There are a variety of Burmese Muslim ethnic minorities, including the Chinese-Muslim Panthay in northern Myanmar, Shan Muslims, and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.
Various groups of Burmese Muslims
Rohingyas, a minority Muslim ethnic group in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. The Rohingya population is mostly concentrated in five northern townships of Rakhine State: Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Akyab, Sandway, Tongo, Shokepro, Rashong Island and Kyauktaw.
Rohingya Muslims represent the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar, with the majority living in Rakhine state. They have their own language and culture and say they are descendants of Arab traders and other groups who have been in the region for generations.
Countrywide, 89.8 percent registered as Buddhist, 6.3 percent as Christian, 2.3 percent as Muslim, 0.5 percent as Hindu, 0.8 percent as Animist, 0.2 percent as "other" and 0.1 percent as having no religion, according to the report. It added that of the country's 51 million population, 1,147,495 registered as "Muslim".
Muslims in Burma, most of whom are Sunni, constitute at least 4 per cent of the country's entire population, with the largest concentration in the north of Rakhine State (also known as Arakan), especially around Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Akyab and Kyauktaw.
Outside of these military raids, Rohingya are subjected to frequent theft and extortion from the authorities and many are subjected to forced labor. In some cases, land occupied by Rohingya Muslims has been confiscated and reallocated to local Buddhists.
The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan), characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown on Rohingya civilians by Myanmar's security forces, and militant attacks by ...
A long-standing ban on the free entry of missionaries and religious materials has persisted since independence in 1948, which is seen as hostile to Christianity. The burning of Christian churches is reported in South Eastern Myanmar.
Buddhism the fastest growing religion and majority religion in the Myanmar.
Rohingya are effectively denied citizenship under Myanmar's 1982 Citizenship Law, rendering them stateless. The 2017 atrocities were rooted in decades of state repression, discrimination, and violence.
Burma (Myanmar) - Level 4: Do Not Travel.
Muslims are a minority group in China, representing 1.6 to 2 percent of the total population (21-28 million people) according to various estimates. Though Hui Muslims are the most numerous group, the greatest concentration of Muslims are in Xinjiang, which contains a significant Uyghur population.
Rohingyas are often called the most persecuted minority in the world, unable to claim citizenship in a country that refuses to recognize them.
Of the total Muslim population, 87–90% are Sunni and 10–13% are Shi'a. Most Shi'as (between 68% and 80%) live in mainly four countries: Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Iraq. Furthermore, there are concentrated Shi'a populations in Lebanon, Russia, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and 10 sub-Saharan African countries.
This Rohingya refugee crisis is among the largest, fastest movements of people in recent history. The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority ethnic group in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, are escaping what the United Nations has described as genocidal violence that follows decades of persecution and human rights abuses.
There is significant demographic correlation between ethnicity and religion. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion among the majority Bamar ethnic group and among the Shan, Rakhine, Mon, and numerous other ethnic groups. Various forms of Christianity are dominant among the Kachin, Chin, and Naga ethnic groups.
Myanmar has had a Muslim presence since as early as the ninth century. Muslim sailors intermarried with local Burmese woman and settled permanently in port cities along the Burmese Coast, especially in the Arakan/Rakhine region.
Three quarters of the population speak Burmese. There are many other languages spoken by ethnic minorities, including others from the Sino-Tibetan family: Shan (11%), Arakanese (6%), Karen (5%), Jingpho (or Kachin) (2.5%), various Austro-Asiatic languages: Mon, (3%), or Indo-Iranian, including Bengali and Nepali.
Previously known as Burma, Myanmar is famous for its Buddhism, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and the intriguing mix of British colonial architecture and gilded pagodas.
Christianity was brought to Myanmar by missionaries from England and France in the 17th century. It was not until the 19th century however, that large numbers of converts were made in the country.
The persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar dates back to the 1970s. Since then, the Rohingya people have been persecuted on a regular basis by the government and nationalist Buddhists. The tensions between the various religious groups in the country were often exploited by past military rulers of Myanmar.
Christians have reported campaigns of forcible conversion to Buddhism, restrictions on church-building and religious organizing, forced labor conscription, and killings, torture, rape, abductions, and other acts of violence against Christians by the Burmese military.
Since staging a coup on February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military has carried out a brutal nationwide crackdown on millions of people opposed to its rule. The junta security forces have carried out mass killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual violence, and other abuses that amount to crimes against humanity.
The term "Rohingya" may come from Rakhanga or Roshanga, the words for the state of Arakan. The word Rohingya would then mean "inhabitant of Rohang", which was the early Muslim name for Arakan. The usage of the term Rohingya has been historically documented prior to the British Raj.
Rohingya insurgents have been fighting against local government forces and other insurgent groups in northern Rakhine State since 1948, with ongoing religious violence between the predominantly Muslim Rohingyas and the Buddhist Rakhines fuelling the conflict.