Rohingya woes deepened eight years after mass exodus, says UN

Rohingya people in and outside Myanmar are facing a further deterioration of their already dire conditions, eight years after being forcibly displaced from Rakhine State, according to the United Nations.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric shared the observation in a statement marking eight years since the start of the mass Rohingya exodus into Bangladesh.

In the statement, Dujarric said Rohingya and other civilians in Myanmar’s Rakhine State “are caught in the crossfire between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army and subjected to forced recruitment, human rights violations and other abuse.”

“Ongoing violence has forced more Rohingya to flee, including into Bangladesh, already generously hosting over 1.1 million refugees from Myanmar,” he added.

He added that the UN secretary-general has “reiterated his call for the protection of all civilians in accordance with applicable obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law.”

The Rohingya influx into Bangladesh began on Aug 25, 2017, when a military crackdown in Rakhine State triggered a mass escape across the border.

Since Bangladesh opened its border, Rohingya have settled across vast areas of Cox’s Bazar and Ukhia.

Kutupalong in Ukhia has become the world’s largest refugee camp.

At the time, the UN described the campaign against the Rohingya as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

The United States government has also labelled the atrocities committed against the Rohingya as “genocide”.