Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

The Rohingya are an ethnic group closely linked through language, culture and religion to the dominant Bangali population of Bangladesh. Indeed, the Rohingya language is very close the variety of Bangla spoken in Chittagong. Bangladesh's major port in southeast and until the late 1600s part of the Arakanese Empire in today's Myanmar. The Rohingya are concentrated in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Rakhine is the poorest state in Myanmar and one that has been badly hit over the years, by violence and other disasters such as flooding. However, under the 1982 Burmese citizenship Law, Rohingya were denied the right to claim Burmese citizenship. The government argued that the Rohingya were illegal migrants that only settled in the country during British rule, which justified the denial of their citizenship rights. The current outbreaks of violence have forced over 500,000 people to flee the state and cross over to neighbouring Bangladesh in a matter of weeks. In the rush to reach safety, families have had to leave everything behind. With scarce food, water and shelter, the already hard conditions are becoming unbearable. The International Red Cross and Red Cresent Movement is scaling up operations in Myanmar and Bangladesh, including border areas. Our teams are working around the clock to help everyone affected by the fighting. But so much more assistance is needed and help us reach people in need of life- saving aid.