Worsening tensions between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in Rakhine have sparked a wave of anti-Buddhist sentiments across Southeast Asia. Pro-Islamist groups as well as sympathisers from Indonesia and Malaysia have shared videos and photographs of the alleged atrocities by Myanmar’s security forces against the Rohingya in social media as well as mobile communication platforms.

The postings even include calls for recruitment for ‘jihad’ in Myanmar. A rally is scheduled to be held at the entrance of Borobudur Buddhist temple in central Java this week on 8 September 2017 to protest the persecution of the Rohingya. These protests over the plight of the Rohingya pose serious security implications in the region amidst the pressures from the Islamic State (IS) terror group in Marawi, Philippines.

… Remy Mahzam is an Associate Research Fellow and Muhammad Ansar a Research Analyst at the International Centre for Political Violence & Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), a unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.