Mapping Rohingya exodus routes
Uprooted from their own homeland, the Rohingyas community, which is known as the world’s most persecuted minority, have fled oppression and extreme violence in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state.
The crisis invoked one of the biggest humanitarian crisis in the history of humankind and horrific killings and mass rape, which according to an estimate, led to the displacement of 5, 82,000 Rohingya refugees from their homes and seek asylum on a foreign land, Bangladesh.
Now, Column Five, a creative content agency, in collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency has created an infographic map that shows the paths of Rohingya refugees, and where they’re currently settled as of Oct. 17.
The infographic shows the numbers of refugees that have gone up after the violence escalated in the Rakhine state in August because of increased military action and calculated attacks on entire villages. The map shows permanent settlements, spontaneous settlements and the exodus routes these refugees had to take to find themselves shelter camps on Bangladesh’s soil.
The death estimates vary from place to place and agency to agency. According to the September claims by the Myanmar government, there had been about 400 deaths from the unrest, whereas the United Nations estimated deaths of almost 1,000 people.
Meanwhile, the foreign minister of Bangladesh, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said unofficial sources estimate closer to 3,000. The numbers, however, continue to grow. According to UNHCR and Bangladesh border guards, approximately 3,000 additional refugees arrived through the Anjuman Para border between November 1 and November 2.
Addressing the UN Security Council in New York this week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said, a massive refugee camp in Bangladesh isn’t a solution for the Rohingya crisis. He, in fact added, that establishing human rights and rule of law are essential to help Rohingya refugees return to the Rakhine state.
Grandi described to the UN Security Council what it was like to visit Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh a few weeks ago.
“Progress on citizenship for the stateless Rohingya is absolutely crucial, as will be community reconciliation, and investment in inclusive development benefiting all communities,” Grandi said.
“It was a stark illustration of what happens when the root causes of conflict and violence are not addressed, and the relationship between a state and some of its people breaks down,” he said.
“The result is a human tragedy on a dramatic scale.”
The UN’s human rights chief declared the crisis as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”
On the other side, organizations like UNHCR, UNICEF, the Bangladesh Red Crescent, and Action Against Hunger, are focusing towards providing food and water to those stranded near border. Many of these stranded people have children and families dehydrated and hungry from their journeys. Organisations like the Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) are also working with UNHCR to identify those who are sick and provide treatment.
