"The 1.1 million Rohingya community ? a Muslim group which claims to be descended from Arab traders ? has fled in droves from their homes in Burma across south-east Asia following increasing persecution by the country?s Buddhist majority. In recent years, the community has often been described by the United Nations and others as one of the most persecuted people in the world. More recently, they have been described as ?Asia?s new boat people? and have been likened to the Vietnamese exodus by boat in the 1970s. The Burma government has refused to grant citizenship to the Rohingya minority, saying they are recent illegal migrants from Bangladesh. The Rohingya people say they have lived in the western state of Rakhine for generations. As Burma began shifting from a military dictatorship towards a more open democracy in 2011, tensions began to increase between Rakhine?s Buddhists and Muslims, most of whom claim to be Rohingya. Hundreds have been killed in deadly riots which have often followed reports - not always verified - of rapes or murders of Buddhists. About 140,000 Rakhine Muslims have fled their homes, with many living in squalid camps. Increasingly, they have begun to flee by boat from the coastal state of Rakhine. Since January, some 25,000 Rohingya are believed to have attempted the voyage by boat to neighbouring nations. Several thousand are still at sea after being repeatedly rejected by the navies of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia..."