Why are they being persecuted? Myanmar Buddhists see the...

Why are they being persecuted?

Myanmar Buddhists see the Rohingya as illegal immigrants.
In 1982, a law was passed denying the Rohingya full citizenship. The law also allows the government to confiscate Rohingya property.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya are languishing in squalid camps after communal violence drove them from their homes.
Hundreds of homes have been torched and dozens of Rohingya killed and raped in Rakhine over the past several weeks, prompting calls for the government to lift a military lockdown of a large part of the state and allow international aid organisations, the UN, independent observers and the media into the area.

So on the face of it he is a genuine refugee.

Still no excuse for what he has done and you have to question some ones state of mind for doing that