As MOAS prepares to formally launch our 2017 South East Asia Mission to deliver aid and assistance to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, in this blog we explore who the Rohingya people are and why they are being forced to flee their homes.
Who are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya people are a stateless Muslim minority community living in Rakhine State on the west coast of Myanmar. They are the third largest ethnic group in the state, estimated to number around 1.1 million people.
The Rohingya trace their origins to the region with the formation of the Arakan Kingdom in the 15th Century. Many more arrived in the 19th and 20th Centuries when Rakhine was under the colonial control of the British.
What’s happening?
Following years of discrimination and persecution, today the Rohingya are facing yet another outbreak of violence against them, perpetrated with the participation of the Myanmar military.
Violence broke out on August 25th and has currently forced over 400,000 Rohingya to flee from Maungdaw district to Bangladesh; over half of the refugees are children. Aid agencies, media and advocacy outlets report cases of rape, torture and systematic killing of men, women and children.
Estimates suggest that at least 1,000 people have died since the violence started, but the figure could be much higher. The Myanmar government now states that 175 villages in Rakhine are empty, while Human Rights Watch reports that the Myanmar military is deliberately burning ethnic Rohingya villages on the border with Bangladesh. Satellite imagery and data shows that 62 villages in the Northern Rakhine State were attacked between August 25th and September 14th. Over half were completely burned to the ground, while what remained were still burning.
Why is this happening?
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| 1948
Declaring its independence from the British, on January 4th 1948 The Union of Burma becomes a Republic.
The Rohingya people of Rakhine State can apply for an identity card granting them rights to work, access to education and participation in the political process. Rohingya are even elected to Parliament. |
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| 1962 – 1978
A coup d’etat led by the Burmese military removes the civilian government led by the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League AFPFL. Burmese military commander Ne Win leads the coup and installs himself as Chairman of the Union of Revolutionary Council.
The junta creates the 1974 Emergency Immigration Act requiring people to obtain a National Registration Certificate for citizens of Myanmar. The Rohingya are excluded from this, eroding their status and rights as full citizens. Instead they are given a Foreign Registration Card, otherwise known as a ‘White Card’, giving them limited access to the jobs and education. This is not proof of citizenship. |
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| 1982 – 1992
The 1982 Citizenship Act is introduced. The only way that Rohingya people can qualify is if they speak an officially recognized language and can prove their family lived in Myanmar before Independence. Many are never granted paperwork to prove their connection, making them officially stateless.
A second exodus erupts in 1991, with the Myanmar army forcing Rohingya out of the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung. Multiple human rights abuses take place, including the destruction of mosques and bans on religious practices. An estimated 250,000 refugees flee for Bangladesh. |
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| Operation King Dragon
The first operation carried out by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya happens in 1978. It targets the states of Kachin and Northern Arakan (modern day Northern Rakhine state).
Within three months, between 200,000 and 300,000 Muslims – the majority of them Rohingya – flee to Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi government takes them in. |
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| 2011 – 2012
Three Rohingya men are accused of the killing of a woman from the majority Buddhist community, leading to civil unrest in Rakhine State. Two hundred people are killed, over 1,000 Rohingya are arrested and 115,000 are internally displaced.
This leads to a string of anti-Muslim violence across Rakhine state and wider Myanmar. Displaced Rohingya turn to smugglers for transport out of Myanmar. |
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| 2014 – 2015
A UN national census takes place in Myanmar, the first in 30 years. The government will allow Rohingya to identify as Rohingya.
The Buddhist majority threatens to boycott unless they register as Bengali. Myanmar’s President Thein Sein is pressured by Buddhist nationalists over Rohingya rights to vote. The temporary White Card is revoked, denying Rohingya the right to vote. |
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| 2015: Boat Crisis in the Bay of Bengal
The appalling living conditions in Rakhine State lead tens of thousands of people to attempt precarious boat journeys to neighbouring countries.
In May 2015, thousands of people are stranded by human traffickers on rickety boats in the Bay of Bengal, with little food and water. For weeks the overcrowded boats remain at sea until eventually Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia agree to receive them. |
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| 2016
An attack on a military post along the Myanmar – Bangladesh border in October leads to a major military crackdown.
Rohingya militants are blamed, and the following crackdown prevents the entry of international aid entering the region. Wider violence forces thousands of Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. |
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| 2017
Clashes erupt in Rakhine state on August 25th after the Rohingya militant group ‘Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’ claims responsibility for attacking two dozen police and military posts.
100 people are killed. Fighting between the insurgents and military forces several thousands of Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is criticized for failing to condemn the violence against the Rohingya people. |
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Current Situation
Before August 2017, Bangladesh had been hosting 33,000 registered refugees and up to 500,000 unregistered refugees. Now, thousands of Rohingya refugees are walking for several days to cross Bangladesh’s borders, while others are taking the dangerous river crossing.
Kutupalong and Nayapara are the two main refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh, which were overcrowded even before the current crisis.
The sudden surge in the number of Rohingya arrivals has put a major strain on existing humanitarian services. Despite the best efforts of local Bangladeshis and aid agencies, more than half of the recently displaced are living in makeshift sites without proper shelter, clean drinking water and sanitation.
According to the UNHCR, the vast majority of arrivals are ‘women, including mothers with newborn babies, families with children. They arrive in poor condition, exhausted, hungry and desperate for shelter’. In response to the desperate need among new arrivals, the MOAS team is currently distributing emergency rations among the makeshift camps around Cox’s Bazar.
You can help us deliver much-needed aid and assistance to Rohingya refugees by donating what you can. If you’d like to learn more about our mission and the story of MOAS, you can watch a documentary on our work here. If you would like to be kept up- to-date on our operations and get news on migration from our communications team, sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of this page or follow us on social media.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publ
ication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
