Rohingya crisis deepens as Myanmar poll offers no hope for return

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (MNTV) —  The Rohingya refugee crisis is once again testing Southeast Asia’s willingness to respond to one of the world’s longest-running humanitarian emergencies. 

With Bangladesh overwhelmed, Malaysia stretched, and Indonesia facing local backlash, more Rohingya are turning to perilous sea journeys as regional solutions remain elusive, reports South China Morning Post.

Rashid arrived on the Malaysian island of Langkawi as a young child after weeks at sea on a fishing boat packed with Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar. Driven out by soldiers and ethnic Buddhist militias who razed their villages, the Rohingya are one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.

Now 14, Rashid has watched boat after boat reach Langkawi over the past decade as his stateless community continues to escape violence and discrimination.

“We did not choose Malaysia because we thought it was a good or nice country,” he told This Week in Asia, requesting to give only his first name for fear of deportation. “The only reason was that my father was already there, and my mother decided to follow him so we could survive.”

The dangers of these journeys remain stark. In November, at least 28 Rohingya — including nine women and five children — died when a boat capsized near Langkawi, highlighting the risks faced by people with few alternatives.

As Myanmar’s ruling junta prepares to hold elections that observers say are designed to entrench military rule, prospects for Rohingya returning home remain bleak. Since the 1970s, the Muslim minority has been pushed out of Rakhine state, where they are viewed as outsiders in a country deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines.

In 2017, a military campaign supported by ethnic Rakhine militias killed thousands and forced around one million Rohingya into Bangladesh, while others fled south to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. 

The United Nations described the crackdown as ethnic cleansing and genocide, and the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for junta chief Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity.

Conditions have worsened since the military seized power in a 2021 coup. Rohingya civilians are increasingly caught between junta air strikes and the Arakan Army, a powerful ethnic Rakhine armed group that is fighting the central government but remains hostile toward Muslims.

“Civilians have been killed, forcibly displaced, arbitrarily detained, and in some cases used as human shields by the military,” said Yap Lay Sheng, senior human rights defender at Fortify Rights.

According to UNHCR data, up to 150,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee camps in the past 18 months, with more than 600 feared dead or missing during sea crossings. Bangladesh now hosts more than one million registered Rohingya refugees.

Malaysia, which is home to around 200,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers — roughly half of them Rohingya — offers limited protection. Refugees are considered illegal immigrants and lack access to formal work or social services. Similar conditions apply in Thailand, India and Indonesia, where rising tensions with local communities have been reported.

The surge in sea journeys has coincided with declining international aid. U.S. humanitarian funding cuts earlier this year affected more than half of the 1.2 million Rohingya in Bangladesh’s camps.

Charles Santiago, chairman of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, said regional governments have repeatedly failed to address the crisis. “Bangladesh has been very clear that it cannot manage this crisis alone,” he said.

In Malaysia, shrinking NGO resources have increased the risks of exploitation. “Malaysia has become an enabling environment for abuse,” said Adrian Pereira, director of the North South Initiative. “Malaysia has failed to protect refugees adequately. Racism, xenophobia and precarious living conditions are widespread yet the system offers no alternatives.”

For Rashid, life in exile has brought both hardship and moments of hope — his younger brother was born in Langkawi. Still, thoughts of returning home remain distant. “One day if we finally get our rights, safety and freedom, I want to return home to Rakhine and live peacefully in my own home again,” he said.