Myanmar: The plight of the Rohingya people
| Publisher | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC) |
| Publication Date | 23 August 2012 |
| Cite as | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC), Myanmar: The plight of the Rohingya people, 23 August 2012, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/50387ad12f7.html [accessed 26 December 2015] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Approximately 65,000 people are currently displaced and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state as a result of inter-community violence that erupted in June. The majority of those currently displaced belong to the ethnic and religious minority group of the Rohingya. A government statement from Myanmar's presidential office to the effect that the only solution to the Rohingya issue was deporting them to a third country will do little to ease the tensions.
The international community, particularly neighbouring countries with Muslim populations and member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), reacted sharply to the anti-Rohingya sentiments expressed by the Government of Myanmar. This led to a range of high profile international visitors to the affected region, recently including John Ging, OCHA's Director of Operations. Mr. Ging voiced concern for the plight of over half a million IDPs and called for respect for humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law by all parties, as aid agencies are currently denied access to tens of thousands of displaced people in need in Kachin and Rakhine States.
