Myanmar’s anti-Rohingya atrocities didn't begin on Aug. 25 as a “crackdown on Rohingya militants”, but are the perpetuation of decades of persecution, marginalization, segregation, expulsion, and eradication.

Hundreds of thousands were driven off land they'd lived on for generations by bloody military campaigns in '78 and '91. They were stripped of citizenship in '82, leaving them without civil rights — one of the world's largest stateless populations. Since '94, the government has refused to issue birth certificates for Rohingya.

Rohingya were erased from the census in 2014, and prohibited from voting or running for office in the elections in 2015. They have been tortured, assaulted, and killed with impunity; legally restricted from marrying and having children, including through federal “Race and Religion Protection Laws” passed in 2015; and imprisoned in “internally displaced person” camps, where they are deprived of food, water, and medical care, and are not permitted to leave.