Topic
Rohingya Muslims are an ethnic group who practice Islam and speak a language related to Bengali. The origin of this group of people is disputed with some saying they are indigenous to the state of Rakhine in Myanmar while others contend they are migrants who came from Bengal (now Bangladesh), to Myanmar during the period of British colonial rule. According to the United Nations, Rohingyas are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Many have fled Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh and areas along the Thai-Myanmar border.
Proposed US legislation to recognise the genocide against Bengalis and Hindus leading to the birth of Bangladesh in 1971 is in the right direction; just make sure it doesn’t ‘forget’ the key role Washington played in enabling it to happen.
- Analysts point to social-media disinformation to ‘discredit’ and ‘demonise’ Rohingya refugees in the lead-up to the presidential election in February
- They say the government has not been inclined to counter such narratives, which have stoked paranoia about the refugees and led to conflict
The move to deport the Rohingya refugees happened just as India enacted a controversial new citizenship law.
Last month’s China-mediated ceasefire between Myanmar’s junta, the Arakan Army and other ethnic minority fighters doesn’t apply to areas near the Bangladeshi and Indian borders.
An official said 131 people escaped from the Bidor immigration detention depot in Perak state.
Young Rohingya women in Bangladesh are trafficked to India on the pretext of ‘marriage to a good man’, but often end up arrested and detained in shelters.
A wave of young Hindu nationalist singers are releasing songs that ‘spew hatred against Muslims’ and other minorities in an emerging genre known as Hindutva pop.
Indonesians are showing hypocrisy by treating Rohingya refugees as ‘subhuman’ while supporting Palestinians, a Palestinian-American journalist says.
Nearly 150 Rohingya refugees arrived at a beach in North Sumatra on Saturday in a leaky wooden boat that brought them from Bangladesh.
Rohingya refugees have experienced increasing hostility in Indonesia as locals grow frustrated at the numbers of boats arriving with the ethnic minority, who face persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
Rohingya refugees like Nur Azizah reach Indonesia after perilous boat journeys, but are unable to work and have to rely on support from international organisations.
Violence in the region has meant increased risks of women and girls becoming victims of abuse and sexual attacks.
Survivor Muhammad Jubair, of another refugee boat, says the ailing vessel disappeared from view after a storm destroyed the engine on Jubair’s vessel and severed the ropes between the two boats.
Much of the resistance to Rohingya refugees stems from online misinformation, human rights activists say, as well as organised attacks against the United Nations and its refugee agency.
Deteriorating conditions in Myanmar and at Bangladesh’s refugee camps are driving scores of underage Rohingya girls to Malaysia for arranged marriages.
Rohingya Muslims are facing a wave of hostility in Indonesia, with residents in once-welcoming Aceh accusing the refugees of causing ‘many problems’.
The Indonesian president says his government ‘will take strict action against human trafficking perpetrators’.
More than 270 Rohingya Muslims have been detained indefinitely by Indian authorities in Jammu since March 2021, despite holding official refugee status.
Amid concerns about trafficking and a lack of resources to help the persecuted minority who have been fleeing Myanmar, Aceh villagers gave out supplies and repaired the group’s boat after desperate passengers tried to sink it.
A proposal to allow UN-registered refugees to work – but only in ‘dirty, dangerous, difficult’ jobs – reveals the state’s lack of empathy over their plight, advocates say.
Escalating violence in the camps of Cox’s Bazar and increasing repression by Bangladeshi authorities have left Rohingya refugees devoid of protection or justice.
Refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar that house nearly a million Rohingya Muslims are struggling to cope with soaring heat, fires and the devastation being wrought by supercharged weather events.
Budget cuts forced the UN to steeply reduce aid to the camps this year – where malnutrition was already rampant – rations are now just US$8 a month per refugee.
