Coerced into internment camps, systematically discriminated against by the government and suffering from widespread anti-Islamic sentiment, the Rohingya people of Myanmar are subjected to unbearable rights violations and standards of living. Described by the United Nations as the most persecuted people in the world, many Rohingya risk their lives to escape the country, packed into unseaworthy vessels on a desperate quest for tolerance and opportunity.

Since January of last year, according to a 2015 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 88,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar for neighboring countries, which initially rejected them — until international condemnation forced the countries to reconsider. Even now, however, these neighboring countries still often consider Rohingya unwanted and illegal immigrants. According to a 2015 UNHCR report, of the nearly 500,000 Rohingya who escaped to Bangladesh, only about 32,000 are registered refugees living in camps administered by the United Nations.

Myanmar is primarily Burmese, but nearly a third of the population belongs to ethnic minorities like the Shan, Karen and Rohingya. In recent years, Myanmar has begun a policy known as “Burmanization,” intended to create a unified Burmese identity — one which excludes those of other religions and ethnicities, like the Rohingya.

Despite some allegations of voter intimidation and ballot tampering by neutral international election observers, Myanmar held relatively free elections in 2011, beginning a crucial but fragile transition to democracy. Led largely by Burmese students and Buddhist monks, Myanmar has begun to diverge from its long history of oppressive and autocratic rule dating back to 1962, when the military seized power in a coup d’etat. Steps towards liberal democracy in Myanmar should be celebrated, but the process of democratization is far from complete.

Myanmar’s new government is growing more democratic for the Burmese but not for minority groups. As the Burmese Buddhist majority — which comprises approximately 90 percent of the population — seeks to strengthen its own influence on Myanmar’s future, it has also attempted to lessen the influence of minority groups. Among the many minority groups in Myanmar, the Muslim Rohingya are especially despised. Approximately four percent of the population, over one million Rohingya live in Myanmar — many for generations, some since the spread of Islam to the region in the 15th century.

Despite this heritage, the government denies the validity of the Rohingya. On the census, they are described simply as “Bengali,” thus perpetuating the largely false belief that the Rohingya are unwanted immigrants from Bangladesh. Myanmar considers them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and Bangladesh considers them illegal immigrants from Myanmar. As such, the Rohingya are essentially stateless. They are citizens of no country with no government to protect their rights or interests.

According to the organization United to End Genocide, 140,000 are kept in squalid concentration camps, unable to leave internment. Those outside the camps face intense discrimination from the Burmese government. The Rohingya are denied citizenship and identity cards, preventing them from voting and participating in public office. They are also prevented from marrying without government approval, having more than two children, moving to other regions of Myanmar in many cases and even entering certain higher paying professions, such as teaching, medicine or engineering. Furthermore, Burmese employers will often hire them only as manual laborers.

Perhaps worst of all, the Rohingya are denied justice. Authorities ignored a massacre of 200 Rohingya in 2012 incited by anti-Islamic sentiment. Riots after the gang rape and murder of a Rakhine woman by Rohingyas led to mass communal violence targeting Rohingyas across the Rakhine state. After the murders, rather than protect Rohingya, police allied with the Burmese population and converted the local mosques into police stations and Buddhist temples. Another massacre of 49 villagers was probably aided by police forces, according to a 2013 Human Rights Watch report. No one has been held accountable by the government for either incident, and these are only a couple of examples of commonplace acts of ethnic cleansing and religiously motivated killings. According to a 2015 legal analysis by the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School, the atrocities are so terrible and the government so complicit that the persecution of the Rohingya may classify as genocide.

Oxymoronic, but all too real, Buddhist extremism is a serious problem in Myanmar. Buddhist monks often lead communal violence, and neither the government nor the opposition party wishes to alienate the largest voting block in the country. Even President of the National League for Democracy Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and powerful proponent for liberal democracy, cannot seem to muster the courage to discuss the issue of the Rohingya.

The causes for the misery of the Rohingya lie not only in the ethnic and religious prejudice of the Burmese but also in the unwillingness of the rest of the world to aid in ending their plight. The United States has rightfully lessened sanctions and waived bans on investment in Myanmar to reward the steps toward democracy in the country. Nevertheless, other than calls to end discrimination from President Obama, the U.S. has done little to lessen the suffering of the Rohingya: It has resettled only about 1,000 Rohingya across the country in the last year, even though it has the capability to substantively increase this figure. When countries of the world turn a blind eye to the tired, poor and huddled masses, the U.S. must lead by example.

Ultimately, resettling and aiding the refugees is an insufficient response alone, tantamount to only treating the symptom of a disease. As victims of an organized system which segregates and grossly discriminates against them, the Rohingya essentially suffer from a Burmese apartheid. It is not enough for Western politicians to express their sympathy; words ring hollow without action. Western governments, particularly that of the U.S., must engage more with Myanmar and Southeast Asia in developing a lasting solution.

Political change in Myanmar will only come from the Burmese, but the U.S. and the European Union can use their economic leverage to aid the Rohingya. In order for trade benefits to be granted and further sanctions lifted, the government of Myanmar must show resolve to aid the Rohingya. Crucially, the international community must also be ready and willing to re-impose sanctions if anti-Islamic violence further escalates, especially if the Burmese government remains complicit. Sanctions have been proven effective over the past two decades in guiding Myanmar towards democracy. As they continue to be lifted, however, the West will find its economic leverage in Myanmar diminished.

The results of inaction could be disastrous. Myanmar is like dry tinder; even a single spark could ignite mass violence or even a genocide. In Rwanda, the U.S. and the world failed to acknowledge the warning signs of genocide or act before it was too late. This time, they must be ready to address violence in Myanmar before it spirals out of control. There are concerns that in advocating for the Rohingya too forcefully, the U.S. may risk Myanmar’s fragile transition to democracy. Essentially, they argue that the perfect is the enemy of the good. Yet Myanmar’s democratic reforms mean little if they promote a Burmese apartheid or fail to prevent a genocide.

Liberal democracy is characterized not only by majority rule but also by the presence of strong minority rights. Myanmar’s government — and the world — would do well to recognize this as the country continues its transition from military rule to effective self-determination.