In Myanmar, Bangladesh, and across the region, the Rohingya are denied safety and dignity, trapped in cycles of violence and repression, while they continue waiting for justice and freedom.
In Rakhine State, about 630,000 Rohingya are caught in the crosshairs as Myanmar’s junta and the Arakan Army armed group battle for control. More than 200,000 civilians have been displaced since the fighting resumed last November. Rohingya villages that were devastated by military atrocities in 2017 are again being targeted in widespread arson attacks.
Over the past seven months, the junta has carried out more than 880 airstrikes, one-fifth of which took place in Rakhine State.
Since February, Myanmar security forces have press ganged as many as 5,000 Rohingya men and boys from across Rakhine and, with the support of armed groups, the camps in Bangladesh. Thus Rohingya who have been denied citizenship and basic freedoms under the military’s system of apartheid are being forced unlawfully to fight on the junta’s behalf.
To forcibly return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar amid the ongoing fighting and repression would threaten their lives and risk persecution.
Until Rohingya can safely return home, donors should provide funding to meet the needs of the one million refugees in Bangladesh and expand resettlement opportunities. Bangladesh should lift restrictions on work, movement, and education to ensure refugees have access to the tools needed for rebuilding their lives.
Above all, building durable solutions for the Rohingya and upholding the rights of all people in Myanmar depends on the establishment of civilian democratic rule and holding the military accountable for its crimes.
