Rohingya mark ninth anniversary of genocide with Cox's Bazar protests
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Hundreds of Rohingya refugees gathered at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh on Monday demanding justice and the right to return to Myanmar, on the ninth anniversary of the genocide against them. More than one million stateless Rohingya remain stranded in tightly packed camps in Cox's Bazar, where living conditions are deteriorating as international aid declines. The protests come as key bodies, including UN officials and former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have deemed the Rohingya crisis a genocide.
Key Facts
- More than one million stateless Rohingya remain in camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, as of the ninth anniversary of the 2017 genocide.
- An estimated 13,000 Rohingya were killed and at least 200 villages destroyed during the 2017 military crackdown, according to Human Rights Watch.
- The Rohingya have been denied citizenship in Myanmar since 1982, making them the world's largest stateless group.
- Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared the Rohingya crisis a genocide in 2022.
The Protest
Hundreds of Rohingya refugees gathered at Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh on Monday demanding justice and the right to return to their homes in Myanmar. The protest marked the ninth anniversary of the genocide perpetrated against the Rohingya by Myanmar security forces. The refugees remain stranded in tightly packed camps in Bangladesh's coastal district of Cox's Bazar, where living conditions are steadily deteriorating as international aid declines.
The Rohingya Crisis
The Rohingya are a Muslim-majority ethnic group that has been denied citizenship in Myanmar since 1982, making them the world's largest stateless group. In August 2017, a violent military crackdown forced more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees to flee across the border into Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch reported that at least 200 Rohingya villages were destroyed and burned by the military, while an estimated 13,000 Rohingya were killed. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the Rohingya as "one of, if not the, most discriminated people in the world".
International Response
Key bodies and actors have deemed the Rohingya crisis a genocide, including United Nations officials and former United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 2022. The presence of the Rohingya in Bangladesh has made the South Asian country home to one of the world's largest refugee populations. Nearly all the Rohingya remaining in Myanmar live in the coastal state of Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh.
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Rohingya mark ninth anniversary of genocide with Cox's Bazar protests
