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Three months after militant attacks triggered a brutal army operation targeting Rohingya Muslim communities in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State, more than 624,000 have fled to Bangladesh, one of the fastest refugee exoduses in modern times. In addition to unimaginable human suffering, the crisis has transformed Myanmar's domestic politics and international relations and will have a huge impact on the regional security landscape.
Myanmar is rapidly losing what remains of the enormous international good-will that its political transition had generated. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in particular has been widely criticised for failing to use her moral authority and domestic legitimacy to shift anti-Rohingya sentiment in Myanmar and the government's current course. Meanwhile, the exodus continues and will likely soon reach its tragic end point: the almost complete depopulation of Rohingya from northern Rakhine State. As the world struggles to define a response, the crisis is entering a new, fraught and highly uncertain phase.
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