7 yıl önce

Rohingya returning to abandoned villages in restive Myanmar state

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya were relocated to shelter camps as Buddhist extremists tore through their villages five years ago. Amid the fragile peace many of these villagers are back in hope of starting their lives anew.

Staff Reporter

TRT World and Agencies

Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing apartheid-like conditions in northwestern Myanmar since the 1990s.

Five years after violence broke out between Buddhist extremists and the local Muslim population in Myanmar's Rakhine state, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were relocated to camps.

Now, some families have started returning to the villages they were forced to abandon.

Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing apartheid-like conditions in northwestern Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship, since the early 1990s.

There are now at least 300,000 who have crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh, according to the Red Cross. Thousands of others have migrated to Malaysia and other countries.

TRT World's Alican Ayanlar visited one of the villages in Rakhine's capital Sittwe where people are starting a new life.