tary ‘clearance operations’. These operations included burning down whole Rohingya villages, triggering a mass migration of Rohingya to Bangladesh.
The UN stated that ethnic cleansing had occurred against the Rohingya. In the weeks before, an estimated 300,000 Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh.
After circulating news of security officers killing innocent Muslims, raping young women and setting houses on fire, Suu Kyi finally broke her silence. She stated she wanted to “…find out why this exodus is happening.” This left many disappointed by her leadership.
The Myanmar government announces that approximately 200 Muslim villages situated in Rakhine have been abandoned. The UN Secretary-General calls the crisis “the world’s fastest developing refugee emergency and a … human rights nightmare.”
Global leaders and international organizations promise $344 million to fund humanitarian relief programs for the Rohingya refugees. However, the figure was still $90 million less than what the UN needed to adequately address the crisis. The United States also threatened to sanction Myanmar, adding that US aid cannot be used to fund the Burmese military’s campaign against the Rohingya.
Bangladesh signed a deal with Myanmar to return hundreds of thousands of Rohingya. This agreement has been criticised, as it is unclear whether Myanmar is in a position to house Rohingya with no threat of persecution.
Myanmar announced a deal with two UN agencies for the return of refugees from Bangladesh. The Rohingya are concerned that the agreement is not comprehensive enough to guarantee their safety.
A UN report accused six Myanmar generals of genocide and war crimes and called for them to face trial at the International Criminal Court. Myanmar rejected the findings.
Two Reuters journalists were sentenced to seven years in jail for violation of state secrecy laws. They believe that their reporting on the military’s violence against the Rohingya led to their framing by the police.
Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to start the repatriation of Rohingya refugees. This announcement came less than a week after the UN warned that the genocide was still in effect in the region.
Two years since the last exodus of Rohingya refugees, over 900,000 individuals remain in Bangladesh. They live in bamboo homes, unchanged from their first arrival. Many of them survive off humanitarian aid and are unable to find employment.
The UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the Myanmar government and military human rights abuses against the Rohingya and other minorities.
The International Court of Justice unanimously ordered Myanmar to prevent acts of genocide against the Rohingya. The Myanmar government responded by stating there is “no genocide in Rakhine.”
A wooden boat carrying 297 people, including 14 children, landed in Indonesia. The refugees said they left southern Bangladesh in late March or early April for Malaysia, but were turned away by both the Malaysian and Thai authorities due to coronavirus restrictions. This was the biggest arrival of Rohingya refugees in Indonesia since 2015.
Despite widespread public outcry, Bangladesh relocated more than 1,600 Rohingya refugees from Chittagong to Bhasan Char, a remote island in the Bay of Bengal. While Bangladesh claims this is necessary to alleviate overcrowding in the refugee camps, human rights groups cite safety concerns over the flood-prone island.
The Tatmadaw detained de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other
members of the NLD and subsequently claimed power. Despite roadblocks, telecommunications barriers, and curfews, massive protests have broken out across the country in opposition to the coup. The coup will likely result in further devastation for the Rohingya, as the military has been the main driving force in the ongoing genocide.
UNHRC, in their 47 Regular session, has adopted a resolution (A/HRC/47/L.11) that calls for a decisive end to the grave violations of human rights and violence perpetrated by the Burmese military on the minority Rohingya Muslim community.
Dhaka has proposed Moscow to tak