Rohingya: The Most Persecuted Minority in the World

March 2, 2026

By: Hasan Zia, Justice For All Canada, Education Officer
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In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, a refugee camp made up of 30 individual camps of makeshift bamboo and tarpaulin structures is home to over a million refugees. 

The Rohingya, described by the United Nations as the “The Most Persecuted Minority in the World,” are a mostly-Muslim ethnic group who have lived in Buddhist-Majority Myanmar (Burma) for centuries. The majority of the Rohingya resided in the historic region of Arakan, now named the Rakhine State by Myanmar.

For centuries, the Rohingya have lived side-by-side with the Rakhine Buddhist Community. Outside influences—invasion and occupation by the British and Japanese—created divisions which would intensify, eventually leading to genocide.

Since Myanmar’s independence in 1948, the Rohingya have faced persecution at the hands of the country’s military. In 1962, the Burmese military overthrew the elected government and established military rule. In the years following this event, Rohingya persecution increased, and their citizenship gradually was stripped away as they were ostracized as foreigners. 

This happened through 5 key events. 

In 1974, the Military-run government passed the Emergency Immigration Act, limiting the rights of “foreigners” from Bangladesh, India, and China. Authorities began confiscating national registration cards from the Rohingya. 

In 1978, Authorities launched a campaign to register and verify the status of those viewed by the state as foreigners. Burmese soldiers would assault and terrorize Rohingya. 

In 1982, the Burmese Military-led government passed a law which based citizenship on ethnicity. The Rohingya had now become stateless. 

In 1988, pro-democracy protests erupted across the nation, with a brutal crackdown by the military. In 1989, the government required everyone to apply for new citizenship scrutiny cards, but the Rohingya never received theirs. 

As a result of these events, the Rohingya had officially become stateless. Over the course of the decades to follow, the Burmese military unleashed brutal targeted violence against the Rohingya, culminating in a brutal campaign of atrocities in 2017, which took the lives of more than 9,000 Rohingya, and forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. 

The Burmese military assault on Rohingya in 2017 is currently being tried for the crime of Genocide in the International Court of Justice. 

While the Rohingya await justice for the crimes committed against them by the Burmese Military, the majority of them live in brutal conditions as refugees. 

Cox’s Bazar holds the world’s largest refugee camp, but at the same time, the sprawling network of camps is one of the most densely populated refugee camps. It is also 1.5 times more densely populated than Dhaka, the world’s most densely populated city. 

The life of the Rohingya refugee in Cox’s Bazar holds a bleak future. There are no proper shelters, not enough food, no proper education, or appropriate sanitation. The lack of sanitation has led to severe health challenges, with widespread diarrhea and dengue. 

The Rohingya live in bamboo shelters that were initially meant to last 6-12 months, but instead have been forced to last years. These shelters are prone to poor weather and large-scale fires, perpetuated by the sheer density of the camp. One report has stated that between May 2018 to December 2025, there had been 2,425 fires in the refugee camps, affecting more than 100,000 people. In January 2026, a massive fire destroyed hundreds of bamboo shelters, affecting over 2,000 people. 

In addition, the hopes of a whole generation of Rohingya children are at risk of being lost. With a lack of funding, about 81% of Rohingya Youth aged 15-24, have no access to education. Their hopes of securing a future are being lost. 

In 2025, US President Donald Trump cut more than 90% of the United States Agency for International Development’s foreign aid contracts. In Canada, Mark Carney also slashed the budget for Canada’s International Assistance Envelope, by $2.7 Billion over the course of four years.

While these Governments tighten their pockets, the plight of the Rohingya continues to be forgotten.

It is now on the citizens of the world to pick up the fight for the Rohingya’s future, by educating ourselves and helping push for a real solution.  

We must not let a generation of Rohingya be lost through losing access to education. 

We must fight for the Rohingya to freely live in conditions that allow them to truly live life, rather than a life of clinging to hopes and dreams.