Our Rohingya Members
Victim Advocates International have had Rohingya victim groups in our membership since 2019.
We support our Rohingya members in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and equip them with the tools they need to fight for justice.
Background
The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority group from the Rakhine State of Myanmar. With their own distinct language and culture, they have faced brutal discrimination and persecution in Myanmar for many years.
In 1982, Myanmar passed a citizenship law that effectively made the Rohingya stateless. As a result, they are excluded from many aspects of society, including education, healthcare, and employment, and have faced restrictions on their freedom of movement.
In August 2017, the Rohingya were finally driven from their homeland in a wave of brutal violence committed by the Myanmar military. This included mass killings, sexual violence, and the burning of Rohingya villages, which forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh. This was described as a ‘textbook case of ethnic cleansing’ by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
More than six years later, almost a million Rohingya are living in Cox’s Bazar, the largest refugee camp in the world. Forbidden from working, they are largely dependent on ever-diminishing, humanitarian aid. Approximately 600,000 are still in Myanmar, where they continue to suffer severe rights restrictions and the threat of further violence.
Learn more in the BBC documentary The Rohingya Camps: Let Down By the UN (2023)
Eva Buzo with Rohingya members in Cox’s Bazar, December 2023 (All images courtesy of Ro Yassin Abdumonab)
An example of our ongoing #KnowYourJustice video series, that puts questions from the Rohingya community to the institutions working for justice on their behalf.
Our work
Currently, Myanmar's actions are being investigated by the International Criminal Court, the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) and is the subject of proceedings under universal jurisdiction in Argentina and the International Court of Justice.
The problem is that the Rohingya people feel alienated from these courts. They are taking place far away in languages most do not understand. And despite their best intentions, direct engagement with the Rohingya is low.
As members of VAI, Rohingya groups set their own priorities and goals. The VAI secretariat provides members with expert legal, advocacy, and organisational development support so they can be advocates for their community, and to start justice movements of their own.
