The plight of the Rohingya continues even though the world has forgotten

The Rohingya refugee community living in camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, seems to be caught in Satan’s trifecta. With dwindling funds and increasing violence in the camps, their camp life has become a living hell; across the border in Myanmar, there seems to be no hope of return. Myanmar is struggling with its military dictators, and the Rohingya who try to escape both misery and start a new life across the sea are drowning in boats—leaving their loved ones behind in despair.

Recently, Amy Sood, a reporter for South China Morning Postclaimed that the Rohingya in Bangladesh are facing a “second genocide,” which is false and misleading because it sounds like Bangladesh is targeting and killing the Rohingya.

Bangladesh has taken all the measures it deems possible for the vulnerable refugees. But with international donors and humanitarian agencies turning their backs on them, it is becoming almost impossible for the developing country to create a safe haven for the Rohingya community without straining its own resources.

Since fleeing Myanmar on foot in 2017 during a military campaign against them that many in the international community have recognized as genocide, Bangladesh has hosted nearly a million Rohingya. Since then, the persecuted community has undoubtedly received a great deal of attention, aid and sympathy from around the world, but over time, it has all become more like lip service.

The problems of the impoverished and poorly educated community seem to be less important as international donors now focus on refugees who have racial and ethnic similarities and have sought refuge in their prosperous European surroundings, such as Ukraine.

The overcrowded and unsanitary nature of the camp is a boon for disease and has also become a fire hazard—last March, 12,000 Rohingya were left homeless by a sudden fire in the camps. If this wasn’t enough, recent cuts to community aid have rubbed salt in the wound. Since the pandemic hit in 2020, international funding for essentials has plummeted as donor fatigue sets in. In 2023, the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Joint Response Plan raised just 40 percent of its needed funds.

Lack of resources and increase in crime

Shrinking budgets have forced the UN and international NGOs to cut refugees from paid volunteer positions, one of their few legal sources of income. The UN has had to cut essential food aid by a third, from $10-$12 per person per month in March to $8 per person per month in June — leaving just $0.27 per day allocated to each Rohingya.

With Bangladesh already facing a crisis of food inflation, this cut will further exacerbate widespread malnutrition in the camps. Mothers worry about how they can further reduce the size of their children’s meals and how long they can sustain such cuts.

Conditions in the refugee camps are becoming more dire by the day for the Rohingya. Educational opportunities for the children are severely limited, especially considering that many of them have been growing up in these camps for the past six years. Due to climate change issues in Bangladesh, the refugee camps are at risk of severe heat waves, flooding and tornadoes, with nowhere for them to go.

Such poverty and hopelessness, coupled with the vicious circle of violence in the camps, have further worsened the situation for the refugees. The Rohingya, especially young men, have been involved in various crimes including kidnapping, drug trafficking, counterfeit currency trafficking, theft and gold smuggling, and have joined criminal gangs and armed groups, fueling more violence. They reportedly joined to receive a monthly payment of BDT 5,000 (approximately USD 50) for active participation.

In the past six years, a total of 186 killings have taken place in the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, along with over 500 kidnappings. These can be linked to the criminal activities of various separatist groups such as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) and the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO). Locals reveal that these groups enter the camps every night with weapons while torturing and robbing other Rohingyas. The government-appointed Armed Police Battalion (APBn) raids become ineffective as the groups take up positions in different hideouts and return at night once the operations are over, thus continuing their destruction.

These insurgent groups have set up bases in the camps since their arrival in Bangladesh, but their growing illicit activities have now taken on a deeper basis: their hostility to repatriation attempts, drug and arms trafficking in Rohingya camps with terrorist connections, and the acquisition of superiority in the camps.

Rising tensions: The Rohingya’s continuing desperation

To escape this violence and seek a better life, many Rohingya have moved east by sea to Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. The UN says it has seen a 360% increase in the number of Rohingya risking their lives on these perilous boat journeys in 2022 – from 700 to 3,500. These people are choosing to risk being detained, trafficked, seasick, hungry and lost at sea with no hope of rescue, in order to continue living on charity in refugee camps.

With the skyrocketing crime rate, panic and fear are also growing in Cox Bazar on the southeast coast of Bangladesh. Tensions between hosts and Rohingya are growing. Residents of Cox’s Bazar feel their safety is at risk as the large number of Rohingya in the district has reduced the local population to a minority.

Bangladeshi authorities have done their utmost to address all these issues as best they can. The camps have been transformed from scorched earth to paved roads like cities. To increase the safety of both locals and refugees, the authorities have erected barbed wire fences and deployed security forces. They have also relocated more than 100,000 refugees to Bhasan Char camps to address the severe overcrowding in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. The country has spent $1.69 billion in 2022 alone to support Rohingya refugees.

While Bangladesh struggles, the perpetrator of the whole tragedy, Myanmar, continues to beat around the bush about Rohingya refugees and their citizenship. Yet Bangladesh tries to adhere to the principle of non-refoulement — not sending refugees back to a place where they would be persecuted. But the international community, instead of taking strong political and legal measures against the brutal Junta, is busy showering FDI. Foreign direct investment in Myanmar exceeded that of Bangladesh from 2017 to 2020.

Another year has passed – Bangladesh celebrated its biggest festival, Durga Puja, and the world is busy with the war between Ukraine and Israel, but the Rohingyas are standing still in a state of limbo. We must not forget, and neither must the international community. The commitment to protect human rights above all must be reminded by the global humanitarian services, and a political solution for the resettlement of the Rohingyas must be encouraged.

(Tara Yarwais (edited this piece.)

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Fair Observer.