The Rohingya are an ethnic group that primarily resides in the Rakhine region of Myanmar, although are a minority in the state. The Rohingya are similar to the people's of South Asia in terms of appearance, speak Bengali (an indo-european language) and follow Islam. These factors make them unique from the remainder of the Burmese population.

The origin of the Rohingya population is unclear. In all likelihood, the first Bengali Muslim communities originate in the 15th century. During this period, the city of Mrauk U was a major trading center and many traders arrived to the area. The Kingdom of Mrauk U employed many Bengali speaking scribes, and inscribed coins in Bengali, Arabic, and Arakanese. While the Kings remained Theravada, they adopted much of Bengali and Muslim culture. Many Bengali Muslims migrated to the region during this period. It was also during this period that we see the first use of the word Rohingya do describe these Bengali Muslim populations.

In 1785, the region became of the Bamar State, and later was annexed to the British Empire. Myanmar saw a massive immigration from land poor India to land rich Myanmar. This was a phenomenon throughout Myanmar, and Rangoon was once largely an Indian city. Hundreds of thousands of farmers settled in the region and given Arakan's depopulation during wars with the Bamars, and Rohingya became a majority of the population in the northern regions of the state.

After independence, many Rohingya were active members of the state, and an accepted minority. There were Rohingya members of parliament and Rohingya government ministers. However, in 1962 Ne Win launched a coup. He launched large scale expulsions of Indians. Additionally, Bangladesh at the time was one of the poorest places on the planet. Even moreso after genocidal war, massive cyclones and famine devestated Bangladesh in the 1970s there was substantial undocumented migration to Myanmar. Many of the Rakhine became afraid of becoming a minority within their own state, and much of the Buddhist establishment lobbied the government. Ne Win launched several crackdowns expelling thousands of Rohingya (including those that had been there for decades) culminating in the passage of the 1982 citizenship law, which did not recognize the Rohingya as a valid minority, and stripped almost all of them of citizenship.

The military dictatorship of the time was one of the most brutal in the world. The lack of citizenship meant the forced labour and other depredations by the military is even worse than for others. However, democracy made the situation even worse. The Theraveda Buddhists of Rakine State could vote, and so their views mattered whereas the non-voting Muslim's views were irrelevant.

Riots between the two communities emerged, including major rioting in 2012 when the military intervened. The military sided entirely with the Buddshists and actively abetted or participated in the violence. There have been major outbreaks since. The current situation is the result of a small number of militants attacking police along the border. The respoding violence has been disproportionate.

It's hard to say where the bad feelings of the two communities emerged. During the Mrauk U period, it appeared Islam and Buddhism coexisted peacefully. Part of it is the Rohingya look different, speak unrelated language and above all have a different faith. Part of it is a fear that Muslims would become a majority, and there was a horde of dirt poor Bangladeshis who would swamp the region, although this fear is absolutely ridiculous in 2017. In 1942, the Rakhine Buddhists sided with Japan and the Rohingya with the British sided with the British. But again, it's had to pinpoint where the hatred is coming from.