Violence rises in Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps: Human Rights Watch
On 5 August, nearly 200 people were reportedly killed in Maungdaw town following drone strikes and shelling on civilians.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global rights watchdog, has said that about one million Rohingya refugees are facing increasingly dire conditions in the Cox's Bazar camps amid surging violence by armed groups and criminal gangs.
In August alone, there have been reports of members of the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army carrying out killings, abductions, forced recruitment, extortion, and robbery, said an HRW statement.
"My heart aches for the safety of our Rohingya students and the entire community in the area," a Rohingya teacher in the camps wrote in a note to Human Rights Watch.
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He said his students have been increasingly absent from classes, either abducted for ransom, unlawfully recruited, or kept home by their parents out of fear. "Brutal gang activity has created a climate of terror. The fear is palpable, a suffocating weight."
According to the statement, Bangladesh's interim government Chief Adviser Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus pledged continued support for the Rohingya, while Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said that Bangladesh is not in a position to accept more refugees. Many Rohingya refugees have repeatedly expressed their desire to return home, provided that safety, land access, livelihood opportunities, and citizenship rights are guaranteed.
Since January 2023, over 5,000 Rohingya have attempted perilous boat journeys to Indonesia and Malaysia in search of a better life, with approximately 520 reported dead or missing. Despite limited international responses and no accountability for the 2017 violence, there have been some significant legal developments, reads the statement.
In June, an Argentine prosecutor sought arrest warrants for 25 Myanmar officials under universal jurisdiction. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has also accepted interventions in Gambia's case against Myanmar under the Genocide Convention, with hearings expected in 2025. Additionally, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating the situation, though its jurisdiction is confined to crimes committed at least partially in Bangladesh, says the human rights watchdog.
HRW has called on the UN Security Council to expand the ICC's jurisdiction by referring the Myanmar situation to the court, a step hindered by fears of vetoes from China and Russia. The council is urged to hold an open meeting to address the worsening situation in Rakhine State and to enforce binding measures ordered by the ICJ, which the Myanmar military has ignored.
The Rohingya community in Myanmar faces severe threats as the military continues its campaign of violence and persecution. 25 August 2024, marks the 7th anniversary of the military's genocidal campaign that forced over 750,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. Recent months have seen mass killings, arson, and unlawful recruitment by the military and the Arakan Army.
On 5 August, nearly 200 people were reportedly killed in Maungdaw town following drone strikes and shelling on civilians. Approximately 630,000 Rohingya remain in Myanmar, subjected to an apartheid system and vulnerable to further violence, added the statement.
Elaine Pearson, director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division, condemned the abuses, drawing parallels with the 2017 atrocities.
"Armed forces are driving thousands of Rohingya from their homes with killings and arson," she said, stressing the need for international efforts to hold perpetrators accountable.
