Ethnic Cleansing

Myanmar's Rohingya ethnic minority, victims of a brutal campaign of mass atrocities and persecution by the country's military in 2016 and 2017, is again facing a wave of deadly violence that raises the "specter of ethnic cleansing." This time, however, the perpetrators are said to be the Arakan Army (AA), one of several ethnic groups fighting the nation's ruling junta, as well as Myanmar's security forces, according to survivors and human rights groups.

A group of Sudanese rights and professional bodies has accused both warring parties in Sudan of committing atrocities that could be prosecuted as war crimes and crimes against humanity. In a petition addressed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the coalition called for an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously renewed for another year an arms embargo on conflict parties in Sudan's Darfur region, where war between rival generals has intensified in recent months, exacerbating the world's largest humanitarian crisis. But human rights groups and UN experts say Wednesday's renewal of the embargo does not go far enough and should include all of Sudan.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says it is deeply dismayed that repeated calls to rescue and safely disembark people stranded on boats in the Andaman Sea and Strait of Malacca are not being heeded. UNHCR warned in a statement Friday that inaction from states to save lives is resulting in more human misery and tragedies, each and every passing day.

While heavy Israeli bombardments, from the air, sea and land, have continued almost uninterrupted, a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, a part of the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). The calamitous deterioration of the situation follows the complete blockade on electricity, fuel, water, and food supplies from Israel into Gaza, and after the Israeli military requested all people in northern Gaza, to flee to the south within 24 hours.

August 25 marks the seventh anniversary of the start of a campaign of mass atrocities by Myanmar's security forces in Rakhine State, which forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to seek refuge in Bangladesh. UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Friday expressed grave concern about the sharply deteriorating situation across Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine, where hundreds of civilians - mostly Rohingya - have reportedly been killed while trying to flee ongoing fighting.

This week marks the sixth anniversary since over 700,000 Rohingya women, men and children fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, following coordinated attacks by the Myanmar military. They joined hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya who had previously sought refuge in the country. The United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are calling this week for renewed commitment from the international community to sustain the humanitarian response for nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar continues to deteriorate, with civilian casualties mounting due to the ongoing conflict and a growing number of people in need of protection. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced that he is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmar's Acting President, General Min Aung Hlaing, for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya people committed in 2017.

A large mob of young people, including students, attacked a convention center housing hundreds of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh on Wednesday, demanding their deportation. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said in a statement today it remains deeply worried about the safety of refugees and calls on local law enforcement authorities for urgent action to ensure protection of all desperate individuals and humanitarian staff.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has recorded an alarming rise in the death toll of Rohingya refugees while attempting dangerous sea journeys in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal in 2022. UNHCR said Tuesday at least 348 people died or disappeared while fleeing Myanmar or Bangladesh by sea last year, making it one of the deadliest years since 2014.

The United States has committed to providing an additional US$116 million in aid to people impacted by humanitarian crises in Myanmar, Bangladesh and the surrounding region, including more than US$74 million to support Rohingya refugees and their host communities. The pledge comes at a time when a steep decline in funds has forced humanitarian agencies to focus on the most critical and life-saving needs. This funding crush has led to worsening humanitarian conditions in the world’s largest refugee settlement.

United Nations human rights experts have warned Thursday about catastrophic consequences for Myanmar Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh if life-saving food aid is slashed, and issued an urgent plea for donations to the Rohingya Refugee Response. The warning comes as the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced this week it will have to cut food assistance to Rohingya refugees for the first time since they fled Myanmar six years ago.

United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher on Monday called on the international community to defend international humanitarian law (IHL), demand the protection of all civilians and break the cycle of violence in Gaza. Meanwhile, a growing number of legal experts and organizations are concluding that Israeli actions in Gaza and those targeting Palestinians as a group in the territory amount to genocide.

Myanmar’s military has created a perpetual human rights crisis through the continuous use of violence, including the killing, arbitrary arrest, torture and enforced disappearance of anti-coup opponents, a report by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) says. The report published Friday documents a litany of human rights abuses from 1 February 2022 to 31 January 2023, accompanied by a sharp rise in violence especially in the north-western and south-eastern parts of Myanmar.

Members of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya community living as refugees in Bangladesh are again voicing opposition to efforts to repatriate many of them. They say that the Myanmar government has not met their demands over citizenship rights and that it is not safe for them to go back to Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Those concerns come amid a plan for their repatriation to Myanmar in the coming weeks.