MARGINALIZATION OF THE ROHINGYA IN ARAKAN STATE OF WESTERN BURMA

The Rohingya of Burma are the world's most persecuted and vulnerable ethnic minority. Due to
their racial and religious differences with the Burman Buddhist-majority, they have been officially
declared by Burma’s ruling military regime as non-citizens of Burma, making them legally stateless
people. They are treated not only as aliens, but also modern-day slaves in their ancestral homeland
of Arakan.
Arakan (also known as Rakhine) State is a state of the Union of Myanmar. Situated on the
western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway, Bago, and Ayeyarwady Divisions
to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the
west, and the Chittagong Division of
Bangladesh to the north- west. It is
located between latitudes 17°30'
north and 21°30' north, and
longitudes 92°10' east and 94°50'
east. The Arakan Yoma mountain
range, which reaches to 3,063 meters
at Victoria Peak, separates Arakan
(Rakhine) State from Burma (or
‘Myanmar’) proper. Its area is 36,762
km² (14,194 sq. miles), and its capital
is Sittwe (or ‘Site-tway’, formerly
Akyab). Arakan (Rakhine) State
consists of four districts: Sittwe,
Maungdaw, Kyaukphyu and Thandwe.
Combined, these districts contain a
total of 17 townships and 1,164
village-tracts. 1
The official population in 2007 was
3,744,976, and in 2010 the population
was estimated to be 3.83 million.2 The
state is inhabited primarily by two
major groups of people, the Rakhine
ethnic group and the Rohingya ethnic
group. According to Government
Divisional Administration estimates,
10,33,212 Rohingya live in Northern
Arakan State. The majority of the
people of Arakan State are Buddhists,
with the second-largest group being
Muslims.