An Examination of the Contemporary Rohingya Refugee Crisis: The Culmination of Ethnic Discrimination, a Mass Exodus, Unequipped Refugee Settlements, and the Absence of Effective Solutions
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: The mass exodus of the Rohingya population out of the northern Rakhine state of Myanmar was at the center of international refugee conversation in 2017 as they poured into Bangladesh and other surrounding countries. The influx of Rohingya refugees expanded the already present refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh. The Myanmar government’s failure to provide adequate and secure livelihoods for the country’s minority continued and the crisis has grown without an effective ending. The mass migration into Bangladesh itself proves to be a complex situation with several intersecting layers that leave just under a million Rohingya refugees displaced in South Asia. The precarity of these refugees was present before their exodus into Bangladesh but has deepened as they fall victim to unstable camps and ineffective solutions of the Myanmar and Bangladesh governments. The historical ethnic tensions within Myanmar, formerly Burma, and its ongoing political struggles leave the Rohingya vulnerable to persecution. Simultaneously, the exacerbated climate crisis affects refugees’ safety and security. The proposed solutions to address the enormous number of Rohingya refugees have yet to solve their precarity and ultimately leaves the Rohingya more vulnerable and unsure of their future. The research that will be presented will analyze the different factors affecting the Rohingya refugee population. The research will answer the intellectual puzzle: What are the different dynamics present that are affecting the precarity of Rohingya refugees? And how do they interact with each other? To successfully answer this question and its follow up the paper will discuss the history of the Rohingya population in Myanmar, the country’s specific political decisions and actions regarding the minority, Bangladesh’s first response to the influx of Rohingya and their proposed solutions, and finally the climate change induced disasters that disproportionately impacts the Rohingya refugee population. Each issue is another obstacle for the Rohingya refugees to live a stable life. This case study is relevant to the overall study of refugee populations as it presents the complicated conditions that cannot be solved by traditional refugee solutions. The paper will be organized in the following way. First, an introduction to the Rohingya population and the historical events that placed the Rohingya population in danger causing their exodus. The following section will examine the literature on the topic, discussion of research questions, theories, and the methodology used. The final portion will discuss the findings and their implications followed by a brief conclusion of the topic and its future. This paper will showcase just how precarious a refugee’s life is in emerging political and humanitarian crises
Author: Clagett, Carly
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7215201003