Exploring the human rights of the Rohingya : a case study of Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh

Abstract

The thesis explores the human rights of Muslim ethnic group from Myanmar, the Rohingya. The research focuses on what happened to the Rohingya in Myanmar, what their current living conditions are in the refugee camp in Bangladesh, and what they hope for their future. It analyzes Rohingyas’ human rights in Myanmar and in the refugee camp in Bangladesh, and their rights of future generations. The Rohingya are stateless since Myanmar does not give citizenship to them despite the fact that they have been living in Rakhine province in Western Myanmar for generations. The Rohingya have been faced with discrimination including: founding a family, the kinds of economic activities they could carry out, access to education and ability to travel. Over many years the Rohingya faced with discrimination and violence have used Bangladesh as a safety zone.The Myanmar military’s crackdown in late August 2017 led to more than half a million Rohingyas fleeing into Bangladesh. At the outbreak of the crisis, the Rohingya who survived from the violence had to walk for a few days in a rain, struggled to climb mountains in order to reach neighboring Bangladesh. There the Rohingya have settled in large numbers in the refugee camp of Kutupolong. The research explores their past in Myanmar, their present situation in the refugee camp in Bangladesh and their future from a human rights perspective.