How is Myanmar's civil war impacting Bangladesh?

CLICK ITTEFAQ
DW
Publish : 23 Feb 2024,

Bangladesh is closely watching the fighting in Myanmar's neighboring Rakhine state

Fighting between Myanmar's junta and the Arakan Army (AA) rebel group in western Myanmar's Rakhine state has intensified. Casualties have also been recorded in Bangladesh, with two people killed by an errant mortar round this month and several injured by gunshots from across the border. Rebel fighters have recently taken control of the Myanmar border region, and are seeking to oust junta forces from elsewhere in the state.

Rohingya, Geopolitics and Myanmar: An Uncertain Future

The Daily Star

Shamsher M. Chowdhury, BB
Mon Nov 14, 2022 

Remains of a Rohingya village in Rakhine, Myanmar, after the security forces razed it to the ground during the 2017 crackdown. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

That the Rohingya community (mostly Muslims) has been subjected to the most acute form of societal scorn and institutionalised discrimination in their own country for decades is all too well-known. The situation started getting bad in the late 1970s, when more than 200,000 Rohingyas were driven out of their homeland in Myanmar's Rakhine (originally Arakan) state by the country's military government, and were forced to take shelter across the border in Bangladesh. Their eventual return was ensured through negotiations between the two countries.

Rohingya teen dies, several injured after shells fired from Myanmar land in Bangladesh

bdnews24.com 

Bandarban Correspondent
Cox’s Bazar Correspondent,
Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 16 Sept 2022,

The shells fell on a refugee settlement across no man's land

 

A Rohin‌gya teenager has reportedly been killed and several others injured after mortar shells fired from Myanmar exploded in Bangladeshi territory, according to officials and community leaders.

The shells fell on a refugee settlement near the Tumabru and Konapara border in Bandarban's Ghumdhum Union around 8 pm on Friday, the latest in a string of violent incidents that have put residents on edge.

KS relief provides Rohingya refugee women and children lifesaving aid

ARAB NEWS
SHEHAB SUMON
September 08, 2022 

In this photo taken in May 2022, Rohingya beneficiaries of KSrelief aid are seen at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (KSrelief)

• Over $25m already for Bangladesh’s squalid Cox’s Bazar
• Maternal care, food, shelter and education provided

DHAKA: When in 2017 Rohingya Muslims fled persecution in Myanmar, most sought shelter in neighboring Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar that now has over 1.2 million living in squalid conditions, and where Saudi Arabia is focusing part of its global relief efforts.

The mass arrival of Rohingyas has turned the coastal region of the country’s southeast into the world’s largest refugee settlement, with women and children being the biggest and most vulnerable group dependent on external aid.

Although Bangladesh is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, it has been hosting and providing humanitarian support for those displaced. But many complex interventions require costly care, and Saudi Arabia has been a key donor.

Deportation of Rohingya woman from India sparks fear of renewed crackdown

THE GUARDIAN
Aakash Hassan
Thu 14 Apr 2022 

Hasina Begum was separated from her family and forced to return to Myanmar despite her refugee status. Hundreds of others now face expulsion  

Rohingya refugees at a makeshift camp on the outskirts of Jammu, India, last year. Photograph: Channi Anand/AP

The deportation of a Rohingya woman back to Myanmar has sparked fears that India is preparing to expel many more refugees from the country.


Hasina Begum, 37, was deported from Indian-administered Kashmir two weeks ago, despite holding a UN verification of her refugee status, intended to protect holders from arbitrary detention. Begum was among 170 refugees arrested and detained in Jammu in March last year. Her husband and three children, who also have UN refugee status, remain in Kashmir.

Wife of Rohingya refugee seeks help from Suhakam

FMT

Samuel Chua
May 10, 2021

Maslina Abu Hassan and her son Muhammad Ridwan at the Suhakam office.

KUALA LUMPUR: Fearful of threats and intimidation, Rohingya refugee Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani has not stepped out of his house for twelve months.

His family received threatening text messages, his wife’s car tyres were slashed recently, and they live in constant worry every day – and the wife is now seeking a meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help protect her family.

It began in April last year when hateful remarks and threats against Rohingya refugees flooded Facebook and Twitter, in the wake of fake news that an activist from the community demanded that they be granted citizenship.

Many Rohingya gather in port city for Zakat, alms

Financial Express
May 09, 2021

File photo used for representation purpose

Despite the government's decision not to allow Rohingya people to go outside their camps at Cox's Bazar and Noakhali's Bhashanchar, scores of refugees from Myanmar's Rakhine have entered the port city in Ramadan and staying here for collecting Jakat.

Around 1.1 million Rohingyas entered Bangladesh in 2016 to escape Myanmar junta's crackdown on the minority Muslim community in Rakhine state.

Many more Rohingyas are either entering Bangladesh to avoid Myanmarese government's continued persecution in that country's Rakhine and other northeastern states or infiltrating Bangladesh from the neighbouring country for shelter, or for livelihood.

Bangladesh sends more Rohingya refugees to remote, flood-prone island

REUTERS

Ruma Paul
January 29, 2021

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh moved another group of Rohingya Muslims on Friday to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal, despite concerns over the risk of storms and floods lashing the site, even as some refugees despaired of finding solutions to their plight. 

FILE PHOTO: Rohingya refugees sit on wooden benches of a navy vessel on their way to the Bhasan Char island in Noakhali district, Bangladesh, December 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo

The densely-populated south Asian country wants to transfer to the island a tenth of the 1 million refugees living in ramshackle border camps after they fled violence in neighbouring Myanmar.

“What options do we have? How long can we live in the crowded camps under tarpaulins?” asked Mohammed Ibrahim, 25, as he sailed to the island of Bhasan Char, to which some of his relatives have also been moved.

Malaysia detains 270 Rohingya refugees who had drifted at sea for weeks

B B C
9th June 2020

File photo of Rohingya refugees arriving in in Malaysian waters

Malaysia has detained nearly 270 Rohingya refugees whose boat had drifted offshore for nearly two months because of coronavirus lockdowns.

They fled southern Bangladesh in early April but had been unable to dock.

Dozens of those aboard jumped into the sea and tried to swim to land when their damaged trawler was intercepted by the Malaysian coastguard on Monday.

Malaysia urged to end violent threats against Rohingya refugees

Aljazeera
11' May 2020

Rights groups call on Malaysia to act after prominent Rohingya activists threatened with murder and sexual violence.

This handout photo taken and released on April 5, 2020 by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency shows a wooden boat carrying suspected Rohingya migrants detained in Malaysian territorial waters off the island of Langkawi. [Handout via AFP]

Dozens of human rights groups have called on Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to address hate speech and violent threats against Rohingya refugees in the country amid a slew of online posts threatening murder and sexual violence.

Monday's open letter, signed by 83 organisations, said the surge in hateful messages attacking the Rohingya community was causing fear of physical violence and discrimination among the refugees.

Nowhere to flee, Rohingya refugees are struggling to survive

Dhaka Tribune

Sayedullah, Kamal, Alom Shah
May 3rd, 2020

File photo of Rohingya women and children in a camp in Cox Bazar Mahmud Hossain Opu/ Dhaka Tribune

Instead of looking forward to a better, more peaceful future, Rohingya are starting to flee again. This time, they are fleeing from Bangladesh

In 2017, when the genocidal campaign in Myanmar forced the Rohingya across the border and into Bangladesh, we came seeking refuge and safety. The country opened its borders and its hearts to almost 800,000 Rohingya and we were grateful.

Dozens of stranded Rohingya refugees land in Bangladesh

Aljazeera
3,May-2020

Officials say a small boat carrying about 40 people, including 'starving' children, came ashore in southern Bangladesh.

Belongings of Rohingya refugees lay on the shore as their carrier boat remains anchored nearby in Teknaf [File: Suzauddin Rubel/AFP]

Dozens of Rohingya believed to be from one of several boats floating in the Bay of Bengal for weeks have landed on the coast of southern Bangladesh, according to officials, as fears grow over hundreds of people stuck at sea on vessels because of coronavirus restrictions.

Security officials quoted by news agencies said on Sunday that a small boat carrying about 40 people, including "starving" women and children, had come ashore the previous day. 

'Many people died in front of me': hundreds of Rohingya stranded on refugee boats in Bay of Bengal

The Telegraph  

By Jennifer Rigby

3 May 2020 •
UN warns of a 'human tragedy of terrible proportions' if no action is taken to help refugees still floating hopelessly on the open sea 

Shomshu Alom, 18, was one of the survivors on a boat with hundreds of Rohingya refugees which was rescued by the Bangladesh coastguard two weeks ago Credit: Ro Yassin Abdumonab

Shomshu Alom, 18, spent 53 days at sea.

Drifting on a fishing trawler that was teeming with other desperate refugees, he watched his friends die in front of him, starved, and was forced to drink sea water to survive.

Rohingya refugees sent to remote Bangladeshi island after weeks at sea

The Guardian 
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Bangkok and agencies
Sun 3 May 2020

Hundreds more refugees still stranded on boats after being turned away by Malaysia 

A boat carrying Rohingya refugees is detained in Malaysian territorial waters off the island of Langkawi on 16 April. Photograph: Maritime Enforcement Agency Handout/EPA 

 
Rohingya refugees believed to have spent weeks stranded on cramped boats at sea have been sent to a remote, uninhabited island by Bangladesh, while hundreds more remain adrift.

Dozens of Rohingya landed on the coast of southern Bangladesh on Saturday, an official said, with some sent to Bhasan Char, a silt island in the estuary of Bangladesh’s Meghna river.

Ex-minister says urgent need for proper mechanisms to address refugees in Malaysia

malaymail 

Saturday, 02 May 2020 BY JERRY CHOONG

Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said the recent backlash against Rohingya refugees by Malaysians indicates the absence of government policies to regularise people who require protection. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

 
KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Former foreign minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar has called for the implementation of a national legal framework to ensure the systematic management of refugees in Malaysia.

He said the recent backlash against Rohingya refugees by Malaysians indicates the absence of government policies to regularise people who require protection.

Free Rohingya Coalition decries pushing refugees back out to sea

The Daily Star

Star Online Report
April 29, 2020

A boat carrying suspected ethnic Rohingya migrants is seen detained in Malaysian territorial waters, in Langkawi, Malaysia on April 5, 2020. File Photo: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency/Handout via Reuters

Pushing hundreds of starving and persecuted Rohingya refugees back out to the sea in the full knowledge that they have no safe place of refuge elsewhere are fundamental violations of their human rights, said Free Rohingya Coalition, a global network of Rohingya survivors and activists, today.

It said it is deeply troubled by the news reports that a number of Asian countries, specifically Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh, are pushing starving Rohingya refugees on boats back out to dangerous waters after refusing disembarkation on their shores.

Bangladesh urged to open ports to allow in Rohingya refugee boats

The Guardian
Rebecca Ratcliffe
South-east Asia correspondent
Mon 27 Apr 2020

More than 500 stranded on trawlers in what UN calls ‘human tragedy of terrible proportions’

A boat carrying suspected Rohingya refugees off the island of Langkawi, Malaysia. Earlier this month, Bangladesh rescued a boat that had been left adrift for two months after attempting to reach Malaysia. Photograph: Maritime Enforcement Agency Handout/EPA

The Bangladeshi government has been urged to open its ports and allow two boats carrying hundreds of Rohingya refugees to come ashore so they can be given urgent medical care, food and water.

Rohingya refugees rejected everywhere as countries grapple with COVID-19 concerns

TheJakataPost

Dian Septiari
The Jakarta Post

Rohingya refugees get in a truck following their arrival by boat in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on April 16. (AFP/Suzauddin Rubel ) 

As countries scramble to contain the spread of COVID-19 in their territories while prioritizing the well-being of their citizens, Rohingya refugees are again facing widespread rejection. Hundreds are currently stranded at sea in the Bay of Bengal.

Nearby countries have tightened border controls to slow the COVID-19 outbreak, and refugees have become an issue that no country wants to deal with.

Release detained refugees: rights body to Malaysia

The Daily Star
April 10, 2020
Star Online Report

Regional rights body 'Fortify Rights' has called for Malaysia to release detained refugees and prevent arbitrary detention of new arrivals to minimise health risks due to Covid-19.

"Malaysia should take extra precautions now to protect the rights of refugees and refrain from detaining them," said Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of Fortify Rights, in a statement today.

"Detaining refugees after they pass a quarantine and during a pandemic would be irresponsible and inhumane," he said.

Ustaz Rafik is on a mission to feed starving refugees during Covid-19 shutdown and he needs help to do so

malaymail 

Wednesday, 08 Apr 2020

By MARK RYAN RAJ

The refugees show their thankfulness for the help they received by praying with Rafik. — Picture courtesy of Ustaz Rafik.

 

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — At the tender age of eight, Rafik Shah arrived on Malaysian soil as a Rohingya refugee with his family.

Thirty six years on, and Rafik, fondly known as Ustaz Rafik, has taken it upon himself to help his fellow stateless refugees as they struggle in his second home, especially now with the Covid-19 outbreak forcing the nation into a four-week shutdown.