Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, seen as a national hero in Myanmar and the face of a free civilian government, has come under intense international criticism for failing to openly support the Rohingya.
Some have even said she should be stripped of her peace prize.
Suu Kyi has repeatedly denied accusations of human rights abuses against the Rohingya, and in April denied to the BBC that ethnic cleansing was taking place.
Some observers point out that the Rohingya issue is so heated in Myanmar that Suu Kyi would lose her popularity, and eventually possibly her position, if she backed the ethnic minority.
The youngest-ever Nobel peace prize laureate, 20-year-old Malala Yousafzai has called on Suu Kyi to condemn the treatment of the Rohingya.
"Over the last several years, I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment. I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do the same," Yousafzai wrote.
"The world is waiting and the Rohingya Muslims are waiting."