UN special investigator on Myanmar, believes the country wants to expel its entire Rohingya population.[45]