Qelbinur Sedik was making breakfast when the video call came, and the sight of her sister's name made her nervous. Many months had passed since the two had spoken. In fact, many months had passed since Sedik had spoken to any of her family in China.Sedik was in the kitchen of her temporary home in the Netherlands, where she shared a room with several other refugees, mostly from Africa.
China is the "gravest threat" to the future of religious freedom, United States (US) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday, in his latest verbal assault on Beijing during a whirlwind Asian tour.Pompeo has made attacks against China the focus of his trip this week which kicked off in India and included visits to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Indonesia and, later Friday, Vietnam.In Indonesia - which has the world's biggest Muslim population - Pompeo took aim at China's tre
United States (US) senators sought Tuesday to declare that China is committing genocide against Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims, a step that could ramp up pressure on behalf of the estimated one million-plus people in camps.The resolution was introduced by senators across the political spectrum, although it is unlikely to move immediately as the Senate is out of session until after next week's election.The text states that China's campaign "against Uighurs, ethnic Kaz
When hundreds of Rohingya refugees paid traffickers to escape their squalid camp in Bangladesh, they were promised a new life in Malaysia after just one week at sea.Instead, the group of mostly women and children suffered more than 200 days of terror on the high seas, until they landed this week on Indonesia's northern coast, where they are now back in refugee tents.Beaten by the traffickers, they battled hunger and thirst as storms lashed their wooden vessel, and watched in horror as th
Myanmar has returned dozens of Rohingya to camps in conflict-wracked Rakhine state, officials said Thursday, after arresting them at sea as they tried to flee what rights groups brand as "apartheid" conditions.A group of 42 Rohingya Muslims - including two children - was detained last Thursday offshore of Bogale in Ayeyarwady region, said local police.The long-persecuted Rohingya are widely regarded as illegal immigrants in Myanmar, refused citizenship and unable to travel freely.On
Last month, for World Refugee Day, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) launched its Every Action Counts campaign, to emphasise that all contributions to creating a more just and inclusive world make a difference. Everyone, including refugees, can have a powerful impact on society.
Rohingya refugees infected with coronavirus are fleeing quarantine in their Bangladesh camps because they fear being transferred to an isolated island in the Bay of Bengal, community leaders said on Thursday.At least two infected refugees have gone missing since testing positive for the virus after the first COVID-19 death was reported on Tuesday, they said.About one million Rohingya - most of whom fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017 - are packed into camps along the Bangladesh borde
The United Nations (UN) has warned it will pare back aid to thousands of Rohingya Muslims left destitute as Myanmar's government closes camps in Rakhine state, over fears its continued support "risks entrenching segregation".Aid agencies are facing an increasingly sharp dilemma in the region as they balance relief for desperate communities with leverage over the government.The majority of Myanmar's Rohingya were driven into Bangladesh by a 2017 army crackdown, but around 4
