Rohingya refugee crisis

What is the Rohingya refugee crisis? 

The Rohingya people are one of the most persecuted minority groups in the world. Following a concerted campaign of extreme violence by the Myanmar authorities against Rohingya people in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in August 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya crossed over the border into the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh. 

The new arrivals joined thousands of other Rohingya who had left during earlier waves of violence and persecution in Myanmar. Most are living in fragile shelters in overcrowded settlements where they are vulnerable to the spread of disease. 

Who are the Rohingya people?

The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority who have lived in Myanmar for hundreds of years. Denied citizenship by Myanmar’s government, they are stateless and face particular challenges obtaining access to health care and other basic rights.

Where are the Rohingya refugee camps?

Today, more than one million Rohingya refugees live in camps and makeshift settlements across Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, about 252 miles south of the capital city, Dhaka. In this region, seasonal rains and tropical storms increase the risks of flooding and landslides, compounding the dangers faced by a community that has already endured immense suffering. MSF teams are prepared to respond to emergency needs in the aftermath of such natural disasters.

Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar face ongoing violence within the camps, poor living conditions, limited access to health care, and movement restrictions that have created a sense of despair, particularly for youth.

How does Doctors Without Borders help Rohingya refugees?

In Cox’s Bazar, MSF provides a range of specialized health care services to address some of the vast health needs more than one million Rohingya refugees living in the camps, along with a growing number of patients from the host community. Services include general health care; treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension; emergency care for trauma patients; mental health; and sexual and reproductive health care. MSF also provides key support for water and sanitation activities in the camps, such as latrine de-sludging, fecal sludge treatment, hygiene promotion, and the maintenance of hand pumps, tube wells, and water networks.

The Rohingya had very limited access to health care in Myanmar, including to routine vaccinations. This makes them highly vulnerable to preventable diseases. Vaccination campaigns supported by MSF have been instrumental in preventing outbreaks of cholera and measles, and in containing the spread of diphtheria—a contagious bacterial infection known to cause airway obstruction and damage to the heart and nervous system, which can be fatal if left untreated.

We are also responding to the aftermath of horrific violence against the Rohingya committed by security forces and militias in Myanmar during “clearance operations” that began on August 25, 2017. MSF has gathered accounts from patients from different areas of Rakhine state describing raids of villages, arson attacks, shootings, stabbings, and sexual violence. Their stories paint a startling picture of widespread and targeted violence against the Rohingya. Using the most conservative figures, MSF mortality surveys indicate that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed within the first month of the violent campaign—including at least 730 children under the age of five.

Our teams provide medical and mental health care to victims of violence, including sexual violence. MSF is working with other organizations to respond to the additional needs of pregnant survivors of sexual violence and children born as a result of rape. Women and children in the refugee camps are also particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and have been targeted by human traffickers. An MSF hotline is available for survivors of sexual violence to receive information about how to reach our services as soon as possible.