Why Rohingya refugees are fleeing Bangladesh
On Feb 11, a small wooden boat trying to make its way from Bangladesh to Malaysia capsized, and dozens of Rohingya refugees drowned. On April 15, a boat carrying 500 Rohingya was forced to return to Bangladesh after failing to enter Malaysia. Over 70 Rohingya starved to death or died from heat, their bodies thrown overboard.
Right now, hundreds of Rohingya are still at sea. At least three or four boats are bouncing between borders as countries turn their backs on refugees. They are being denied entry into Malaysia under Covid-19 security concerns, and Bangladesh is refusing to allow them back in. Traffickers keep extorting more money from the refugees on board — up to US$700 (22,500 baht) per head — with no promise of safety in sight.
You would think that these horrific stories would stop the boats. Far from it. Many refugees are still desperate to get on these rickety wooden trawlers. And ironically they are looking to flee from Bangladesh this time, a country that in 2017 opened its arms and hearts to our people as we suffered atrocities inflicted by the Myanmar Army.
That generosity is something we will never forget. But Bangladesh is no longer a place of safety or refuge.
What has changed? For the past two years we have tried working together with the international community, and we hoped to have a dialogue with the Myanmar government. To achieve this, we got organised, started speaking out, and sought to be involved in the discussions about our future. We tried to encourage our community to remain hopeful and peaceful.
But our efforts were continually rejected both by the Bangladesh government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the latter refusing to engage with us, preferring to make decisions for us without consultation.
At a peaceful rally and prayer session on Aug 25 last year we called for greater cooperation and dialogue to help us go home. The Bangladesh government response was barbed wire fences, an internet ban and a crackdown on our political efforts to return home with our rights. We still don’t really understand why.
Inside the wire Rohingya are now deprived of the most basic rights — movement, livelihoods, and education. All of this has got worse under the new Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. The majority of humanitarian workers are no longer allowed in the camps meaning there are food shortages, water shortages, and access to healthcare is very limited. Latrines in some areas are overflowing, and rubbish is piling up and blocking drains. With the monsoon rains about to arrive the situation is only going to get worse.
We can no longer communicate with aid workers or receive any information from the outside world because the internet ban remains in place. We have been unable to contact our families for eight months which has made us feel completely isolated.
But the main issue is security. With Bangladesh security and government officials focussing on other issues, the camps are increasingly becoming an ungoverned space — especially at night. Dozens of criminal gangs are exploiting the growing desperation to recruit Rohingya refugees. These gangs clash at night, extort the community, abduct people for ransom, deal in drugs, and abuse women and girls. In fact, many of the boats leaving Bangladesh are full of Rohingya women and girls being sent overseas to escape this violence.
Other groups meanwhile are quietly recruiting for armed resistance.
None of this should come as a surprise. When humans are desperate and under threat they have two options — flight or fight. Rohingya have historically chosen to flee. But as borders slam shut region-wide, and anti-Rohingya sentiments grow stronger, the violent alternatives are becoming more real. As the space for dialogue has shrunk, the power and appeal of the gangs and armed groups are rising.
New Rohingya leaders will rise up: that is inevitable. The question for the Bangladesh government and the UN is what sort of leaders they want to deal with: crime lords and insurgent commanders, or people seeking peacefully to make the Rohingya refugees’ voices heard and respected as part of the solution to the crisis. The choice is stark and immediate.