March 8, 2022

As the world marks the International Women’s Day, the European Rohingya Council (ERC) acknowledges and emphasises the important roles that Rohingya women and girls play in the daily struggles for human rights, justice and accountability.

While Women’s Rights are widely underlined globally, Rohingya women and girls are deprived of every rights at home in their birthplace, Myanmar and in Bangladesh refugee camps where they were forced to flee at the heights of genocide in Myanmar. The restrictions on movement, freedom of education and its accessibility in both countries decapitate Rohingya women and girls’ capacity to improve and revitalise the literacy rate in the community, and nurture and transmit vital education to young generations at the early stages of life.

Rohingya women are at the forefront in the fight for justice and accountability of the genocide they have experienced in Myanmar, despite they bear the heavy brunt of lived experiences of discrimination and human rights abuses, the trauma of physical and sexual abuses during the genocide and the responsibilities of upbringing children with limited resources.

Despite sufferings, restricted spaces and resources, Rohingya women and girls lead the community from the grassroots to global levels showing their resilience and hope to forge a community full of equality, prosperity, peace and justice.

For too long, the world has left behind Rohingya women and girls while Women’s Rights are being promoted elsewhere. Rohingya women and girls deserve a world that is supportive, equitable, inclusive, unbiased, non-discriminatory and accountable.

On the International Women’s Day, the European Rohingya Council urges the international community to protect Rohingya women and girls in Myanmar from atrocious crimes of the ongoing genocide, discriminations and human rights abuses.

The European Rohingya Council also calls upon Bangladesh and the international community to combat human trafficking and allow Rohingya girls access to education in order to build their lives and that of the community.

For more information:

Dr. Ambia Perveen
Chairperson
The European Rohingya Council (ERC)
[email protected]

Original post.