iIn the dim light of his home in Arakan, Myanmar, Muhammad speaks above the cries of his youngest child. He says that his three children are hungry. The parents of a 32-year-old Rohingya man, leaning against a wall, look on as Muhammad speaks on a video call.
He fears for his safety too much to be allowed to use his surname – Rakhine state is a dangerous place after Myanmar’s four-year civil war.
“We’re just struggling to survive,” he says. “Food is scarce, clean water is a luxury, and every day feels like a battle to protect your family from the horrors unfolding around you.
“But after the incidents against our people in Bangladesh this month, we have lost all hope,” he adds.
The escape route for Rohingya in Myanmar has long been across the border to refugee camps in Bangladesh. The neighboring country has hosted nearly one million refugees since 2017.
But on January 5, 36 Rohingya refugees were detained by the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and sent back to Myanmar. On January 11, at least 58 Rohingya refugees were picked up by the BGB while trying to cross into Myanmar with the help of people smugglers.
Four days after this detention, a group of 30 Rohingya women and children were “rescued” by Bangladeshi police. The fate of those fleeing Myanmar is still uncertain.
Local Bangladeshi police told media there that the country’s law enforcement agencies had been “directed” to work together to prevent “illegal entry of Rohingya refugees”.
Since Myanmar stripped them of their citizenship four decades ago, the Rohingya have been stateless, without travel documents and unable to cross borders legally.
Khalilur Rahman, Bangladesh’s interim government leader on Rohingya issues, confirmed that the 58 Rohingya refugees detained on January 11 will also be sent back to Myanmar.
“Our policy is not to allow undocumented foreign nationals to enter Bangladesh. This applies to the Rohingya, who are from Myanmar,” he said.
“Now that it appears that the Arakan Army has become the de facto authority over much of Rakhine, our message to them is clear: echoing the UN Secretary-General, we call on them,” he said. that they abide by their international legal obligations.” Urged the AA to try to protect the citizens and “refrain from any action that could force them to go to Bangladesh”.
The Rohingya – a mostly Muslim ethnic minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar – have suffered The United Nations has declared genocide as violence.. The battle for control of Rakhine between Myanmar’s junta forces and the rebel Arakan Army (AA) has seen the insurgents seize control of much of the state in recent months.
Rohingya civilians, about 600,000 of whom remain in Rakhine, are caught in the middle of hostilities. They have faced massacres, looting, rape, drone strikes and forced conscription, while struggling to feed and shelter themselves.
The Bangladeshi government estimates that at least 65,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh by the end of 2023. Other estimates put the number as high as 80,000.
Htway Lwin, a Rohingya activist based in Bangladesh, said the detention of 58 Rohingya “sparked fear among the Rohingya community still trapped in Myanmar”.
“I see it as another reminder of the dangerous existence my people are enduring,” he says. “Such measures risk normalizing the denial of protection to an oppressed group. It undermines international commitments to the rights and protection of refugees.”
Muhammad Shafiq, 30, fled to Bangladesh last June. “I was first abducted from my village by the Myanmar army in April 2024. They forced me to fight against the AA with little training,” he says from his relative’s shelter where he now lives in Cox’s Bazar. He lives in a refugee camp.
Then the military camp where Shafiq was held surrendered to the AA: “They kept us in a closed room with no ventilation and beat us daily. We were given food once a day at noon. Some of my comrades died of violence, while others struggled but survived.
“On June 17, we managed to get out of our room after the AA personnel left us unattended,” says Shafiq. “I fled to Bangladesh on foot.”
John Quinley, director of the international advocacy organization Fortify Rights, says abuses against the Rohingya in Myanmar continue.
“The new government in Bangladesh must ensure that it does not follow the restrictive policies of Sheikh Hasina’s old government,” he says.
The transitional government should ensure that refugees are welcomed into the country and work closely with UNHCR. [refugee agency] to register them.”
The United Nations Development Program warned in November that Rakhine was heading for famine as fighting suppressed farming and trade. The United Nations said this month that more than 3.5 million people in Myanmar have now been displaced by the conflict.
With the latest arrests on Saturday, concern is high in Myanmar that the exodus may stop.
“When I heard the news of his detention, something broke inside me,” says Muhammad. “We even considered fleeing to Bangladesh, thinking we might find safety there. But hearing this, we decided it was better to die here.
“How can we escape genocide in such a situation? Is it a crime to ask for asylum?” he asks. “It seems as if the world has abandoned us.”
Additional reporting by Cry Meow Islam In Cox’s Bazar
