Ethnic Cleansing

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.

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 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.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) expressed deep concern on Thursday regarding reports that two boats carrying over 500 passengers may have capsized near Myanmar's coast in recent days. According to preliminary reports, the vessels departed Myanmar's Rakhine State in late June, carrying primarily Rohingya people, some of whom had reportedly traveled from refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) expressed deep concern on Wednesday regarding reports that approximately 250 people are feared dead or missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea. The trawler departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh, bound for Malaysia, and reportedly sank last Thursday amid heavy winds, rough seas, and severe overcrowding.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has increased the value of its monthly food voucher from US$8 to US$10 per person for the entire Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh. The move, starting January 1, comes after a sharp reduction of food aid by one third in 2023. In March last year, the voucher value for refugees was reduced from US$12 to US$10, a further reduction - down to US$8 - was implemented in June, leaving tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees hungry and in growing despair.

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.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that critical funding shortfalls, severe operational restrictions and continued Israeli military operations are compounding the humanitarian emergency across Gaza and other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), leaving millions grappling with acute hunger and limited access to essential services. Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office released a report on Monday detailing war crimes, crimes against humanity and potential genocide in Gaza.

According to health officials in Gaza, Israeli forces have killed more than 55,000 Palestinians — most of whom were children, women, and the elderly — and injured more than 127,000 others in their attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 2023. However, the true numbers of fatalities are estimated to be much higher. The identified dead include more than 15,000 children, 463 aid workers, 319 UN staff members, 1,580 healthcare workers, and 224 journalists.

The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has released a new report on Wednesday which details the brutal mass killings, systematic abductions of women and girls, and mass gang rapes carried out by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State. The report provides further harrowing evidence that the atrocities committed by warring parties in the North African nation constitute distinct markers of genocide.

Amid ongoing Israeli military strikes, recurring security incidents, forced displacement, and increasing movement restrictions, aid agencies warn that the humanitarian situation across Gaza remains catastrophic. These dire conditions continue to disrupt humanitarian operations, limiting access to food, water, shelter, healthcare, and other essential services while heightening protection risks for those affected.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the humanitarian situation in Lebanon remains fragile and volatile despite the ceasefire being extended until mid-May. Hostilities are continuing to cause civilian casualties. On Thursday, Lebanese authorities reported multiple airstrikes and military activity across towns in southern Lebanon, resulting in at least nine deaths and 13 injuries.

Delegates from over 120 countries gathered in Geneva on Monday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), amidst escalating global instability and conflict. Recognizing the dizzying geopolitical uncertainty marked by ongoing conflict and war in Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, and beyond, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the HRC members to hold the line on human rights, which he warned were under a "full-scale attack."

The international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF) is calling for a massive scale-up of life-saving assistance and unhindered humanitarian access amid the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza, where lives continue to be lost due to sustained violence and persistent aid restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities. Despite the March 1 deadline for 37 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to leave the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT, Palestine), MSF affirms its commitment to staying and providing assistance.