Why Rohingya refugees are protesting in Cox’s Bazar, 9 years after genocide

On Monday, hundreds of Rohingya refugees gathered astatine Cox’s Bazar successful Bangladesh demanding justness and the close to instrumentality to their homes, connected the ninth day of the genocide perpetrated against them successful Myanmar. Since then, much than 1 cardinal stateless Rohingya person remained stranded successful tightly packed camps successful Bangladesh’s coastal territory of Cox’s Bazar, wherever surviving conditions are steadily deteriorating arsenic planetary assistance declines.

The beingness of the Rohingya successful Bangladesh has made the South Asian state location to 1 of the world’s largest exile populations.

Key bodies and actors person deemed the Rohingya situation a genocide, including United Nations officials and erstwhile United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken successful 2022, but what enactment has the planetary assemblage taken, and is determination immoderate solution successful sight?

Who are the Rohingya?

As of 2021, determination were an estimated 120,000 Rohingya, a Muslim-majority taste group, internally displaced successful Myanmar. They person been described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arsenic “one of, if not the, astir discriminated radical successful the world”.

Before 2017, determination were much than 1 cardinal Rohingya successful Myanmar.

While Myanmar is an ethnically divers nation, with 135 large taste groups and 7 taste number states, according to the planetary quality rights organisation, Minority Rights Group, the Rohingya are not formally recognised arsenic 1 of them. They person been denied citizenship successful Myanmar since 1982, which makes them the world’s largest stateless group. The Burmese are the largest and astir ascendant taste radical successful Myanmar.

The authorities of Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, views the Rohingya arsenic undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh. They were not included successful the country’s 2014 nationalist census.

Nearly each the Rohingya remaining successful Myanmar unrecorded successful the coastal authorities of Rakhine, which was called Arakan until 1989 and which borders Bangladesh.

Why did truthful galore Rohingya fly to Bangladesh?

The Myanmar subject has repeatedly cracked down connected the Rohingya successful Rakhine authorities since the 1970s.

Myanmar, formerly known arsenic Burma, was nether subject regularisation for 5 decades until the 2015 election, when Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory.

While Aung San Suu Kyi’s electoral triumph was initially viewed arsenic a desperately needed reprieve from a agelong play of subject regimes, she remained soundless connected the contented of the Rohingya, who continued to endure harassment.

In August 2017, a convulsive subject crackdown forced much than 700,000 Rohingya refugees to fly crossed the borderline into Bangladesh. Many refugees person since reported rape, torture, arson and execution by Myanmar information forces, backed by Buddhist groups.

Soon aft the subject run against the Rohingya began, Human Rights Watch reported that astatine slightest 200 Rohingya villages had been destroyed and burned by the military, portion an estimated 13,000 Rohingya were killed. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, reported that astatine slightest 6,700 Rohingya were killed successful the archetypal month, including much than 700 children beneath the property of five.

The 2017 crackdown is present the taxable of an ongoing genocide lawsuit astatine the International Court of Justice (ICJ) successful The Hague, filed by The Gambia successful 2019.

Aung San Suu Kyi was deposed successful a subject coup successful February 2021, prompting wide protests which evolved into an equipped uprising aft the generals responded with force.

Since then, unit against Rohingya remaining successful Myanmar has continued.

How galore Rohingya are successful Bangladesh?

As of July this year, Bangladesh was hosting adjacent to 1.2 cardinal Rohingya refugees, according to UN figures. Most of them are surviving successful exile camps successful Kutupalong and Nayapara, successful the Cox’s Bazar region. More than 75 percent of the exile colonisation comprises women and children, according to UN figures.

Thousands of Rohingya person continued to marque unsafe journeys by vessel oregon connected ft to Bangladesh since the archetypal exodus of 2017, amid governmental instability successful Myanmar.

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), much than 6,500 Rohingya refugees embarked connected unsafe maritime journeys retired of Myanmar, during which 900 died successful 2025.

Its study added that 1 successful 7 Rohingya refugees past twelvemonth were reported missing oregon dormant successful the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. This marks the highest mortality complaint worldwide of immoderate way for exile and migrant oversea journeys.

What are the demands of the Rohingya protesters?

Refugees are calling connected the planetary assemblage to spot unit connected Myanmar to let them to instrumentality to their homes without fearfulness of much violence.

Nay San Lwin, the cofounder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, a planetary web of Rohingya activists, told Al Jazeera: “Nine years person passed with delayed justness and nary wide way to repatriation with afloat rights and dignity.

“The nine-year commemoration indispensable spark contiguous action, not conscionable statements. All supporters and allies indispensable unite to unit the Myanmar subject and the Arakan Army to extremity unit against the Rohingya and found harmless conditions for survivors to instrumentality home,” Nay San Lwin said.

“All we inquire is to instrumentality to our homeland with afloat rights, peace, safety, dignity and justice.”

The planetary effect to the Rohingya genocide is characterised by an archetypal question of humanitarian assistance and antiauthoritarian efforts, but some these efforts person stagnated since.

Receiving refugees

Once praised for taking successful much than 1 cardinal Rohingya refugees, Bangladesh is present facing increasing disapproval arsenic it insists it lacks the resources to prolong them, citing heavy assistance shortfalls and economical strains astatine home.

Bangladesh hosts a immense bulk of Rohingya refugees. But a fig of them person besides settled successful neighbouring countries, specified arsenic Malaysia, which hosts 192,481 Rohingya refugees, and India, which hosts 87,022.

However, a Human Rights Watch study past twelvemonth stated that Indian authorities expelled dozens of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh, deeming them “illegal immigrants”. Rohingya refugees person besides been evicted from their homes successful Malaysia.

Humanitarian aid

Since the archetypal Joint Response Plan (JRP) was launched by Bangladesh and UN bodies successful March 2018, successive plans person chopped humanitarian enactment to a colonisation that relies astir wholly connected aid. The recalibrated 2026 JRP has reduced its entreaty by 26 percent to $710.5m, to screen lone the astir critical, life‑saving needs, piling unit connected services specified arsenic nutrient security.

“Children and younker are increasing up without ceremonial education, portion the planetary assemblage continues to trim funding, forcing the World Food Programme to chopped nutrient rations. Desperation drives survivors to question information elsewhere, often starring to tragic drownings astatine sea,” Nay San Lwin said.

Last year, the World Food Programme said “severe backing shortfalls” had forced it to chopped monthly nutrient vouchers for Rohingya refugees successful Bangladesh by much than fractional – from $12.50 to $6 per idiosyncratic per month.

Diplomatic support

To people the ninth Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day connected August 25, 16 diplomatic missions successful Dhaka, including those of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the European Union, issued a associated connection calling for the Rohingya’s close to instrumentality to their homes.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres besides wrote an X station calling for renewed planetary attraction to the Rohingya crisis.

“Rohingya radical successful Myanmar, Bangladesh & crossed the portion look deepening insecurity, shrinking extortion abstraction and diminishing prospects for durable solutions, exacerbated by backing cuts impacting life-saving assistance,” helium wrote.

Legal cases

Myanmar’s 2017 subject crackdown connected the Rohingya has been under investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2019. The ICC approved that investigation after Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto civilian person astatine the time, was named successful an Argentinian suit implicit crimes against the Rohingya.

However, small advancement has been made successful the ICC lawsuit and, truthful far, determination person been nary nationalist indictments oregon trials.

A separate case was filed by The Gambia successful 2019 astatine the ICJ, accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya.

In 2019, Myanmar person Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country’s subject against allegations of genocide astatine the court. In a speech that lasted astir 30 minutes, the erstwhile quality rights icon denied “genocidal intent” and outlined the past of tensions successful Rakhine state.

She promised that civilians and members of the subject who attacked guiltless radical would beryllium prosecuted, but repeatedly termed the 2017 crackdown arsenic an “internal conflict”, saying Myanmar’s subject was responding to attacks by equipped section groups, specified arsenic the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a radical which claimed to beryllium acting successful self-defence connected behalf of Rohingya people.

But Aung San Suu Kyi failed to usage the connection “Rohingya” adjacent erstwhile successful her 3,379-word speech.

In 2020, the ICJ ordered provisional measures requiring Myanmar to support the Rohingya and forestall genocidal acts. The lawsuit remains earlier the court, with nary last ruling issued.