RAKHINE – After centuries in Burma, it’s estimated that half the Rohingya Muslim population has fled to Bangladesh with horror stories of rapes, killings, and house burnings.

But who are the Rohingya?

Described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, Burma’s ethnic-Bengali Muslims, generally known as the Rohingya, are facing a catalog of discrimination in their homeland.

They have been denied citizenship rights since an amendment to the citizenship laws in 1982 and are treated as illegal immigrants.

Burma’s government, as well as the Buddhist majority, refuse to recognize the term “Rohingya,” referring to them as “Bengalis.”

Construction of mosques and religious schools in the region was banned in 1962 when military rule was first established in the country.

Vidoe by: BBC