Editorial photo #1918824 Human Interest

The Rohingyas: A People Without A Home

Abdul Salam,65, who fled from violence in Myanmar, stands in front of his makeshift home in Kutupalong newly expanded Rohingya refugee camp. Approximately 70,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh since October 9, 2016 after the Burmese military launched clearance operations. The U.N. human rights office said in their report that Myanmar's security forces have committed mass killings, torture and gang rapes of Rohingyas, as well as burned their villages. Rohingyas began to flee from military oppression—first in 1978 and then again in 1991-92—in major influxes of some 500,000 people. Presently, around 32,000 registered refugees stay in the UNHCR-run camps in Cox’s Bazar, while another estimated 500,000 unregistered live outside the camps. Consequently, most of the unregistered refugees are deemed underprivileged according to the scale of basic human rights. The Bangladeshi government has accommodated the Rohingyas to a certain point, but considering limited resources as well as the poor conditions its own population lives under, it is hardly in a position to resolve the issue on its own. The Rohingya refugee issue has been a long-standing problem and, unfortunately, the international community has remained mostly mute, unwilling to play a role in helping to resolve the problem. More than 35 years since it began, the Rohingyas' crisis is long overdue for a solution. (Photo by Probal Rashid/NurPhoto)