On September 12, 2024, UNICEF raised the alarm over the killing of 24 Rohingya civilians, including 10 children, in just one week. This episode occurred during the ongoing clashes linked to the civil war within Myanmar – a country whose authorities offer no protection to this ethnic minority within its borders. Throughout 2024, 600 children were killed or severely injured, falling victim to attacks on Rohingya homes, schools, and community spaces.
The violence of recent months is part of a larger pattern of decades-long violations and discrimination, where the Muslim minority has been stripped of its social, political, and economic rights, leading to severe abuses of the fundamental rights. Not only do the Rohingya receive no protection from state authorities, but the government itself does not recognize them and forces them to endure harsh repression or embark on dangerous migration routes.
The Rohingya are a large Muslim minority primarily residing in Myanmar's Rakhine State, a predominantly Buddhist country. For decades, they have been the largest stateless ethnic group, having had no recognized citizenship since 1982 and being excluded from national censuses. Over the years, they have been victims of torture, sexual violence, and gender discrimination, with a peak of atrocities in 2017, when entire villages were burned down, homes were destroyed, and families exterminated. This event led to a severe migration crisis, with more than 750,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh and 2-3 million internally displaced within Myanmar.
For those who remain in Myanmar, life is unbearable under the dictatorship, with virtually no basic quality-of-life standards. However, the situation is not much better for those attempting to flee by land to Bangladesh or by sea across the Bay of Bengal, sometimes even reaching Indonesia or Malaysia, facing monsoon rains and extreme heat.
A significant chapter in the history of the Rohingya is linked to neighbouring Bangladesh, the country that has provided the most refuge. To date, around one million Rohingya are housed in the Cox's Bazar region, in some of the most overcrowded refugee camps in the world. The poor sanitation conditions, lack of resources and adequate food supplies, unsafe makeshift infrastructure prone to flooding during the monsoon seasons, and inadequate educational services for children make life unsustainable.
However, Bangladesh’s inability to manage the growing number of refugees arriving daily, along with its own socio-economic and political crises, has led the Bangladeshi authorities to begin barring refugees from entering, denying them asylum or residency permits, and repatriating them to Myanmar.
The situation is out of control. Global news coverage is scarce, and UNHCR aid to Bangladesh has not been enough to change the stance of national authorities, who are adopting increasingly strict measures against refugees. As a result, the Rohingya find themselves with nowhere to go, no country to belong to, and no recognized rights.
To read more, please visit:
- https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-10-children-killed-less-week-deadly-attacks-continue-myanmar
- https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/seven-years-crisis-rohingya-refugees
- https://www.unrefugees.org/news/rohingya-refugee-crisis-explained/
- https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2024/6/20/the-impossible-life-of-myanmars-rohingya-refugees
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/25/rohingya-exodus-explained-in-maps-and-charts
- https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2022/8/25/photos-rohingya-mark-five-years-since-the-exodus-to-bangladesh
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/bangladesh-must-suspend-pilot-project-return-rohingya-refugees-myanmar-un
