January 22, 2016

The Rohingya ordeal: a maritime ping-pong

This is the ordeal for thousands of Rohingya Muslims who made an unsuccessful bid to reach foreign shores. Many like the Haryot’s, to make a trip, sold everything including camp food rations and house and, are left with nothing at their disposal.

Carrying the burden of debt, Mohammad still wants to go to Malaysia as there are no means of livelihood for Rohingyas in the Rakhine capital, Sittwe. Rohingya Muslims are a minority group living in the Rakhine state of Myanmar bordering Bangladesh. Myanmar has denied them citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Act.

Military operations under the alibi of flushing out Mujahideen rebels, a separatist Muslim outfit fighting a war against the government, forced thousands of Rohingyas to move to neighbouring Bangladesh. Those living within Myanmar have been internally displaced and forced into camps run by aid agencies, due to a series of anti-Rohingya riots in 2012. Forced into living a life of dependency that hardly takes care of their basic needs, they are taking perilous journeys, both by land and sea in search of shelter and livelihood opportunities. (Courtesy of CADTM)

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