World Refugee Day Statement

In Myanmar, one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises is exacerbating nationwide by the second. While it is a significant underestimate according to local civil society, approximately 1.5 million refugees have been reported; of them, at least 184,000 have become refugees due to the Burmese military’s February 1, 2021 attempted coup and its ensuing brutalities, including its indiscriminate airstrikes on civilians and forced recruitment of youth. From Thailand to India, none of these civilians are guaranteed full protection from immigration detention, forcible deportation, or human trafficking. Recent mass funding cuts to international aid, especially through USAID, have further compromised Myanmar refugees’ already meageraccess to shelter, food and clean water, healthcare, education, employment and other basic services and livelihoods in squalid refugee camps and slums. Combined, these conditions have put refugee women and girls at heightened risk of sexual and gender-based violence, domestic and interpersonal violence, and child and forced marriage without any reliable recourse to justice.

Such international and regional negligence is being acutely felt in Rakhine State, where a “second genocide” is now yielding another exodus of Rohingya. At least 118,000 Rohingya have sought refuge in Bangladesh over the past year following the November 2023 resumption of conflict between the military and the Arakan Army (AA). The AA’s targeted atrocities – compounded by the junta’s decades of genocidal policies and attacks, and a looming famine – have also forced over 13,000 Rohingya, including women and children, to rely on dangerous sea crossings for their desperate escape.

To effectively support Myanmar’s millions of refugees, the international community must accept the harsh reality of the country’s multifaceted humanitarian crisis. Solely relying on the “good will” of the junta – and, in the case of Rohingya, the AA – for the protection of the very people they are attacking will only prolong the crisis.

Therefore, over four years since the military’s attempted coup and nearly eight years since the 2017 genocide, it is time for bold and principled actions that will directly support refugees, their community, and their collective future. WPN calls for the full protection of refugees, especially by ensuring their asylum and refuge over their detention and deportation; the immediate and flexible delivery of humanitarian aid to local civil society and diverse women-led groups supporting refugees; and the comprehensive provision of basic services and livelihoods – including formal education, employment opportunities, and mental health and psychosocial support – to the refugees.

Ultimately, addressing the root causes of Myanmar’s crisis is critical to ending its decades-long cycle of exodus. Leading up to the historic “High-Level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya and Other Minorities in Myanmar” this September, actions for victim and survivor-centered justice and accountability must be prioritized in achieving the safe, sustainable, voluntary, and dignified return of all refugees to their homeland.

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