Rohingya Refugee Crisis

Risking death by sea or on foot, near[1] ly 700,000 have fled the destruction of their homes and persecution in the northern Rakhine province of Myanmar (Burma) for the neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017. The United Nations described the military offensive in Rakhine, which provoked the exodus, as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing". The Rohingya, who numbered around one million in Myanmar at the start of 2017, is one of the many ethnic minorities in the country. Rohingya Muslims represent the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar, with the majority living in Rakhine state. They have their own language, culture and claim that they are descendants of Arab traders and other groups who have been in the region for generations. However, the government of Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, denies the Rohingya of Myanmar citizenship and excluded them from the 2014 census, refusing to recognise them as a people.

The issue at hand stems from the discriminatory policies put in place by the government since the late 1970s. These policies have compelled hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya to flee their homes in Myanmar to search for a better life elsewhere, where they would not experience the same oppression. Most have crossed by land into Bangladesh, while others have taken to the sea to seek refuge in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

In 2017, renewed violence, including reported rape, murder, and arson in Myanmar against the Rohingya, triggered an international response by many countries. Countries such as Thailand and Canada have very explicitly condoned Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, through speeches related to the matter or by revoking prestigious awards. For example, Amnesty International, an NGO based in London, has withdrawn a prestigious human rights award from Aung San Suu Kyi, following what the report deemed her actions as a “shameful betrayal” of the values she had once stood for.

Many refugees have been fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Noticing this, Bangladesh and Myanmar have reached an agreement regarding the return of the refugees to Myanmar. However, the repatriation effort has been delayed due to incomplete preparations according to a report done on 5th August 2018. Therefore, with no concrete solution as to how to tackle the Rohingya refugee crisis, this is a prevalent problem which governments of the various countries involved need to pay heed to and tackle as soon as possible.

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