The #Rohingyas’ Plight: What Options Under International Law? | The Diplomat

16.1.19

The Rohingyas’ Plight: What Options Under International Law? | The Diplomat // The Rohingya are a de facto stateless people residing primarily in the Rakhine state of western Myanmar. For decades, the Rohingya have suffered from systemic oppression, including restrictions on their movement, subsistence, development, and a denial of citizenship. Recently, however, violence against the Rohingya has escalated, as Myanmar’s security forces commenced “clearance operations” throughout Rakhine state, which indiscriminately targeted and terrorized the entire Rohingya population in a “brutal and grossly disproportionate” manner. Myanmar’s security forces committed “human rights violations on a colossal scale,” including killing more than 10,000 civilians, the systematic and coordinated rape of women, and the destruction of entire villages. As a result, an estimated 727,000 Rohingya refugees fled from Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh, putting the total Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh at an estimated 921,000 as of September 2018.