Rohingya Face Segregated, Dire Conditions in Myanmar
November 18, 2014
In September 2014, Refugees International went to Rakhine State to meet with displaced Rohingya, document the humanitarian situation, and advocate for their rights. Around 900 stateless Rohingya are fleeing Myanmar’s Rakhine State every day on unseaworthy boats that are supposed to take them to Malaysia or Thailand but often put them in the hands of vicious human traffickers. The Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority group, are taking these desperate measures as the Myanmar government develops a “Rakhine Action Plan” through which hundreds of thousands of Rohingya may be forced to forego their ethnicity to acquire legal status or be subjected to indefinite detention in camps.
RI went to Rakhine State to document the situation of the Rohingya six months after several NGOs were run out of Sittwe and Rakhine State. We focused on learning more about preparations for a citizenship verification process.Unlike other places where refugees and the displaced nominate their own camp leadership, in Myanmar the government appointed each member of camp committees. Most have no women in leadership.RI went to Myanmar at the end of the rainy season, and this photo was taken after just an afternoon’s worth of rain. The shelters in displacement camps were built to be temporary and provide no meaningful protection from the rain.Conditions in displacement camps were already dire, and when humanitarian organizations left things got worse. Increased numbers of Rohingya — up to 900 per day — were fleeing by boat to Thailand and Malaysia.This man’s son fled on a boat that was intercepted by traffickers in April 2014. He has not been heard from since.Food rations in the camps are assigned on the basis of family size, but the government is not registering newborns. This family received no increase in rations after their baby arrived, and its birth is not officially recorded, perpetuating statelessness.The government refuses to register any Rohingya who arrived at the Sittwe camps after the violence of June 2012. This group of men was driven from their homes in October 2012. They are not registered and, as a result, receive no food rations.Despite their terrible situation, the Rohingya have built a community in the camps. This market is one example of their efforts. Rekhine merchants sell them the produce. “Business is going well for the Rakhine,” according to one of the Rohingya.Fishermen sell the fish that they catch at a market. Because their food rations do not include fresh vegetables, fruit, or fish, residents have to sell their rations to buy these fresh items.With assistance from international organizations, the Rohingya have started educating their children. But Rohingya teachers are not paid, and facilities for secondary students do not exist yet.
