Rohingya Communities Continue to Face National and International Oppression

The Rohingya people are an Indo-Aryan people originally from the Rakhine State in Myanmar. Human rights organisations and global media have described the Rohingya as being one of the most persecuted indigenous minorities in the world. For this reason, this minority has been in the news for the past few years, especially due to the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, from January to March in 2015, an estimated number of about 25,000 people were taken to boats by human traffickers. Besides facing inhumane conditions on these tightly packed vessels, many human traffickers abandoned the migrants at sea, forcing them to face starvation, thirst, and eventual death. The current situation has been described as being 'a floating human rights tragedy' by Time.

New York Times

The main reason the Rohingya migrants were left at sea is because they were rejected entry into three countries, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. However, in light of the current situation, Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to provide temporary refuge to the migrants, and Thailand has said it will provide humanitarian assistance to any boats that wish to enter its waters. Also, the Bangladeshi government has planned to relocate Rohingya refugees that have lived in camps near the Myanmar border into Bangladesh, where they could have better lives.