On May 7th, a 62-year-old Rohingya refugee was returning to the Kutupalong camp when officers from Bangladesh’s Armed Police Battalion (APBn) stopped her at the checkpoint and beat her. “The police officers suddenly became angry and started beating us with bamboo sticks,” the woman told Human Rights Watch. “Some people were hurt. I injured by waist. I was finally able to flee but lost my rations and I.D.” This woman is one of several Rohingya refugees who told H.R.W. early this month that they were beaten by APBn officers and other officials at various checkpoints.
As of the beginning of May, the conditions within the camps have significantly worsened and Rohingya freedoms have been impeded. In two of the camps, authorities have introduced permission applications for movement within the camps. Bangladesh plans to implement these applications to move from camp to camp in all camps shortly.
The “Rohingya crisis” came to a head in 2017 when Rohingya refugees began fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh. The Muslim minority group has experienced brutal anti-Muslim oppression since the 1980s, but the introduction of a new citizenship law denied them citizenship, making the Rohingya stateless. There have been waves of severe violence, protests, and displacement ever since. In 2012 the Rohingya were segregated into camps and prevented from exercising their human rights. Their treatment has consistently violated international law regarding the treatment of internally displaced persons (I.D.P.s).
While this is sadly no new concept, there are over one million Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh with declining rights, subjected to filthy shelters and an overall lack of resources. The H.R.W. believes that Bangladeshi authorities’ recent violence is an effort to coerce the refugees to relocate to other places rather than continuing to live in Bangladesh.
The painful truth is that the international community is showing little desire to aid refugees. Countries like the U.S. and United Kingdom can pledge support, but their actions have thus far been limited to criticizing the outcomes of the poor international implementation of refugee law.
The countries of the world have a responsibility to support the Rohingya during this time of turmoil. Governments have international obligations to ensure this people’s medical care and to ensure their livelihoods. Entities like the U.N. must provide the Rohingya with proper care, resources, shelter, and legal representation and establish authoritative guidelines to prevent violence against these already-traumatized people. APBn officers, meanwhile, must be monitored, and the permission to travel slips must be abolished in order to allow Rohingya people their designated human rights.
