Since a 1982 citizenship law Rohingya have been stripped of their Burmese citizenship . In 2012 , a riot broke out between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims , which left 78 people dead , 87 injured , and thousands of homes destroyed . It also displaced more than 52,000 people . As of July 2012 , the Myanmar Government did not include the Rohingya minority group – - classified as stateless Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh since 1982 — on the government 's list of more than 130 ethnic races and therefore the government says that they have no claim to Myanmar citizenship
riot
2012 Rakhine State riots
Human rights in Myanmar