Episode 1.Historical Background The Rohingya are an ethnic Muslim minority group who have been living in Myanmar's Rakhine state for centuries. They are considered to be one of the world's most persecuted minorities and have faced a long history of discrimination, marginalization, and violence by the Myanmar government and Buddhist nationalists. For decades, the Rohingya have suffered violence, discrimination and persecution in Myanmar. Their largest exodus began in August 2017 after a massive wave of violence broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, forcing more than 700,000 people - half of them children - to seek refuge in Bangladesh. Entire villages were burned to the ground, thousands of families were killed or separated and massive human rights violations were reported, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 2012, violence erupted in Rakhine state between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists, leading to the displacement of thousands of Rohingya from their homes. In 2015, a boat crisis occurred as thousands of Rohingya refugees fled persecution in Myanmar and attempted to cross the Andaman Sea to reach neighboring countries such as Thailand and Malaysia. There are over 980,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar in neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh and India. Approximately 919,000 Rohingya refugees are living at the Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region — the largest and most densely populated camps in the world. Some 2,000 Rohingya had left for Bangladesh this year, amid fears of being deported. Under the 1982 citizenship law, the Myanmar government recognised only about 40,000 Rohingyas as its citizens. The rest were dubbed as "illegal Bengalis" - immigrants from Bangladesh. Rohingya refugees have also sought refuge in Thailand (92,000) and India (21,000), with smaller numbers settling in Indonesia, Nepal and other countries across the region.