Ethnic Cleansing is Ongoing Against the Rohingya of Myanmar. Here is how to stop it

Rohingya refugees trudge through the rain and mud as they arrive at Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh after days on foot. Photo: UNHCR/Vivian Tan

Nearly 400,000 ethnic Rohingya have fled Myanmar across the border to Bangladesh and that number is increasing by the day. Those who have fled have relayed stories of horrific violence being inflicted against this minority community by their government.

Since late August, security forces from the government of Myanmar (also called Burma) have attacked villages and towns in a seemingly coordinated fashion to create a massive displacement crisis. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has described what is happening a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” At a press conference yesterday, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres concurred.

"When one-third of the Rohingya population has got to flee the country, can you find a better word to describe it?" he asked.

On the line with me to discuss this current crisis is John Sifton, the advocacy dire…