What life is like on the border of Myanmar and Bangladesh, where a UN-labeled 'genocide' has left 1 million refugees living in limbo

BUSINESS INSIDER
James Pasley

A Myanmar security personnel keeps watch along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border as Rohingya refugee sit outside their shelters. Munir Uz Zaman / AFP / Getty 

• Myanmar and Bangladesh are divided by the Naf River.
• Below the river, Rakhine State in Myanmar has been a place of conflict for decades. The Rohingya people, who lived there, have not been recognized as citizens since 1982.
• This is what life on the border looks like on the ground.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Dividing Myanmar and Bangladesh is the Naf river. At times, it's 2 miles wide.

Below the Naf river, the Rakhine State in Myanmar has been a place of conflict for decades. The Rohingya people, who lived there, have not recognized as citizens since 1982.

In August 2017, Rohingya militants killed 12 Myanmar police officers, and Myanmar's military responded on a massive scale. A 2018 United Nations report accused the military of genocide, including murder, imprisonment, torture, and rape.

Fearing for their safety, hundreds of thousands fled into Bangladesh, primarily by crossing the river.

Here's what the divide between the two countries look like on the ground.

The Naf River, seen here in red, marks the boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar. It's between one and two miles wide, and has a maximum depth of 400 feet.

Border between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Google Maps / Business Insider
Source: Banglapedia 

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At the border's southern tip is the Rakhine State, where much of the strife has occurred. 

  The Rakhine State. Google Maps / Businss Insider

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The Rohingya are a group of Muslims who primarily lived in Rakhine State, and numbered around 1 million in 2017. The name "Rohingya" surfaced in the 1950s, to provide them with a collective identity. 

A Rohingya refugee and mother of eight. Cathal McNaughton / Reuters Source: BBC News

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Muslims have been in Myanmar since the 15th century, but during British rule, the population tripled, after Muslims emigrated from Bengal to work. After British rule ended, the Myanmar government considered them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. And in 1982, the government passed a law that effectively denies citizenship to the Rohingya, making them stateless. 

  Burmese Rohingya Association members protesting as part of World Refugee Rally in Brisbane, Australia. Shutterstock
Sources: National Geographic, Human Rights Watch

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One of the key routes refugees took to get into Bangladesh from Myanmar was over the Naf River. Seen here is a group crossing the river in 1992. 

  A boat carrying Rohingya people crossing Naf River to flee from Myanmar in 1992 in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh The Asahi Shimbun / Getty
Sources: Reuters, Amnesty International

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Roads that fleeing refugees have used near the river, like this one seen in 2018, are disintegrating after so much heavy use.

A disintegrating road near Bangladesh's border with Myanmar.

Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP / Getty 

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Myanmar's military have killed Rohingya people, destroyed their property, separated communities, imposed curfews, and enforced placement in camps. 

A 21-year-old Rohingya refugee Mohamed Jabair poses to show burns on his bodies, which he said he sustained when his house was set on fire in Myanmar, at Kutupalang refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. Jorge Silva / Reuters

Sources: UNHRC, CFR, Amnesty International, National Geographic, Reuters

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Since August 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar, pouring into Bangladesh. 

  Hundreds of Rohingya people crossing Bangladesh's border as they flee from Buchidong at Myanmar after crossing the Naf River in Bangladesh. K M Asad / LightRocket / Getty
Source: Aljazeera

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A fence also runs along the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Myanmar border fences are seen from Ghumdhum near Naikhongchhari in Bangladesh's Bandarban district on November 12, 2018, Sam Jahan / AFP / Getty  

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Parts of it are guarded, but refugees have still gotten through. 

A Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel stands alert in a bunker as Rohingya people escape fresh gunfire at the Bangladesh-Myanmar frontier near Rakhine Sam Jahan / AFP / Getty  

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Bangladesh's military has also been stationed on islands in the Bay of Bengal to stop the flow of refugees. Seen here are paramilitary on their way to St. Martins Island. 

 

Border Guards Bangladesh paramilitary carrying assault rifles queue to board a ship.

STR / AFP / Getty

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In May 2018, there were over 900,000 refugees in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.

Rohingya refugee children look on at Balikhali camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, November 14, 2018. Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters
Source: UN News 

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