Bangladesh: Assist, Protect Rohingya Refugees

Humanitarian Aid Desperately Needed; Crisis Situation in Burma Continues

The government of Bangladesh should immediately cease its punitive restrictions on international organizations providing lifesaving humanitarian aid to the more than 200,000 Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also open its borders to Rohingya fleeing sectarian violence and abuses by Burmese security forces in Arakan State in western Burma […]

Bangladesh: Stop Boat Push-backs to Burma

Children Among Those Facing Forced Return on World Refugee Day

The government of Bangladesh should stop forcibly returning ethnic Rohingya fleeing sectarian violence back to, Human Rights Watch said today. At least 18 Rohingya asylum seekers, including three young children, are in immediate danger of being forcibly returned to Burma on World Refugee Day, June 20 […]

UNHCR Gears Up for Humanitarian Response in Myanmar

Following the sudden escalation of violence some 10 days ago, the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state remains tense. The efforts of Myanmar authorities to restore law and order are continuing. There are, however, reports of sporadic incidents and violence.

According to initial government estimates, at least 48,000 people have been displaced by the violence that erupted last week. We expect this number to continue to grow as further information becomes available […]

Burma and Bangladesh Must Answer Cries for Help

Sectarian violence that erupted a week ago in Arakan State has continued over the last week leading to the displacement of over 30, 000 people in need of shelter, medical assistance and food. In light of the serious humanitarian crisis that faces Rakhine and Rohingya people, international and Bangkok based human rights activists released a statement calling for the international community, including diplomatic missions in Burma and the United Nations, to send independent monitors to assess the situation and take appropriate steps to address any worsening of the situation.

The Asian Human Rights Commission also sent an open letter to Burma and Bangladesh calling on both governments to take a cooperative and humanitarian approach to the violence and to enable the provision of adequate food and health services to the affected populations.

However, despite Vijay Nambiar, the UN’s special envoy, visit to Arakan State, no humanitarian supplies have reached the victims of the violence and Bangladesh has been turning away people fleeing Arakan State, announcing that it will not allow any refugees from Burma on its territory […]

Open Letter to the President of Burma and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh

The Asian Human Rights Commission is taking the unusual step of writing to you jointly today with regards to the ongoing communal violence in the Rakhine State of Myanmar, which borders Bangladesh; violence that has been […]

Rohingya Refugees need Urgent Protection

We at BROUK would like to express our serious concern about the attack on Rohingya refugees in Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh on 16th July. A group of villagers from Fawliyapara, in the refugee camp area of Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh, armed with wood, pickaxes, Bamboo sticks […]

Stateless and starving in Bangladesh

By Richard Sollom
Global Post

The Rohingya are a poor minority stuck between two countries that won’t help them. Who will come to their aid?

Government officials in Bangladesh are preventing charities from delivering food to tens of thousands of starving Burmese refugees living in its southeastern corner, across the river from Burma (*Myanmar). […]

Stateless and Starving Persecuted Rohingya Flee Burma and Starve in Bangladesh

In recent months Bangladeshi authorities have waged an unprecedented campaign of arbitrary arrest, illegal expulsion, and forced internment against Burmese refugees. In this emergency report Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) presents new data and documents dire conditions for these persecuted Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. PHR’s medical investigators warn that critical levels of acute malnutrition and […]

Stateless Rohingya victims of violent crackdown in Bangladesh

A violent crackdown against stateless Rohingya in Bangladesh is forcing thousands of people to flee in fear. Driven from their homes throughout Cox’s Bazaar district by local authorities and citizens, many have sought refuge at Kutupalong makeshift camp. Here, medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is treating victims of beatings and harassment, including people the Bangladeshi Border Force has attempted to forcibly repatriate to Myanmar. As camp numbers continue to swell, conditions pose a significant risk to people’s health.

In a report released today, February 18, 2010, MSF calls for an immediate end to the violence, along with urgent measures by the Government of Bangladesh and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to increase protection to Rohingya seeking asylum in the country.

Tens of Thousands of Rohingyas from Burma at Risk of Starvation in an Unprecedented Crackdown in Bangladesh

A new report released today by The Arakan Project states that an unprecedented crackdown by the Bangladesh government on Rohingyas from Burma is creating a grave humanitarian crisis for tens of thousands of refugees.  The report “Unregistered Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh: Crackdown, forced displacement and hunger” calls on the Bangladesh authorities to immediately cease mass […]