The specter of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate, standing before the UN’s highest legal body to defend Myanmar against charges of genocide is striking. Suu Kyi was once the revered face of international human rights, but she is now defending the most indefensible of crimes. But beyond...
Bangladesh and the UN must continue to work together to improve the conditions for nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees. The year 2018 was a dire and desperate year for the Rohingya minority from western Myanmar. Two-thirds of the population that had been living in western Rakhine State before the...
World Refugee Day should be an observance of communities that have opened their hearts and cities to those in need. While I have often expressed my thoughts about the Syrian, Palestinian and Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, even including the burdens carried by Jordan and Palestine, it is only a...
Citing concerns of safety and the possible risk of forced returns, Bangladesh says it needs more time to prepare for the monumental logistics of repatriation of the Rohingya refugees. The number of Rohingya refugees pouring into Bangladesh from Myanmar has soared to over 800,000 as the two...
Displacement and human rights abuses in northern Myanmar underscore the need for international pressure on Myanmar’s military. With more than 650,000 people fleeing their homes, the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority by the Myanmar military has reached unprecedented proportions. But...
As the world watches in horror at the escalating Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, Bangladesh shows what a bit of empathy can do. Bangladesh is not rich by any means. In fact, it is one of the world’s poorest nations, with more than a third of its population living under the poverty line. That is a...
In India, the absence of national legislation on refugees has placed their rights in a vacuum. Today, there are 65.6 million displaced people in the world, including asylum seekers, irregular migrants, returnees (individuals who are willing to return to their countries of nationality) and...
The fate of the Rohingya reflects the plights of ethnic minorities throughout history and across the world. The Rohingya are a persecuted Muslim minority living mainly in western Myanmar. Their origins are a subject of immense dispute and controversy. Some views hold that they are the progeny...
In this guest edition of The Interview, Vishal Manve talks to Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty International’s regional director for South Asia. Under the Trump administration, the focus on South and East Asia has increased significantly. From threatening North Korea and meeting Chinese President Xi...
There is too little access and too little known about possible ongoing abuses in Rakhine State. International humanitarian and human rights groups, including Refugees International, have long called for an independent international investigation into abuses of the Rohingya population and...
