World’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises are occurring right now!
Who are the Rohingya?
Who are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya people are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar.
Where do the Rohingya people live?
Origins of the Rohingya people
The Rohingya maintain they are indigenous to western Myanmar with a heritage of over a millennium and influence from the Arabs, Mughals, and Portuguese. The community claims it is descended from people in precolonial Arakan and colonial Arakan; historically, the region was an independent kingdom between Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Where did the Rohingya people live before?
Before the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis and the military crackdown in 2016 and 2017, the Rohingya population in Myanmar was close to 1.4 million, chiefly in the northern Rakhine townships, which were 80–98% Rohingya.
Where do the Rohingya people love now?
Before the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis and the military crackdown in 2016 and 2017, the Rohingya population in Myanmar was close to 1.4 million, chiefly in the northern Rakhine townships, which were 80–98% Rohingya.
Rohingya Refugee Crisis
Why did they flee their homes?
The exodus began on 25 August 2017 after Rohingya Arsa militants launched deadly attacks on more than 30 police posts.
Rohingyas arriving in Bangladesh said they fled after troops, backed by local Buddhist mobs, responded by burning their villages and attacking and killing civilians.
At least 6,700 Rohingya, including at least 730 children under the age of five, were killed in the month after the violence broke out, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Amnesty International says the Myanmar military also raped and abused Rohingya women and girls.
The government, which puts the number of dead at 400, claims that "clearance operations" against the militants ended on 5 September, but BBC correspondents have seen evidence that they continued after that date.
At least 288 villages were partially or totally destroyed by fire in northern Rakhine state after August 2017, according to analysis of satellite imagery by Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch say most damage occurred in Maungdaw Township, between 25 August and 25 September 2017 - with many villages destroyed after 5 September, when Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said security force operations had ended.
Destroyed villages
Where are the Rohingya seeking refuge?
Today, there are 980,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar in neighboring countries. Approximately 919,000 Rohingya refugees are living at the Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region — which have grown to become some of the largest and most densely populated camps in the world.
Approximately 75 percent of those living in the Cox’s Bazar region arrived in September 2017. They joined more than 200,000 Rohingya who had fled Myanmar in previous years. More than half of those who have arrived are women and children.
Rohingya refugees have also sought refuge in other neighboring countries like Thailand (92,000) and India (21,000), with smaller numbers settling in Indonesia, Nepal and other countries across the region.
Armed clashes across Myanmar have continued to trigger displacement, bringing the total number of internally displaced people (IDP) within the country to more than 1.1 million — 769,000 of whom have been internally displaced since February 2021.
Refugee sites in Bangladesh
What is happening to Rohingya refugees right now?
With more than half a million Rohingya believed to still be living in Myanmar's northern Rakhine province, UN investigators have warned there is a "serious risk that genocidal actions may occur or recur".
The situation that led to "killings, rapes and gang rapes, torture, forced displacement and other grave rights violations" in 2017 remained unchanged, the investigators said in September, blaming a lack of accountability and Myanmar's failure to fully investigate allegations or criminalise genocide.
Rakhine province itself is the site of an ongoing conflict between the army and rebels from the Buddhist-majority Rakhine ethnic group.
What about the refugees?
The massive numbers of refugees who fled to Bangladesh in 2017 joined hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who had fled Myanmar in previous years.
Kutupalong, the largest refugee settlement in the world according to UNHCR, is home to more than 600,000 refugees alone.
But in March 2019, Bangladesh announced it would no longer accept Rohingya fleeing Myanmar.
While an agreement for the return of refugees was reached in early 2018, none returned. They said they would not consider going back to Myanmar unless they were given guarantees they would be given citizenship.
And as a BBC investigation showed, even those considering returning in the future may not be able to, with villages destroyed to make way for government facilities.
Timeline
1948
After Burma’s independence from British rule, a Muslim rebellion erupts in Rakhine State, with people demanding equal rights and an autonomous area. The rebellion is eventually defeated.1962
Military rule begins in Burma.1977 to 1978
Some 200,000 ethnic Muslims identifying as Rohingya flee to refugee camps in Bangladesh.1982
A new citizenship law identifies 135 national ethnic groups. It excludes the Rohingya, which effectively renders them stateless.1989 to 1991
A military crackdown follows a popular uprising. Burma is renamed Myanmar. Another 250,000 refugees flee to Bangladesh.1992
The Myanmar and Bangladesh governments agree to repatriate refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people return to Myanmar over several years.2003
Two of 20 refugee camps remain in Bangladesh. U.N. studies show widespread malnutrition in the camps.2012
Religious violence flares in Rakhine, leaving many people homeless. More than 100,000 people flee to Malaysia.2014
In Myanmar’s first census in 30 years, the Rohingya are still not included as an ethnic group.2016
A military crackdown follows an attack on a border post in which police offers were killed. During the crackdown, about 87,000 people fled to Bangladesh.2017
Mass exodus from Myanmar
August: Following Rohingya militia attacks on several police and army posts in Myanmar on August 25, state security forces launch a campaign of horrific violence and terror targeting the Rohingya community. More than 700,000 Rohingya flee Myanmar. The cycle of mass displacement begins again, this time on an unprecedented scale.
September: The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) declares the Rohingya refugee crisis a major emergency and scales up its response.
November: Myanmar and Bangladesh agree to start repatriating refugees within the next two months. According to international law, repatriation should be voluntary by refugees only when conditions are safe.2018
Little hope of return
January: The agreed start date for repatriation passes without action.
April: U.N. Security Council envoys visit Myanmar and Bangladesh to observe needs and conditions.
April through November: Monsoon and cyclone seasons increase hazards for refugees living in makeshift shelters.
September: The U.N. releases a report accusing the Myanmar military of atrocities against Rohingya Muslims.
November: The Bangladesh and Myanmar governments offer refugees the chance to return to Myanmar. Not a single Rohingya accepts.2019
Continued uncertainty
Increased violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State leads to the displacement of 4,500 more Rohingya people. This casts doubt on the feasibility of refugees returning to Myanmar anytime soon.
December: An International Court of Justice case accuses Myanmar of genocide of the Rohingya people.2021
Fire blazes as the coronavirus remains a concern
March 23: A deadly fire rips through Cox’s Bazar, destroying 10,000 shelters, World Vision food distribution sites, and clean water and sanitation facilities. World Vision immediately begins distributing emergency food supplies to families affected by the fire.
World Reactions
What are Myanmar and Bangladesh authorities doing?
Bangladesh’s foreign minister condemned the violence in Rakhine as “genocide” in September 2017 and Indonesia and Malaysia called on the Myanmar authorities to halt their campaign and bring an end to the violence. Authorities in Bangladesh and Myanmar have held discussions aimed at repatriating Rohingya refugees, but the efforts have so far foundered. In late 2019, the countries agreed to repatriate several thousand refugees, but none in the designated group was willing to return to Myanmar. Leaders of the Rohingya community said they will not return until their citizenship rights are guaranteed. Meanwhile, the United Nations has criticized the repatriation plans, saying that conditions in Myanmar are still unsafe for Rohingya. “As grim as the situation is for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh . . . their prospects back in Myanmar are even worse,” writes CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick. Experts say the Bangladeshi government must decide whether to continue its struggle to provide shelter for so many refugees or to expel them and draw the ire of Western governments and aid organizations.
How is the region responding?
Protesters have at times gathered in cities in Pakistan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Bangladesh to denounce the killing and persecution of Rohingya.
Governments in Southeast Asia generally lack established legal frameworks to protect refugees’ rights, and the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have not coordinated a response to the deepening crisis. Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand—all ASEAN members—have yet to ratify the UN refugee convention or its protocol. ASEAN itself has been mostly silent on the plight of the Rohingya and on the growing numbers of asylum seekers in member countries, largely because of its members’ commitment to the principle of noninterference in each other’s internal affairs. They aren’t going to take collective action on Myanmar, with Myanmar as one of its members.
How has the rest of the world responded?
In December 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama lifted sanctions against Myanmar, saying it had made strides in improving human rights. The move came amid a crackdown on Rohingya and was criticized by some as premature. A year later, under President Donald J. Trump, new U.S. sanctions were imposed on a Myanmar general for his alleged role in the military’s attacks in Rakhine. The Trump administration continued to widen its sanctions regime on Myanmar military commanders in 2018 and 2019, as evidence of atrocities by the military has grown. Australia, Canada, and the European Union have also imposed sanctions on military leaders.
Meanwhile, many countries, including the United States, Canada, Norway, and South Korea, as well as international donors, have upped their humanitarian assistance. Advocacy groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Arakan Project, and Fortify Rights continue to appeal for international pressure on Myanmar’s government. For example, in November 2018, Amnesty International stripped Suu Kyi of the Ambassador of Conscience Award it had conferred on her during her fifteen-year house arrest.
How has the UN responded?
The UN fact-finding mission recommended that the Security Council impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on Myanmar and top military officials. But some Security Council members, including Russia and China, have resisted increasing pressure on Myanmar’s government because they say it is trying to restore stability. Additionally, a report commissioned by Secretary-General Guterres documented “systemic failure” by UN agencies in 2010–2018 to curb violence in Myanmar.
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Three programs helping Rohingya refugees build a brighter, safer and more sustainable future
August 25, 2022 marks five years since the largest exodus of Rohingya refugees fled Myanmar, during which more than 700,000 Rohingya escaped persecution finding safety in Bangladesh. A Muslim minority in Myanmar, the Rohingya have faced violence and human rights abuses, but massive scale violence and armed attacks in August 2017 forced the largest exodus of Rohingya refugees in decades.
Most fled to Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps — the largest refugee settlements in the world. Nearly one million Rohingya refugees now reside in the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh. With such a large population of refugees to support, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has shifted its focus from providing emergency relief to providing sustainable, community-based solutions. By offering training programs and self-reliance initiatives to Rohingya refugees, UNHCR is ensuring long-term protection for these communities.
Today, five years after the crisis made headlines, see how Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are rebuilding their lives and creating a more sustainable environment for themselves and their host communities.
Education
During the 2017 exodus of Rohingya refugees, 49 percent of those forced to flee were children. Today, approximately 52 percent of Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar are under the age of 18. These are children who have experienced unimaginable trauma — from being forced to flee violence to having to rebuild their lives in a new country.
To help children recover, UNHCR facilitates educational initiatives and “adolescent clubs” throughout the refugee settlements allowing children to learn, play and grow. These adolescent clubs serve as a place where teenagers can gather to share their feelings, cope with trauma and build positive relationships with other young people in the camp. These clubs also serve as education centers where teenagers can learn basic literacy, numeracy, life skills and skills training.
Community Health
There are more than 300 community health volunteers in Cox’s Bazar, the majority of whom are Rohingya refugees. UNHCR provides training for these volunteers so they can provide health education and resources to the community, which helps slow the spread of disease and raise awareness about specific health concerns, such as the care of newborns. These volunteers also help members of the community get referrals for the care they need from specialists and facilitate the 24/7 ambulance service for refugees in need of critical care.
Environmental Sustainabilty
With nearly one million Rohingya refugees living in the Cox’s Bazar region today, there are many concerns about the impact refugee camps have on the environment and the surrounding host community. Ensuring that the camps are sustainable also ensures that the refugees living in them can stay safe for as long as they need refuge.