The U.S. shouldn’t ignore the starving Rohingya of Myanmar

The Washington Post
20th July 2015

Myanmar’s junta has cut off food to Rohingya in squalid camps. Those in Bangladesh try to flee by boat. 

Rohingya refugees gather at roadside kitchen market at the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, in March. (Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

In Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state, a new horror is unfolding largely unobserved. The long-persecuted Rohingya have been caught in the crossfire of the country’s ongoing civil war, and now they are being deliberately starved.

150,000 Rohingya flee to Bangladesh amid renewed Myanmar violence

United Nation 
11 July 2025 

© UNHCR/Susan Hopper Rohingya refugees at a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

Migrants and Refugees

Escalating conflict and targeted violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have forced some 150,000 Rohingya refugees to flee to Bangladesh over the past 18 months – the largest exodus to the neighbouring country in years.

UN agency, Rohingya refugees allege Indian authorities cast dozens of them into the sea near Myanmar

AP
By SHEIKH SAALIQ and PIYUSH NAGPAL
May 17, 2025 

 The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement on Thursday, said at least 40 Rohingya refugees were detained in New Delhi and cast into the sea by the Indian navy near the maritime border with Myanmar. The refugees — including children, women and older people — swam ashore, but their whereabouts in Myanmar remain unknown, the agency said.

A Rohingya refugee who has not been identified due to safety concerns, talks to The Associated Press in New Delhi, India, about how his family was deported to an island in Myanmar, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement on Thursday, said at least 40 Rohingya refugees were detained in New Delhi and cast into the sea by the Indian navy near the maritime border with Myanmar. The refugees — including children, women and older people — swam ashore, but their whereabouts in Myanmar remain unknown, the agency said.

17,000 MTs of U.S.-grown food aid arrives to support Rohingya

BBS NEWS
02 Apr 2025,

DHAKA, APRIL 2, 2025 – This week, 17,000 metric tons of vital food aid for Rohingya people arrived in Chattogram.

This food, produced by American farmers, will be delivered through the World Food Programme as part of the United States’ assistance to more than one million Rohingya in critical need, said an US Embassy press release here today.

A Bleak Future for Rohingya Refugees

THE | DIPLOMAT
By Jannatul Naym Pieal
March 14, 2025


Despite the U.N. secretary-general’s visit to Bangladesh this week, the outlook for Rohingya refugees remains bleak.

Credit: Depositphotos

 

As conflict escalates in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, the plight of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh remains as dire as ever.

Recent developments – including the Arakan Army’s decision to ban the term “Rohingya” in areas under its control, dwindling food aid for refugees in Bangladesh, and shifting geopolitical stances – are shaping the future of one of the world’s most persecuted communities.

Secretary-General's press encounter on the Rohingya Refugees

United Nations
14 March 2025

This is my yearly Ramadan visit, this time in solidarity with the Rohingya refugees and with the Bangladeshi people [who] so generously host them.

And in this visit, I’ve already heard two clear messages. First, Rohingyas want to go back to Myanmar. It is essential that the international community does everything to make sure that peace is reestablished in Myanmar and that the rights of the Rohingyas are respected, that discrimination and persecution like the one we have witnessed in the past, will end.

UN to halve Rohingya food aid in Bangladesh amid funding crunch

Aljazeera
6 Mar 2025 

World Food Programme says ‘severe funding shortfalls’ to force cut in monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to $6 per person.

Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, mark the fifth anniversary of their flight from Myanmar during a military crackdown [File: Rafiqur Rahman/Reuters]

The United Nations has warned that it will be forced to halve rations for about one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from next month due to a lack of funds.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said in a letter on Wednesday that “severe funding shortfalls” are forcing a cut in monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to $6 per person.

Repatriation of Muslim Refugees from Bangladesh 1978-79

Repatriation of Muslim Refugees from Bangladesh 1978-79
1. Associated Press (AP) report from Teknaf Road - 5 June 1978
2. United Press International (UPI) report from Dacca - 29 June 1978
3. Text of 'Secret' Burma-Bangladesh Repatriation Agreement 9 July 1978
4. United Press International (UPI) report from Cox's Bazaar - 10 October 1978
5. Richard Wigg: The Times 27 October 1978 - Repatriation camps stay empty
6. Richard Wigg: The Times 31 October 1978 - Barren Ricefields after Muslim Flight
7. British Embassy Report on visit by Bangladeshi Foreign Minister - 6 February 1979
8. The 1978-79 Bangladesh Refugee Relief Operation - Alan Lindquist UNHCR 1979
9. British Embassy report on the reception arrangements - 23 February 1979
10. British High Commissioner Stephen Miles: Dacca Report - 10 April 1979
11. British Ambassador's despatch on the completion of the repatriation - 3 July 1979
12. Extract from Chapter IV of 'Arakan' by Klaus Fleischmann, Hamburg 1981
13. The Muslim population in Arakan - Peter Nicolaus, Senior Repatriation Officer,1995
14. The Repatriation of Refugees after the exoduses of 1978 and 1991: CR Abrar 1995
15. The Legal Statisus of Indians in Contemporary Burma - Robert Taylor ISEAS 2006
16. Unpacking the presumed statelessness of Rohingyas - Nyi Nyi Kyaw 2017

‘Become American, Work Hard, Love Democracy’: Dreams Dashed by Trump Orders

The New York Times
By Hannah Beech
Reporting from Bangkok
Feb. 12, 2025

President Trump’s moves to pause refugee resettlement, freeze foreign aid and suspend funds to promote democracy have added more chaos to one of the world’s most urgent humanitarian crises.

The world’s largest refugee camp is in Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have sought shelter after fleeing Myanmar. It was built with the help of U.S.A.I.D., an agency paralyzed by the Trump administration.Credit...Reuters

The family of four refugees filled seven suitcases for their new life in America. They packed blankets, tin plates, one blade for clearing the land in their future home and one for chopping meat. They left behind what they were not supposed to bring: slingshots, fish paste, traditional medicines from their native Myanmar.

Our hearts beat for US deportees but turn against Rohingyas entering India. That’s hypocrisy

The Print
Karanjeet Kaur
11 February, 2025 

This public sympathy, unprecedented for “illegal” migrants, stems from the knowledge that in a different reality, the deportees’ gamble might have been our own.

Refugees standing in a queue at a refugee camp | Commons

The sight of dozens of crestfallen Indians exiting the ramp of the US military plane that landed in Amritsar last week, cast a pall of gloom over the news cycle. But for me, the defining image of India’s deportation crisis isn’t the 104 Indians bound and handcuffed by US officials—it’s the Punjabi politicians who voluntarily appeared in chains outside Parliament. 

Accountability for crimes committed against Rohingya is critical for future peace, says Head of the Myanmar Mechanism during Bangladesh visit

 INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIVE
MECHANISM FOR MYANMAR

Dhaka/Geneva, 24 January 2025 – Pursuing justice for crimes committed against the Rohingya is critical for their future return to their homes in Rakhine State in Myanmar and future peace, said Nicholas Koumjian, the Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, on the conclusion of his five-day official visit to Bangladesh.

During his visit, Koumjian met with high-level government officials, as well as more than 100 Rohingya activists and representatives of community organizations from the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.

‘We’ve lost all hope’: Rohingya trapped as Bangladesh closes Myanmar border

The Guardian
Sarah Aziz
Wed 22 Jan 2025 

Muslim refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar are being detained and forced back by Bangladeshi border guards 

Rohingya refugees crossing into Bangladesh in 2017. Nearly a million of the Muslim minority have fled from Myanmar and live in squalid camps in Bangladesh. Photograph: Zuma/Alamy

In the dim light of his home in Arakan, Myanmar, Mohammed is talking above the wailing of his youngest child. All three of his children are hungry, he says. The 32-year-old Rohingya man’s parents, leaning together against the wall, are just visible as Mohammed speaks on the video call.

Joint Press Statement on the Human Rights and Humanitarian Situation in Myanmar

U.S Department of State

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
January 6, 2025

The text of the following joint statement was released by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union and the Governments of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, and the United Kingdom to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.

Begin text:

Over 200 Rohingya arrive in Indonesia over weekend, official says | REUTERS Reuters

REUTERS
Monday, 06 January 2025

More than 200 Rohingya people arrived by boat in Indonesia’s Aceh province. The mainly Muslim Rohingya have fled violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and constitute the world’s largest stateless population. 

 

Link : Here

Rohingyas’ return to Myanmar uncertain, despite rebel control of Bangladesh border

mizzima
January 6, 2025 

RFA

The dream of returning home to Myanmar remains uncertain for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh despite rebel control of the border, members of the ethnic group said Friday.

Malaysia ramps up patrols after Myanmar migrant boat landings on Langkawi

malay mail 

Friday, 03 Jan 2025 8:00 PM MYT

Rohingya refugees waiting to be rescued as their vessel approaches Aceh last year. — AFP pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — Malaysia’s coastguard said on Friday it was doubling patrols in its waters to locate boats carrying undocumented Myanmar migrants, after almost 200 were detained on an island in the northwestern Malaysian state of Kedah.

MMEA Intensifies Patrols To Intercept Myanmar Immigrant Boats Heading Towards Langkawi

BERNAMA
03/01/2025 

ALOR SETAR, Jan 3 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) is intensifying patrols to intercept two boats carrying Myanmar illegal immigrants reported to be heading towards Langkawi.

Cops arrest 196 Rohingya at Langkawi beach

Bernama
Published: Jan 3, 2025

Credit: PDRM

ALOR SETAR, Jan 3 (Bernama) -- Police have confirmed having arrested 196 ethnic Rohingya who landed at Teluk Yu Beach in Langkawi early today.

Langkawi police chief ACP Shariman Ashari said the authorities received information from a member of the public at around 3.25 am, saying that a group of foreigners had landed at the beach.

Threadbare facilities, high mortality, cats in the corridors: the realities of life for new Rohingya mothers in Cox’s Bazar

The Guardian
Rebecca Root in Cox's Bazar
Thu 2 Jan 2025

Midwife Sumana Akter checks on a newborn baby inside the Friendship hospital in a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. In some areas of the camp, maternal mortality is 44% higher than the Bangladesh average Photographs by Thomas Cristofoletti/Ruom for the Guardian

In the world’s largest refugee site, a lack of healthcare coupled with rising gang violence makes the journey to motherhood a perilous one

It is mid-afternoon on a Wednesday and Toyoba Begum, 37, is sitting upright at the end of her hospital bed, the second in a row of eight. Dressed in a beige tunic and canary yellow trousers, a belly recovery belt clasped around her stomach, she watches her two-day-old daughter sleeping under a fleece blanket.

Tormentors Change, but Not the Torment

The NewYork Times
By Hannah Beech
Photographs by Adam Ferguson
Reporting from Teknaf, Bangladesh
Dec. 28, 2024 

 Rohingya refugees Shamshida, 25, left, and Manwara, 19, in their tent in Teknaf, Bangladesh. 

Brutally persecuted for years by the military in Myanmar, the Rohingya ethnic minority has now become the target of one of the junta’s most formidable rivals in the country’s civil war.