The Rohingya people have long been inhabitants of the Rakhine State, also known as Arakan, in present-day Myanmar. Throughout their winding history in the region, the Rohingya have routinely faced discrimination and aggressive opposition from both the Myanmar military and Buddhist nationalist groups. The Rohingya, amongst other minority groups, have also been denied citizenship since the country’s independence, reinforced by a 1982 Citizenship Law. The junta — the military government of Myanmar — has exploited its own inhumane treatment of the group by beginning the conscription of the remaining Rohingya in the state, both by threats of violence and promises of improved treatment, now even offering citizenship in return for service for those who have fled. Rohingya armed groups have now been accused of reprisals against the ethnic Rakhine, so the situation in the state has spiraled into an overall confusing and deadly cycle of violence against civilian populations.
A coordinated military operation that began in 2016 forced over 700,000 people to flee out of the country, primarily to Bangladesh. This has not only added unmanageable pressure to Bangladeshi authorities, but subjected over a million Rohingya refugees to a humanitarian crisis in overcrowded and underfunded refugee camps in the district of Cox’s Bazar.
No matter who wins the current conflict, it seems that the Rohingya are between a rock and a hard place. The military, whose chances of winning are slim, is the primary group responsible for the long history of atrocities targeting the Rohingya. On the other side are the various rebel groups, who have recently shifted the tide against junta forces. Part of the rebel groups is the Arakan Army, a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance which kicked off “Operation 1027” towards the end of 2023, a massive offensive that has pushed the junta back to its bases of power in the countries’ major cities.
The Arakan Army is based in the Rakhine State and established itself in 2009 as a Buddhist-majority group fighting for Arakanese self-determination. They have been accused of the extrajudicial killing of the minority Muslim populace residing in their state, though the Arakan Army has denied these claims.
Seeing as the Arakan Army is likely to take control of the entire state, it is prudent to think about Rohingya life under their total control, and what can be done to ensure the end of violence against the minority group. Foreign powers should establish official diplomatic channels with the likely state to both ensure its stability, but also the safe repatriation and equal treatment of the Rohingya and other minorities.
The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2669 in 2022, calling for the end of the then-fresh conflict. The General Assembly has recently reiterated these concerns, however the U.N.’s overall response has faced harsh criticisms for its inadequacy. The U.N. and several affiliated entities have launched the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Joint Response Plan 2024, though this has only been half-fulfilled as of the publishing of this article. An identical plan in 2023, with slightly different funding goals, was only fulfilled by 70%, with key factors such as funding new and ongoing refugee sites only receiving a small portion of their funding goals, with that specific goal only receiving 13% of its proposed funding. Living in the poorly funded refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar also comes with the terrifying prospect of having to deal with the yearly monsoon season, a deadly force that has caused serious damage to these settlements and the communities housed within them.
More must be done, especially by independent state actors, to help a group that is one of the most persecuted ethnic groups in the world. While the military junta must first be pushed out of the way of a fair election process in the country, this on its own is not enough to ensure the present safety of the Rohingya. The most beneficial solution for remedying the suffering of Rohingya at this moment would be a willful resettlement to consenting countries, as already demonstrated on a small scale by the United States. Although I believe foreign powers should aid the Rohingya in fighting for recognition and citizenship in their homeland, at the current moment, a home must be found for them outside the overcrowded 24 square kilometers of refugee camps that currently line Cox’s Bazar.
