Nearly 168,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar in the last five years as a result of violence and desperation, according to a new report on forced displacement in South-East Asia published by the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency). Many Rohingyas seek help by fleeing into neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Malaysia. The 2016 UNHCR report on Mixed Movement in Southeast Asia pointed the complex dynamics of the evacuation from the Rakhine State, Myanmar.
At least 90,000 Rohingyas have flooded into Bangladesh in the past 10 days following an uptick in fighting between Rohingya militants and Myanmar's military in the strife-torn western Rakhine state.
The impoverished region bordering Bangladesh has been a crucible of communal tensions between Muslims and Buddhists for years, with the Rohingya people forced to live under apartheid-like restrictions on movement and citizenship.
The recent violence, which began last October when a small Rohingya militant group ambushed border posts, is the worst Rakhine has witnessed in years, with the UN (United Nation) saying Myanmar's army may have committed ethnic cleansing in its response.
In the UNHCR report, the MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) said it would deliver "much-needed humanitarian assistance and aid to the Rohingya people" on the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
"MOAS does not want to become part of a mechanism where there is no guarantee of safe harbour or welcome for those being assisted and rescued at sea," it added in a statement. The organisation said it would transfer its resources instead to help Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority following a recent appeal by Pope Francis for their protection.
Meanwhile, Islamist groups in Indonesia, home to the largest Islamic population in the world, have planned a demonstration close to the ninth century Borobudur Buddhist temple. Police have deemed the rally illegal and Indonesian National Chief of Police Tito Karnavian told reporters that “There is no need for protests in response to the Rohingya conflict because the Indonesian government is taking action on it already”.
Between 2012 and 2015, an estimated number of 112,500 refugees risked their lives on smugglers' boats in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea in the hopes of reaching Malaysia, where there is a Rohingya community and potential work. The total number of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced Rohingya in the region is estimated at 420,000 and 120,000 respectively. – AFP
(Angaindrankumar Gnanasagaran contributed to this article)