DHAKA, Bangladesh — Authorities in Bangladesh on Friday sent the first group of more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees to an isolated island despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process. The 1,642 refugees boarded seven Bangladeshi naval vessels in the port of Chittagong for the trip...
Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi Defends Myanmar Army in Genocide Case
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Nobel Peace Prize winner and former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi denied Wednesday that Myanmar's armed forces committed genocide, telling the United Nation's top court that the mass exodus of Rohingya people from the country she leads was the unfortunate result of a battle with...
Myanmar Accused at UN Court of Genocide Against Rohingya
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Myanmar was accused Monday of genocide at the U.N.'s highest court for its campaign against the country's Rohingya Muslim minority, as lawyers asked the International Court of Justice to urgently order measures "to stop Myanmar's genocidal conduct immediately." Gambia filed the case on behalf of the...
Bangladesh Scraps Rohingya Return, Says No One Wants to Go
COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh — The head of Bangladesh's refugee commission said plans to begin the repatriation of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar on Thursday were scrapped after officials were unable to find anyone who wanted to return. The refugees "are not willing to go back now," Refugee Commissioner Abul Kalam...
A Year Later, Fractured Rohingya Community Sees Little Hope
KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh — Forged over generations in villages in Myanmar, Rohingya communities are now held together in calls over crackling phone lines. "Mummy! Mummy!" 15-year-old Abdullah Razzaq shouted to his mother earlier this week in their once-a-week call, nearly a year after he and his brother, along with more than...
Can Rohingya Muslims Ever Return Home to Myanmar?
In January, over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who escaped ethnic violence in Myanmar were supposed to begin a repatriation process back to the country they fled. The refugees are currently sheltering in over-crowded camps inside neighboring Bangladesh. With monsoon season fast approaching, concerns are growing that the soon to be rain and...
Buddhist Villagers Confirm Role in Rohingya Killings
In a remote village in Myanmar, local Buddhists and government troops killed 10 Rohingya Muslims and buried them in a shallow grave. The murders at Inn Din in September marked yet another chapter in a continuing series of atrocities carried out against the Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine state. But the...
Buddhist Villagers Confirm Role in Rohingya Killings
In a remote village in Myanmar, local Buddhists and government troops killed 10 Rohingya Muslims and buried them in a shallow grave. The murders at Inn Din in September marked yet another chapter in a continuing series of atrocities carried out against the Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine state. But the...
I Visited the Rohingya Refugee Camps. This Is What Bangladesh Does Right
Nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh from Myanmar since September 2017. The Bangladeshi government’s plan to start repatriating them beginning this Tuesday, Jan. 22, has been postponed due to concerns about their safety. That the Bangladesh government agreed to the delay, speaks to its benevolent attitude toward the...
I Visited the Rohingya Refugee Camps. This Is What Bangladesh Does Right
Nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh from Myanmar since September 2017. The Bangladeshi government’s plan to start repatriating them beginning this Tuesday, Jan. 22, has been postponed due to concerns about their safety. That the Bangladesh government agreed to the delay, speaks to its benevolent attitude toward the...