The Rohingya people (Ruáingga /ɹuájÅ‹É¡a/, Burmese: ရá€á€¯á€Ÿá€„်ဂျာ rui hang gya /ɹòhɪ̀ɴɡjà /, Bengali: রোহিঙà§à¦—া Rohingga /ɹohiÅ‹É¡a/) are an ethnic group who practice Islam and speak Rohingya, an Indo-European language[11] of the Eastern Indic branch, closely related to Chittagonian and more distantly to Bengali. Their origin is disputed, with some saying they are indigenous to the state of Rakhine (also known as Arakan, or Rohang in the Rohingya language) in Burma and others contending they are Muslim migrants who originated in Bengal, today's Bangladesh,[12][13] and migrated to Burma during the period of British rule.
The Rohingya are linguistically related to the Indo-Aryans of India and Bangladesh, as opposed to the mainly Sino-Tibetan languages of Myanmar. As of 2012, about 800,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar. According to the United Nations, they are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.[14] Many Rohingya have fled to ghettos and refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, and to areas along the Thai-Myanmar border. More than 100,000 Rohingya in Myanmar continue to live in camps for internally displaced persons, forbidden by authorities from leaving.[15][16] The Rohingya have received international attention in the wake of the 2012 Rakhine State riots.[17][18].
