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Fatima is a 20 year old mother of two. She now lives in Bangladesh recalls her horrifying experience in Myanmar, in which the story is similar to that of many other Rohingya women. Women like Fatima were taken to the jungle by militia and repeatedly sexually harrassed. Their husbands either fled or died before they could. Fatima says that she was raped 30 or 40 times all in one night, by an unknown amount of men who were officials. After being raped, they run the risk of staying alone because their partners abandon them. Fatima nearly bled to death, had she not been treated at her village to fix up here wounds. She doubts the chance of having any future children. (DW)

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The Rohingya conflict goes way back and still continues today, but here is a little background. In Myanmar, there is a state called Arakan or Rakhine State, where majority of the Rohingya population lives. For years, the Rohingya have been denied of their existence and many of their human rights have been violated by Myanmar's government. Their voices are silenced and lots of their torture is done in secret, so the world either doesn't care, or is just very oblivious. As we learn more and more of this 'silent genocide,' we hear horrific stories of human abuse. Myanmar itself has had and still has struggles of staying stable in the government. In 1937, Burma was recognized a seperate colony from British India. From 1942-1947, Burma got its independence from Japan, where it seeked help from the British originally, with the help of the British. The British, although, did accuse some, like Aung San (Father of Aung San Suu Kyii) of commiting treason for turning to Japan in the beginning. The 1947 Constitution of The Union of Burma was established and on January 4th, 1948, Burma gained its independece from Britian. U Nu (recognized Rohingya), formerly known as Thakin Nu, ruled a civilian government and began the road to recovery for Burma after dealing with many wars and being in turmoil.  However, March of 1962, things took for a turn when General Ne Win, a military commander and politician, lead a military coup and overthrew U Nu, under the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP). Win's goal was to make Burma a socialist state.

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1962 copy of The Guardian newspaper on the military coup.

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The Revolutionary Council charged that parliamentary democracy 'not only failed to serve our socialist development but also due to its very defects, weaknesses and loopholes . . . lost sight of and deviated from the socialist aims '.- The Burmese Ways To Socialism

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2021 protests in Myanmar against the return of the military-dictatorship rule.

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The Fall to Win's Regime, but Not The Fall to Military Control

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The Fall to Win's Regime, but Not The Fall to Military Control

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The 888 Uprisings were a series of protests and riots, beginning in 1988 where most of Burma's citizens took part in, and was lead by students. Their wish was to have a multi-party democratic system of government. Of course, with an opressing government, many civilians were killed. Win even made a disturbing comment,“when the army shoots, it shoots to kill.” Finally, as a reaction to the unrest, Win retired and with that came the fall of the BSPP. The National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, became quite popular in the country. On February 1st, 2021, the military coup returned and forcibly brung down members of the NLD and arrested Aung San Suu Kyi who's party won the previous election by a landslide.

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Section of Francis Buchanan-Hamilton's “A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the Languages Spoken in the Burma Empire.”

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Today, Burmese view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bengladesh and that they pose a danger to the country as 'terrorists' due to the growth of the Muslim population. The term Rohingya isn't even used, with the term 'Bengalis' used instead, often as a slur. The reason for this is because back when Britian colonized Asia and rice was cultivation was expanding which needed muslim laborers from Bangladesh. This was the excuse used by the Burmese government to get rid of those 'illegal' immigrants when Rohingya are among them, who are very much native to Rakhine State.   Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, a Scottish physician and geographer who lived in India during times of colonization, documented the existence of the Rohingya as natives in his article of languages in Burma, contradicting the beliefs of Rohingya being immigrants, seen in the image above.

Back when Britian colonized Burma, it provided help to the Rohingya as it preferred them in administrative positions instead of the majority buddhist population due to the Buddhist anti-colonial sentiment. Rohingya agreed to support the British when Britian promised them a seperate land, "Muslim National State." So the Rohingya supported the British, while the rest of Burma supported Japan. These differences caused a lot more violence and Britian never fulfilled their promise. Once Burma gained it's independence, the government denied recognition to the Rohingya and under Dictator Ne Win, military operations were executed against the Rohingya population and caused many to flee.

In the Citizenship Law of 1982, Burma recognized 135 ethnic goups without Rohingya among them, excluding them from full citizenship. Today, they are still not recognized and greatly discriminated against.

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The beginning of the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya happened under the opressive dictator, Ne Win. The year was 1978 and Burmese immigration and military authorities were to carry out a mission against illegal immigrants. This operation would go on until 1979. During this mission, more than 200,000 Rohingya were driven out from Rakhine into Bangladesh. Killing and rape were much too often and Bangladesh and Burma were making plans of repatriation and when the Rohingya disagreed with these plans, food was cut off and the camps were just no good, with around 10,000 dead due to this. The Rohingya were literally in between jaws.

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Political cartoon explaining the forced repatriation of the Rohingya in Bangladesh

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1991-1992, a new operation that sounds poetic and pleasing but is only the name given for ruthless destruction and inhumane abuse. The Rohingya's homes and villages are burnt to the ground and again, many, many assaulted, raped and executed. Between these two years, more than 250,000 Rohingya have fled.

The Myanmar military is aso accused of forced labour and restricted the Rohingya from many human rights.

When things couldn't get any worse, the Nasaka, who are a border security force, are born in 1991 and become another reason for the Rohingya not to sleep at night. The Nasaka extorted money, it was hard to get married, there wasn't freedom to move around, it was difficult to have an education or just get employed. Forced labour was also very common. The Nasaka forced Rohingya men to build roads and military bases without pay, brutally beating them if disobeideince occured. The government did give the Rohingya a new type of identification called the "white cards" which didn't really prove citizenship.

The 800,000 Rohingya's lack of citizenship and being stateless is what caused great vulnerablity to their human rights.

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Gradual Erasure, Burma's Path to Genocide

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Gradual Erasure, Burma's Path to Genocide

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"THE FIELDS WERE FILLED WITH BODIES AND SOAKED WITH BLOOD."

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Dead Martita Tway (left), 10 dead Rohingya (right)

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In June 2012, things for the Rohingya and violence in Myanmar was to take a deadlier turn. Monday, May 28th, three Rohingya men were accused of the rape and murder of a young buddhist woman, Martita Tway, in a town where Rohingya are not common, by the Mayanmar State Media. The news spread like fire, "Rohingya plotting against the buddhists." In a town close to the place of the rape, Toungpop, a greatly islamophobic area. The town of Toungpop where 10 muslim men were  stopped by 300 people, who beat them to death. Rohingya in Rakhine heard of the terrifying news as it went viral on the internet, the pictures of mutilated bodies. The Rohingya feared their fate was to be similar. The Jummah (Friday) prayers since the killings weren't allowed to happen due to the ban of mosques, so the Rohingya planned to protest. Seeing into the large crowd, the police fired at the protesters and the Rohingya have had enough. A few shots turned to a mission kill.

Violence erupted all over Rakhine, Rohingyas weren't safe anywhere, in their own stores, chased with machetes, in mosques, attacked by the Nasaka. The Nasaka detained large amounts of Rohingya into what the Rohingya say, "unknown places." Rohingya women, even in their own homes, were grabbed and violently, physically abused until they became unconcious and then gang raped by police and soldiers. Rohingya couldn't go into mosques without being accused of plotting against the Rakhine.

The week of June 9th, Soldiers and Rakhines armed with swords, weapons, and bottles of petrol came to the cpital of Rakhine, Sittwe. Homes and mosques exploded in flames. When the muslims fled to mosques, the Nasaka arrived, lined them up in the yard and shot them all dead, while blaming the Rohingya. Young children who could not find their parents to flee with, were thrown into the flames. The Rohingya in other parts of Sittwe doubted the Rohingya of burning down the whole city, until their own houses were burnt down. Even as they escaped to neighboring villages, the Nasaka caught up. The Rohingya tried to fight back by grabbing the armed soldiers but hundreds of Rohingya had been killed before they could act. People were shot at, burned, cut to pieces, mutilated, the horrofic list doesn't end. Normal Rakhine citizens helped the security forces by looting and burning Rohingya shops and homes. The Rohingya have even witnessed young people being gunned down, whose bodies were put in plastic bags and buried in the mud without even a funeral. Other Rohingya who hid around a security outpost, witnessed the police and soldiers throwing and burying 100 Rohingya bodies under a bridge.

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Infographic on killings of the Rohingya since 1978

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Images displaying burnt Rohingya villages from above

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Infographic on where the Rohingya have migrated to

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During the years 2012-2014, the Myanmar media has used any crime that the Rohingya's have done as a reason to incite violence between the Rakhines and the Rohingya. According to HRW, "The violence since June displaced at least 125,000 Rohingya and other Muslims, and a smaller number of Arakanese, to internally displaced person (IDP) camps."

In August of 2017, another mass wave of violence occurred against the Rohingya by the Myanmar government which caused 530,000 to be driven out of the country. Once again, mass displacement happens and the cycle just continues.

The Rohingya that have fled mainly went to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where they have been subject to forced labour, abuse, and human trafficking.

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Political cartoon on the rejection of the Rohingya in South Asian Countries

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Stranded at sea: Rohingya survivors' stories

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More than 200 Rohingya refugees are believed to have died or gone missing at sea in 2020.

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Cox's Bazar: The World's Largest Refugee Camp

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Cox's Bazar: The World's Largest Refugee Camp

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According to Action Against Hunger, 1.2 million Rohinyga inhabit Cox's Bazar Refeugee Camp today. 60% of the children in the camp are under tha age 18 and more than half of the refugees are women. The Rohingya arrive in makeshift rafts and canoes, that were lucky enough to get through the raging waves. Hundreds have died and others lost at sea, trying to make it to other countries like Bangladesh.

Since this past year, Malaysia was the original desired destination for a lot of the Rohingya but coronavirus hit which caused lockdown and there was xenophobia spreading in the country which didn't allow Rohingya to dock in Malaysia, so Rohingya tried for Bangladesh. Bangladesh, though, believes it is holding already too many Rohingya. The UN called this a "dangerous game of ping pong."

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Political cartoon of Rohingya suffering as they drift into the sea on a raft

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Already coming from harsh situations, much of the Rohingya are traumatized, wounded, and malnourished in the camps. Groups and gangs of armed people in the camp are causing an increase to the violence in the camps and more and more police and soldiers are present. Once coronavirus hit, stricter restrictions were implemented on recieving international aid and the freedom to move around. By 2020, the services given inside the camp were lessened to the bare minimum essentials. Coronavirus, gangs, terrible services, have caused some Rohingya to try their chances elsewhere even though it may promise their doom. Some Rohingya who try to escape, are beaten by Bangladesh police, proving the restriction to move aroung.

There is a lack of soap, toilets and water facilities are communal, and shacks are made from unstable bamboo. Being very crowded, the Rohingya struggle to stay social distanced and overall sanitation is lacked.

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“Compared to Myanmar, Bangladesh still feels like paradise,”

But the conditions here are inhumane,” said Metun, a Rohingya refugee who has been living in Kutupalong refugee camp since 2017. -(ALJAZEERA)

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A 2019 report from the U.S. Department of State stated, "The government recorded 592 cases involving 1,324 suspects under the PSHTA [The 2012 Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act] during the reporting period, a decrease from 778 cases the previous reporting period. The vast majority of cases involved the smuggling of Rohingya and Bangladeshis, and it is unclear how many of those cases also contained crimes of trafficking in persons. Courts did not report how many trafficking prosecutions they initiated or continued from previous reporting periods. Courts reported conviction of eight traffickers in five potential trafficking cases, all involving the transportation of women abroad for sex trafficking or forced labor." The report also mentioned how the Bengladeshi governemnt isn't "meeting the minimum standards" to eradicate trafficking.

According to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency has tracked 170 cases of abduction, people missing, and kidnappings, but they believe the number is greater. Rohingya and even some impoverished Bangladeshi families that get are captured into human trafficking usually land up in debt slavery, forced labour, involuntary servitude, or are sex trafficked. The camp itself had many conflicts having to do with protection for children and missing children. There is also sexual, domestic, and gender-based violence, with women and children the most vulnerable, especially when they are uneducated.

A report by Humanitarian Response, states, "The Rohingya refugee community’s lack of status and inability to formally engage in work significantly
increases their vulnerability to human trafficking. Rohingya women and girls are reportedly recruited from
refugee camps for domestic work in private homes, guest houses, or hotels and are instead subjected to
sex trafficking. Rohingya girls are also reportedly transported within Bangladesh to Chittagong and Dhaka
and transnationally to Kathmandu and Kolkata and subjected to sex trafficking—some of these girls are
“traded” between traffickers over the internet. Some Rohingya women and girls report being subjected
to sex trafficking by other Rohingya through fraudulent job or marriage proposals. Rohingya girls and boys
are recruited from refugee camps to work as shop hands, fishermen, rickshaw pullers, and domestic
workers in Bangladesh."

The report also mentioned how the victims' traffickers promise some wages of around $18-20 but usually don't give anything to the victims or give them very little. The victims aren't allowed to contact their fmailies and work long hours. The Rohingya have also faced the consequence of building their shelters on Bangladeshi fisherman land due to many cases of debt labour that last for a long time, sometimes 20 years.

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With Cox's Bazar overcrowding and neighboring countries constantly rejecting the Rohingya, who are floating a drift in the ocean on unstable rafts, the Banglaedshi government has rescued hundreds of Rohingya but not reuniting them with their families, but relocating them in an island located in the Bay of Bengal. This started during May 2020. The rescued Rohingya didn't expect to be located and their long stay was also not expected. It was just originally to prevent cases of coronavirus in overcrowding Cox's Bazar but still, today, Rohingya are living there, unwillingly. Parents who are living in Cox's Bazar, have been told that they would never see their children in Bhasar Chan unless they find some chance to go to the island themselves. The Rohingya have went on hunger strikes to see their children in the islands in which the Bangladeshi government reacted to by beating people with branches and rubber sticks. This was just the beginning.

After sending those few hundreds at sea to the island, the Bangladeshi government relocated Rohingya in Cox's Bazar to the island. Although the governement claims that the relocaions were done with consent, many Rohingya disagree. Some reports even mention bribing by the government to Rohingya about living a great life with oppurtunitites and money which they did not come to see once they arrived to the Bhasar Char. Like Cox's Bazar, the reufgee camps on the island, there were restrictions on the freedom to roam and officals were abusive.

Food crisises aren't uncommon and treatable health problems such as asthma and diabetes and others are treated only with aceteminophen. Some Rohinyga even compare the medical care that was given in Cox's Bazar and in Bhasar Char by saying,: “In the camp [in Cox’s Bazar], if
any of us became sick at least we would be able to go to a doctor or hospital or the NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] could arrange better treatment, but here when our people are dying, no one cares."

Living in terrible conditions, the refugees have tried to escape in which the consequence was not so great. Families of Rohingya who tried to escape the island and been caught by police, don't know where their relatives are or may have been taken to. This problem have also lead to other big issues like people calling some refugees claiming to be police and demanding bribes to give information about the whereabouts of their relatives.They even sometimes threatened death to the lost people if the given 'debt' isn't paid. No one really knows if who those callers were and if they really were officers. But when some Rohingya were interrogated or raided by officers, the officers said, “Tell your Rohingyas that if they think to escape their fate will be the same...You have no hope to return to Cox’s Bazar. Your
families will be brought here too. Don’t even dream of going back" (HRW).

Officers have also beat incoming male refugees including children when questioning about the smugglers who brought them there. Refugees call the interegation room the "torture cell," as screams can be heard from there. Some were greatly beaten as they were accused of being smugglers themselves. More reports of restrictions of freedom to move around, such as the beating of children aging 8-11 for going out of their block to play in another block. Rohingya believe that these abuses that they encounter is because they are stateless therefore, not cared for.

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Back in Cox's Bazar, fires spread in camps killing dozens, injuring hundreds, and left thousands missing and left without a home. These numbers are coming from fires that happened in 2021 in one camp, and its not the first time in the whole of Cox's Bazar. People are in hospitals fighting for their lives, suffering with severe burns. These devastating fires have brought back the haunting memories of the devastations they experienced in Myanmar, 2017. Fires are quick to spread since the shelters that the refugees stay in, are highly combustible. The barbed-wire fences that around these camps prevent aid from coming in time. Causes of the fires aren't known and are still being investigated but some Rohingya believe they're caused by rival groups of Rohingya that are invlolved in criminal activity. Gangs cause a lot of violence in these camps and their goals are to earn dominance in the camps and are very feared.

According to various news reports, a community leader for the Rohingya in Cox's Bazar was shot and killed by a gunman September 29, 2021. Mohib Ullah, a former teacher who became an advocate, who also actually met Donald Trump to talk about religious conflicts around the world. Ullah lead many peaceful protests in reaction to repatriation plans for the Rohingya. People see his death as proof of the dangers of speaking for freedom. Attacks on Rohingya activists are not uncommon but the deaths of them raises more hoplessness.

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Prominent Rohingya leader shot dead in Bangladesh refugee camp

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The Rohinga population, to other than Bangladesh, have fled to Malaysia in great numbers.  The Malay government though, according to UNHCR, did not ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention, which means they don't formally recognize asylum-seekers or refugees. The Malay government doesn't recognize a difference between refugees and illegal immigrants. This is obviously not good for the Rohingya seeking aid and shelter.  But, for some time, the country has opened its doors for the Rohingya with the encouragemnet of officials like former Prime Minister, Najib Razak. The country, according to a news report, has over half a million Rohingya refugees, who are unregistered.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who left office on August 2021, stated "We can no longer take more as our resources and capacity are already stretched, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Many Rohingya have also been arrested and treated as criminals for "entering the country illegally." Adults are sent to prison and children to "shelters" who also may face charges. People have also been beaten by officers. The government has also been accused of pushing back boats filled with Rohingya back into the sea but has stopped those actions. Because criminal charges are being given to refugees, this is seen as commiting a violation against the international law.

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PM: Malaysia cannot take in any more Rohingya refugees

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A report in October 26, 2020 stated that 756 children were being held in these immigration facilities with almost half of them being Rohingya. These facilities are also reportd to be very crowded and unsanitary, increasing the risk of contracting the coronavirus. This also increases the risk of sexual violence and exploitation despite the strict following of the rule to not keep children with unrelated adults.

Prisons, like the detention facilities, were overcrowded, unsanitary, and had limits on food. The sick and those who aren't, are not seperated and many got COVID. There were also beatings that victims called "agonizing."

There was even reports that within 2 years, 118 refugees have died in the detention camps due to unknown diseases and other unkown causes. More than half of the 118 dead are from Myanmar.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence (especially towards women & girls)

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Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence (especially towards women & girls)

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Human traffickers, especially on the Malaysia-Thailand border, have committed crimes against humanity. They beat and pour boiling water over people who are not able to pay their 'debt.' Many people die and those who survive are left with trauma. For the safety of themselves and their families, the Rohingya must pay to the traffickers. Reports on April 15, 2015, a mass grave was found on the Malaysia-Thailand border which is believed to be Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugee victims of human trafficking. There are even some reports that officials are apart of the trafficking.

Women an girls have faced quite a deal of gender-based violence by traffickers. Brokers back in Rakhine state have recruited Rohingya females for forced marriage to Thailand for free or at  very lo cost so that they may charge much more to the men once the females have arrived from Thailand to Malaysia. Women are sold into forced marriages at young ages to men they don't know and are often sexually harrassed, raped, and beaten by traffickers. Dozens of women are arriving to Thailand and Malaysia, thousands in a year. A lot of the women are lured into the system by promises of safety. A Rohingya teenager a survivor of human trafficking explains a bit of the situations, "Some traffickers use these girls as beggars. They cut their hands or gouge their eyes out to incite sympathy. I've seen it happen so many times. I cannot explain to you how difficult life is for these girls," (VICE). Women who couldn't pay their traffickers the debt given to them were held at jungle camps and greatly sexually abused. Although, the men who pay the traffckers the girls' debts weren't as bad as the traffickers, it still wasn't enough consent to be with them.

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Abul got married to a woman whom he loved and was satisfied with his job of selling betel leavesin which he used the money to support his parents and family. Despite his happy, simple life, he lived in fear from knowing that men in his village had been killed arrested by militia. When they entered the village, Abul fled to a hill, as he watched his wife be taken by militia and he watched them rape and assault her. There was nothing he could possibly do. He also witnessed 20 people whom the majority was women, forced to get in a house and burned alive. He was so heart-broken that when he was taken to Bangladesh, he didn't remember the journey. (CNN)

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Rohingya Muslim refugees share horrific survival stories

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Showife, Mohammadul and their family have been harrased countless times by the Myanmar government before, one day, things took a greater turn. The miltiary trucks have come outside of their house before but this time, it would mean the end for them. Showife had hid in the attic, hoping the soldiers would leave since they were specifically calling for him. Things definitely did not go as he thought. The soldiers barged into the house and attacked his female family members and took the men outside. The men in a seated position, were shot multiple times, granting death to some, and others holding on to dear life. Showife, who woke up from passing out, heard his name being called by his brother Muhammadul, who was among the people shot. Muhammadul coughed up blood and screamed in pain. No where to get help in time, Showife and his family figured Mohammadul would not make it for long so they abandoned him to set off for Bangladesh. Showife felt bad and guilty for leaving his brother until he got a call from a boat driver giving news that Mohammadul made it, barely, and they were able to get help in Bangladesh. (USHMM)

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The Rohingya refugees fleeing ethnic cleansing: Abdul's story | Refugees | The Lens