COVID-19 is spreading quickly in Bangladesh. An outbreak in the refugee camps that house some 1 million Rohingya Muslims in cramped, unsanitary quarters would be calamitous.
The International Court of Justice has ordered Myanmar to make wholesale reforms at the drop of a hat, wielding a stick of shame rather than a ladder of support.
The International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar to protect its Rohingya minority and preserve any evidence relevant to the genocide charges against it. But compliance is not guaranteed.
Dozens of Muslim-majority countries are asking the UN’s International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute a 2017 massacre in Myanmar that killed an estimated 10,000 Rohingya Muslims.
The sheer volume of pregnant women in the refugee camps was an early indicator of the extent sexual violence was used against Rohingya women and girls.
The current repatriation deal signed by Myanmar and Bangladesh fails to guarantee the safety and citizenship of the Rohingya people or address issues of justice for crimes perpetrated against them.
Equipped with rights, knowledge and skills, the global Rohingya diaspora is poised to be influential against the genocidal regime that seeks to erase their people.
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been stuck in makeshift camps for years. They are now being targeted by criminal gangs, alongside public health and well-being issues.
For Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, ‘never again’ was ‘a prayer, a promise, a vow’. Unfortunately, this vow is all too often broken.
In Myanmar, spousal abuse is legal and stigma stop most women from reporting sexual violence. A bill championed by feminists but long stalled in Parliament may soon give women their basic rights.
Kyle Matthews, Concordia University dan Allan Rock, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
The UN’s Genocide Convention turns 70 this month. It’s time for the world to reaffirm its commitment to the international law and show the moral courage of our convictions.
Facing increasing international pressure, Myanmar’s one-time star leader is running out of time to show leadership on human rights and the Rohingya crisis.