The Forgotten Rohingya Refugees

"Fleeing at a staggering rate since 2012, over 720,000 of Myanmar’s Rohingya ethnic minority, many of whom are Muslim, have escaped what the UN calls “ethnic cleansing.” Myanmar has launched extensive military campaigns against what they say are Rohingya militants, but tens of thousands have been killed and entire villages razed, prompting allegations of human rights violations, war crimes, and even genocide. For decades, Rohingya have been treated as second class citizens and denied basic human rights. Today, so many have fled to neighboring countries like Bangladesh that there are said to be more Rohingya abroad than those who remain in their homeland.

Kuala Lumpur is home to the lion’s share of Malaysia’s Rohingyas. They exist in the shadows of the capital’s impressive skyline, living in squalid apartments or construction sites. Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN’s 1951 refugee convention, so refugees here don’t have the right to an education or the ability to work legally."