Since January 4th, 1948, Burma (also known as Myanmar, but hereby referred to as Burma) has been an independent nation after over a century of British rule. Since then, it has been a region of political and ethnic conflict, with a landscape scarred by civil wars and rebellions. In the past five months, barbarism in Burma erupted again after militants, belonging to an ethnic minority known as the Rohingya, assaulted government police positions in the Rakhine state.

In retaliation, the Burmese government has launched an ethnic cleansing campaign in the region. The terrible campaign against the Rohingya has driven over 645,000 people to nearby Bangladesh. Refugees in Bangladesh face an uncertain future.

Human rights violations have seemingly gone on without any major international retaliation. To cover up the situation, Burmese military generals have prevented humanitarian organizations from entering the region, including U.N. investigators and foreign journalists. Only snapshots of information have been obtained from the conflict, but what is known is disturbing. Western journalists have worked tirelessly to figure out the full story of what is happening in the region by interviewing survivors, looking at satellite images, and locating photographs.

According to Human Rights Watch, 354 villages have been devastated. Men are lined up near river banks to be executed, women are rounded up in groups to be raped in their homes, and children are burned, stabbed, and beaten to death.

State Counsellor of Burma Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Prize Winner, has remained largely silent on the issue, despite talks of reconciliation with the Muslim minority. The United States and the Trump Administration have taken minor actions towards Burma, however, Trump himself has made no public statement regarding the crisis. In the face of some protests from the U.N. and western nations, the Burmese government stands defiantly without any tangible action against their atrocities.