Blocked at the Bangladesh Border, Daily Brief October 1, 2024

As mass violence grips large areas of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, people have been trying to flee into neighboring Bangladesh. At least 18,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in recent months – though some estimate the number may be twice that.

Yet thousands more are stuck at the border, pushed back by Bangladesh border guards and unable to get to safety on the other side.

Why they need to escape Myanmar is clear. In the armed conflict between the junta’s military forces and the ethnic armed group, Arakan Army, both sides are committing atrocities. These include mass killings, arson, and forced recruitment against Rohingya.

Rakhine State has suffered conflict and deep crisis for years. This is where, in 2017, Myanmar’s military committed crimes against humanity and acts of genocide against the ethnic Rohingya community.

The 630,000 Rohingya who remain in Rakhine State live under a system of apartheid that leaves them especially vulnerable to the fighting, with movement restrictions and aid blockages.

Successive waves of conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State have meant ever more Rohingya needing to seek refuge next door. Bangladesh now hosts about one million Rohingya refugees, most of them there since escaping the 2017 atrocities.

Bangladesh authorities say the country is not able to accept any more. Many may sympathize with this attitude, particularly as Bangladesh has been going through some political turmoil of its own and is now (hopefully) trying to rebuild democratic, rights-respecting institutions after years of repression and abuses.

Still, the government of Bangladesh is obligated by international law not to push the Rohingya back into danger.

What would help Bangladesh authorities make the right decision would be greater humanitarian assistance from international donors. Countries like the US, the UK, the EU, and Australia should step up and increase funding.

At the same time, the international community needs to address the roots of the problem here – which are not in Bangladesh. Myanmar’s generals have never had to pay any price or been held accountable for their atrocities against the Rohingya in 2017, and after the 2021 coup, they’ve continued their abuses.

This is an issue the UN Security Council has so far failed to address properly. Facing possible vetoes by China and Russia, other Security Council members have backed off rather than redouble efforts to negotiate what’s needed, like a global arms embargo on Myanmar, targetted sanctions on the junta, and a referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court.

The impact of atrocities in Myanmar should not be left to desperate Rohingya and nervous Bangladeshi authorities to sort out in isolation. This is an international issue, and it demands international responses.