 plan integrated 136 international partners as it called for $881 million to support the refugees.
Rohingya Muslim refugees in India face more danger due to arbitrary arrests, violent assaults, and involuntary repatriation. Approximately 514 refugees in India are being held in detention while others are forced to return to Myanmar as part of violent attacks against Muslims throughout India. Human rights groups criticize the Indian government as they proclaim the deportation of refugees is “cruel disregard for human life and international law”. The human rights advocates claim the deportations violate the principle of non-refoulement which states that those who seek asylum may not be deported to areas they will face persecution. The government defends its position by stating they are not a signatory of the 1951 United Nation Refugee Convention which lays out the legal obligations of hosting refugees and the rights of refugees.
Since 2020, Malaysia has taken a hard-line approach towards migrants and refugees as part of an effort to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Following a riot, 528 Rohingya detainees escaped Sungai Bakap Temporary Detention Center in Malaysia. Six refugees were killed, including two children, as they were struck by vehicles crossing the expressway. In the aftermath, 362 have been arrested and the police search continues for more.
Rohingya refugee children on Bhasan Char in Bangladesh began to receive immunizations as the “consequences could be deadly” without. It is estimated that well over 10,000 children are on the island of Bhasan Char. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) provided technical and financial assistance to the government of Bangladesh to promote the program.
In April 2021, ASEAN adopted a “five-point consensus” to treat the situation in Myanmar. At the summit, the ASEAN leaders, including the junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, agreed to five points: immediate end to violence; dialogue between all parties to seek a peaceful solution; appointment of a special envoy to facilitate dialogue; humanitarian assistance by ASEAN; and the special envoy is to visit Myanmar and visit with all parties involved. A year later, Human Rights Watch urged ASEAN to apply and or adopt new responses in face of the growing crisis.
The process of resettlement to a third country has been difficult in the past years due to the pandemic. Though, several countries have opened their borders to accept more Rohingya refugees from Malaysia. There are an estimated 103,810 refugees in Malaysia with countries willing to double their acceptance.
UNICEF launched the Myanmar Curriculum Pilot, an initiative based upon their nations curriculum to ensure refugee children have the right to education. The operation received approval from Bangladesh authorities and 100,000 Refugee children living in Cox’s Bazar camp have enrolled to receive education with plans to begin later this month.
More than 30 schools were shut down across Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. The camps host approximately 400,000 school-age children that attend community-ran schools to continue their education despite their refugee status. Though, authorities claim to have shut down the schools as community leaders failed to get permission to open them while others state they fear schools would encourage a permanent status within Bangladesh.
A boat bound for Malaysia with approximately 90 refugees onboard capsized and sank off the coast of Myanmar. Roughly 20 survivors were detained by authorities in the Ayeyarwady region (southwest region of Myanmar). The survivors state within a few days of taking off from Myanmar, the boat “ran into trouble”. More than 50 remain missing while 14 bodies have been recovered.
he UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filipp Grandi, promised to boost UN presence on Bhashan Char, an island off the coast of Bangladesh. The island is a source of space to alleviate overcrowding at Cox’s Bazar but it lacks proper infrastructure for their goal of 100,000 refugee living space. However, with greater assistanc