Bangladesh, restive Myan-mar’s western neighbor, has called upon the international community to increase pressure on the Myanmar government to start initiatives for a peaceful return of its Muslim population that has fled religious violence in the country.
Official statistics say more than 1,000 Rohingya Muslims living in Myanmar have been killed and more than 90,000 have been left homeless due to the violent events that Rohingya Muslims have been facing since June. Rohingya Muslims are not seen as genuine Myanmar citizens by nationalist Myanmar leaders, officials and fanatical Buddhists and in turn are exposed to discrimination.
A total of 1 million Muslims live in Arakan province in Myanmar, the location of the recently escalating violence in the country, near Bangladesh. The first sign of violence appeared in June after claims that three Rohingya Muslims raped a Buddhist woman. After the incident, fanatical Buddhists started killing Muslims living in Arakan province and also burned houses and workplaces belonging to the minority group.
