DHAKA, Bangladesh: According to Bangladeshi officials, about 8,000 Rohingya Muslims have migrated to Bangladesh in recent months in order to escape the growing violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine province. The continuous struggle between the Arakan Army, an ethnic militia mostly made up of Buddhists, and the ruling junta in Myanmar is the cause of this newest round of mass migrations.
Mohammad Shamsud Douza, a senior official overseeing refugee affairs for the Bangladeshi government, confirmed that most of the 8,000 refugees crossed the border in the last two months. Bangladesh, which already hosts over one million Rohingya in crowded camps, has expressed its inability to accommodate more refugees. “Bangladesh is already over-burdened and unable to accommodate any more Rohingya,” Douza said.
The Bangladeshi government has not provided any previous estimates of new arrivals in recent months. However, the recent influx has prompted authorities to schedule a “serious discussion at the cabinet” within the next few days to address the crisis, according to Bangladesh’s de facto foreign minister, Mohammad Touhid Hossain. While expressing sympathy for the plight of the Rohingya, Hossain emphasized that Bangladesh lacks the capacity to provide further humanitarian shelter and stressed that border controls would be tightened to prevent additional crossings.
The latest surge of refugees comes amid worsening violence in Myanmar, marking the most severe conflict faced by the Rohingya since the 2017 military crackdown, which the United Nations described as having genocidal intent. Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees recently rallied in Bangladeshi camps to mark the seventh anniversary of that crackdown, calling for an end to violence and a safe return to their homeland.
Hossain also urged the international community to exert pressure on the Arakan Army to cease attacks on the Rohingya and called for greater regional involvement, including from India, to address the crisis.
