Human rights groups say hundreds of ethnic Muslim Rohingya refugees from Burma have fled their temporary homes in Bangladesh, hoping to sail to nearby countries to escape discrimination and rights abuses. The flight of the refugees includes many women and comes as Burma reaches an agreement with Bangladesh to take back thousands of Rohingya refugees now living in camps.
Human rights groups say more than two dozen vessels carrying Muslim Rohingya refugees have set sail into the Bay of Bengal since September amid few positive signs of improvement in their plight and ongoing abuses and discrimination.
The plight of the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim ethnic minority from Burma’s western Rakhine state, has long been a source of tension and conflict with other communities. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have sought shelter in Bangladesh. Most flee with the aid of human traffickers, paying the agents and often going into debt.
Thousands of Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh in recent decades, especially around the town, Cox’s Bazaar. In the camps of Nayapara and Kutupalong, some 30,000 Burmese refugees receive United Nations assistance. A further 200,000 refugees living in the camps are undocumented.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, says a political solution is necessary to the plight of the Rohingya, often referred to as the “forgotten people”. “There has to be some political will from the leaders of Burma and Bangladesh to want to deal with it and so far neither the Burmese Government nor the government of Shiekh Hasina in Bangladesh have indicated in any way that they want to do anything except the continued abuse of this community and let them go on to rickety boats possibly to float off into perilous situations and their deaths,” he said. Under the joint agreement, Burma agreed to take back the refugees but only after a verification process of the almost 30,000 registered refugees by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees. Chris Lewa, spokesperson for the rights group, the Arakan Project, says the international community should press President Thein Sein’s administration to end discrimination against the Rohingya.
Rights groups had accused the Thai authorities of seizing boats that landed on Thai coasts, removing their motors and towing them back to sea where some 550 people died while adrift. Thailand officially denied the allegations but called on regional governments, including Burma, to support efforts to find a solution.