London-based academic Penny Green, who visited Rohingya refugees forced to flee Myanmar to the Cox’s Bazaar camps in Bangladesh, addressed a forum organised by the Refugee Action Collective (Victoria) on May 25.
Green reported that there are 1.3 million refugees in 33 camps in Bangladesh. There are also 140,000 in camps in Myanmar.
She said that the Rohingya have been subject to genocide since the 1970s. Massacres in 2017 forced large numbers to flee to Bangladesh. The Rohingyas have been attacked by the Myanmar army and by a rebel group in Rakhine state that is fighting the army.
Green said that genocide continues in the camps, where the Rohingya are effectively prisoners.
Bangladeshi officials do not acknowledge Rohingya identity. Children only have four years of primary education, there is inadequate food and healthcare and they face violence from criminal gangs, but people also fear the Bangladesh police.
Green said that everyone she spoke to wanted to return to Myanmar, but only if they can have citizenship rights and live in freedom.
Mohammed Zuhar, a Rohingya refugee who spent time in Bangladesh but is now living in Australia, also addressed the meeting. In school, he said he was compelled to use a Burmese name, not his Rohingya name. People fled in 2017 after Rohingya villages were attacked, women and girls were raped and others were burned or killed.
Zuhar said the camps in Bangladesh are overcrowded. There are restrictions on people’s movement and a lack of lack of employment opportunities.
He said many risked their lives leaving Bangladesh by boat, and many drowned.
Zuhar said the Australian government must pressure the Myanmar authorities to stop their discrimination against Rohingyas. He said the camps require aid, particularly in health and education. He also called for Australia to accept more Rohingya refugees.