The Rohingya: refugees forever?

The Rohingya people have long suffered persecution. They risked their lives to escape to Bangladesh and other countries by sea or on foot following the Myanmar military offensive of August 2017. The massacres in Rakhine State were labelled by the United Nations a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing". Back then, the world's attention was fixed on this little-known strip of land in southern Bangladesh near the town of Cox's Bazar. So what has changed for Rohingyas since the military coup in Myanmar, and has the world moved on to other issues?  Robert Bociaga reports

From a distant water tank, a short black-haired boy is carrying a metallic water bowl on his right shoulder. Little by little, he is getting closer to his shelter, making sure not to stumble on his way.

Behind him, the bamboo houses are shaking as the wind begins to build. 

"Strong wind has already started in our camp," says Arfat Zihat, a young Rohingya activist. "We are rebuilding our shelters for the upcoming monsoon".

Rohingya people trapped in barbed wire camps go to the market (photo by an anonymous Rohingya photographer from Cox's Bazar).

Living in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar is "boring", he admits. "Refugee children have not much to do - so they play with the falling drops of rain".

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the majority of Rohingya children both in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and in refugee camps in Bangladesh are barred from formal education.

But this is not the biggest worry for the older members of the outcast communities.

Bangladesh has sent troops into the sprawling camps at Cox's Bazar to confront rival Rohingya gangs involved in a violent turf war over the lucrative sale of methamphetamine. 

"ARSA [Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army] is involved with rape and killings every day. Bangladeshi police are not helping us", says Arfat Zihat.  "Recently, police destroyed some of our shelters and shops, when we asked why, there was no response."

In addition, he describes beatings by the security forces when people leave the camp to go to the market.

The ARSA is an insurgent group claiming to defend the rights of Rohingya. In August 2017, the Myanmar military launched an offensive against them for the deadly attacks against Police outposts in Myanmar's Rakhine State. That brutal crackdown saw the exodus of around one million people out of Rakhine and into Bangladesh. 

The Bangladesh-based media argue that "because of the [Rohingya] activities the whole community is being defamed all over the world".

After the military power grab in Myanmar on February 1st, their situation has become even more insecure.

Growing up in a refugee camp at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh (photo by an anonymous Rohingya photographer from Cox Bazar).

In the days following the coup, Min Aung Hlaing, the Myanmar junta leader, had stressed his country's commitment to continue the policies of the previous government, which should include the repatriation of civilians from Bangladesh at some point in the future.

But when asked in May by Chinese-language Phoenix television whether they will be allowed back, he cast serious doubts on international appeals on behalf of the Rohingya.

"We Rohingya genocide survivors are praying for our Myanmar motherland", says Mainul Islam, another Cox's Bazar resident. Born in the camp over twenty years ago, his family comes from Raima Guna, a small village in Myanmar's Maungdaw township.

For many like him, the promises on justice being delivered to the Rohingya made by Dr Sasa, the Minister of International Cooperation in the cabinet of National Unity Government (NUG)  constitute a big change.

Also, many Myanmar protesters have shown their solidarity with this ethnic group, by posting photos of themselves holding placards that ask for forgiveness from the Rohingya.

Myanmar's democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains imprisoned facing several charges, came to defend the country in The Hague against the genocide allegations in 2019. That tarnished her reputation internationally while at home the public remained feverishly loyal. Apart from some human rights groups, her alliance with the military was not questioned.

Bill Richardson, once her good friend and a former member of Myanmar advisory board on the Rohingya crisis, even commented that “[s]he has developed an arrogance of power".

Because of this, some refugees remain sceptical.

"She failed to save us. But in reality, under the 2008 constitution, no civilian government can do anything for us," said one  Rohingya man from Sittwe, the main town in Rakhine State. "All Rakhine politicians are also at fault" he added.

Rohingya men preparing for the rainy season. (photo by an anonymous Rohingya photographer from Cox's Bazar).

The majority Buddhist Rakhine population has remained hostile to its Muslim neighbours, blaming them for violence and militarization of the Rakhine state. Many Rakhine people have demanded greater autonomy from the central government, and remain proud of their independence, which was swept away in the 18th century with the Burmese conquest. The issue of the Muslim Rohingya served, in their eyes, as the justification for waging wars on their territory.

And Rohingya leaders are sceptical that aligning themselves with the new political grouping opposing the junta would help their cause. “We are worried that joining hands with the NUG would bring no benefit,” says Dil Mohammad, one of the Rohingya leaders.

Abolishing the 2008 constitution (which was drafted by the military to guarantee their control and priviledge) and a 1982 citizenship law rendering Rohingya effectively the largest stateless population in the world are major commitments from the  NUG, which is seeking international recognition, including from New Zealand.

Their attempts to win support from a broad base of ethnic people have yet to produce a united front against the dictatorship.

Tun Khin, president of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, said the NUG’s commitments are welcomed but “it must [..] recognise that a genocide is taking place against the Rohingya”.

Hosting almost one million refugees has stretched the capabilities of Bangladesh, forcing it to seek international support.

The country launched a $350m housing development on Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal.

Rohingya began leaving Cox's Bazar, for an unknown future on what they dubbed "the prison island". Some fled Cox's Bazar for India.

Importantly, in contrast to the previous settlement on the mainland, no journalists, aid agencies or human rights groups have been allowed to access the island, located 60 kilometres  from the coast.

Among those deciding to flee Cox's Bazar are the 81 refugees now anchored off the Indonesian coast after over 100 days of months at sea. Due to the pandemic, the Southeast Asian countries have become increasingly reluctant to provide refuge for them.

In the meantime, the United Kingdom is accused of losing interest in protecting the rights of Rohingya in Bangladesh after reducing humanitarian aid by 40 percent.

According to Save The Children’s executive director, Kirsty McNeill, “This decision will have catastrophic consequences for some of the world’s most desperate and vulnerable people”.

Is the world turning away from the suffering of the Rohingya people, while nations focus instead on the military coup which has threatened the entire future of a new democratic Myanmar?

Rohingya photographers asked not to reveal their names for the sake of security.

Banner image: Graeme Acton/AMC

- Asia Media Centre