Since then, the situation has not changed for the better. The heightened persecution and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya in Northern Rakhine state since 2016 has brought their plight to the attention of the world. However, the NLD government and other state agencies have continued to ostracize the Rohingya minority and denied their inclusion in the political community of Myanmar. As a result, the estimated 600,000 Rohingya of voting age still living in Rakhine will be disenfranchised once more, as will the up to 1 million that have fled to Bangladesh since 2016. On 3 September 2020, Rohingya associations published a joint open letter to the UEC demanding the inclusion of their community in the 2020 general elections 100. The statement reads as follows: “We are Myanmar nationals. Before the elections, the Myanmar government should restore our citizenship rights and uphold our rights to vote and participate in the general election.” ANFREL stands firmly alongside the Rohingya in their pursuit of fundamental political rights. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has also expressed concerns about such “violations of the right to political participation 101”. 100 https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/2020/09/03/the-union-election-commission-should-recognize-thevoting-rights-of-rohingya-refugees-in-the-november-8-general-election-in-myanmar/ 101 https://www.ohchr.org/FR/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26431&LangID=E 35