8/8/22, 9:18 PM New evidence shows how Myanmar's military planned the Rohingya purge This time, though, different methods were needed. In the early days of the Syrian uprising, CIJA had its investigators follow anti-Assad rebels as they took over government outposts. Their goal was to sweep up documents left behind by defeated forces. In Myanmar, though ethnic rebels were battling the military, such opportunities were few because the rebels weren’t taking control of large swathes of territory. The focus was on working with insiders willing to leak information and documents. The Rohingya have long faced crushing discrimination and have had their citizenship rights stripped away. In the 1990s, authorities stopped issuing birth certificates for their children. Rohingya were forced to seek permits to marry or leave their villages. They had restricted access to university and were barred from holding government jobs. They were banned from having children out of wedlock, and married couples were barred from having more than two children.  A soldier is seen in Maungdaw in northern Rakhine during the crackdown on the Rohingya in August 2017. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh as a result of the military campaign. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-rohingya-warcrimes-investigation/ 16/34