Prior to 2016, the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar faced systemic discrimination and denial of basic human rights. In the Rakhine state, where most Rohingya live, they were subjected to violent persecution and exclusion by the Myanmar government, which has long considered them undesirable and denied them citizenship. The Rohingya were denied recognition as an ethnic group, which left them stateless and without legal protections. They were also restricted in their freedom of movement and faced severe limitations on access to education, healthcare, and employment.
The government’s policies toward the Rohingya amounted to a form of apartheid, with the population confined to isolated areas and living in conditions of extreme poverty. Rohingya children were unable to attend school, and adults were often unable to find work or access necessary medical care. The government imposed heavy restrictions on their rights, including denying them the ability to marry without government approval, making them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
Despite the ongoing discrimination, the international community largely failed to take meaningful action to address the situation. The denial of citizenship and basic human rights created a volatile environment, laying the groundwork for the violent campaigns of ethnic cleansing and genocide that would escalate in the years to come.
Dar Paing camp for internally displaced Rohingya, established in 2012 after the waves of inter community violence in Rakhine State. Although called IDP camps, the population has been forcibly moved in them and have no possibility of leaving them, creating de-facto open air prisons. Sittwe township, Myanmar, September 2015.
Locked up Rohingya man near a military check point in Aung Mingalar, detained for not respecting the curefew. Aung Mingalar is the sole remaining neighbourhood in Sittwe where around 4,500 Rohingya live in a sealed-off ghetto without any freedom of movement out of it. Sittwe, Myanmar, September 2015
Local train that runs through the IDP camps in Sittwe township where the Rohingya population is only allowed in a segregated wagon guarded by heavily armed police. Sittwe township, Rakhine State in Myanmar, May 2017
Say Tha Ma Hyi internment camp for Rohingya in Sittwe township, Myanmar, September 2015
One of the accesses to the fully sealed off Rohingya gettho of Aung Mingalar in Sittwe. The Rohingya population is not allowed to leave that part of town since the inter ethnic violence of 2012 and live in a de-facto concentration camp. The State capital of Rakhine, Sittwe, Myanmar, June 2016
Persecuted Rohingya, Ohn Taw Gyi concentration camp, Sittwe, Myanmar, September 2015
Rohingya fishermen bringing ice on board. Thau Chaung village near Sittwe, Myanmar, September 2015
Mother and child in Ohn Taw Gyi camp for the persecuted Rohingya minority of Rahine State in Myanmar. Over 120,000 Rohingya live forcibly in concentration camps around Sittwe since 2012. Sittwe, September 2015
Say Tha Ma Hyi concentration camp for Rohingya in Sittwe township, Myanmar, September 2015
Rohingya girl with traditional thanaka powder. Thanaka is made from wood and beside cosmetic beauty it protects from sunburns and removes acne. Thau Chuang camp for forcibly displaced Rohingya near Sittwe, Myanmar, September 2015
Beach from where trafficers launch their boats filled with desperate boat people, Ohn Taw Gyi Rohingya village in Rakhine State, Myanmar, September 2015
Suffering of tuberculosis, with no access to healthcare and medicine since the expulsion of Medecins Sans Frontieres from the camps. MSF was the sole organisation providing primary healthcare to the Rohingya population. After denouncing ethnic cleansing operation in the region they were expelled from Rakhine. Thau Chuang camp, Sittwe, Myanmar, September 2015
Rohingya displaced person entrapped in a concentration like camp where the population is not allowed to leave the camp. Thau Chaung internal displaced person camp, Sittwe, Myanmar, October 2016
Class in the Medressa of Khaung Doke Khar camp for Rohingya near Sittwe, Myanmar, September 2015
Stateless Rohingya boy in his own country. Motin Nya IDP camp, Sittwe township, Myanmar, May 2016
The apartheid trein under heavy guard running through the IDP camps outside Sittwe, Rakhine, Myanmar, June 2016
Father holding the photographs of his daughter and son in law killed on board a trafficker boat bound for Thailand in 2015. Dar Paing internment camp for the persecuted Rohingya minority. Sittwe township, Rakhine, Myanmar, May 2016
Street food stall in the capital of Rakhine, with the fenced-off mosque in the background. The mosque is inaccessible as part of a plan to erase all Muslim signs in the city. Sittwe, Myanmar, June 2016
Ohn Taw Gyi IDP Camp for persecuted Rohingya displaced following the 2012 inter ethnic violance. The Rohingya population of Sittwe township that was forced to live in the internment camps are not allowed to leave the camp and go to the nearby town of Sittwe. Access to livelihood, education and healthcare are extremely difficult. Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 2016
Boy suffering of abdominal distosion. Since MSF was expelled in 2013 no appropriate health care has been available for the Rohingya community. His father was killed during the inter-communal violence in 2012 As unregistered camp dwellers they do not receive any regular help or support and are on the edge of survival. Dar Paing retention camp for unregistered Rohingya, Sittwe, Myanmar, May 2016
Rohingya IDPs waiting for the train to move in between IDP camps and Rohingya villages. Sittwe township, Rakhine, Myanmar, June 2016
Improvised religious school on a building site. Paugdok village near Mrauk-U, Rakhine, Myanmar, May 2016
Latrines on the edge of the camp limit's near the flooded areas. Baw Du Pha camp for forcibely displaced Rohingya from Sittwe township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, October 2016
The apartheid trein under heavy guard running through the IDP camps outside Sittwe, Rakhine, Myanmar, June 2016
Displaced Rohingya, victim of inter ethnic violance. Thau Chaung camp for displaced Rohingya from Sittwe. Sittwe township, Myanmar, October 2016
Final train station about one hour north of Sittwe, Rakhine, Myanmar, June 2016
A woman collecting wood in an abandonned house of an ethnically cleasned neighbourhood of Sittwe where Rohingya Muslims used to live before being forcibly expelled in 2012. Naziri neighbourhood in Sittwe the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar, October 2016
Rohingya IDPs in their allocated space in the train running through the IDP camps and villages north of Sittwe, Rakhine, Myanmar, June 2016
Tea shop activity, Thau Chaung camp for displaced Rohingya, Sittwe township, October 2016
Baw Du Pha internment camp for forcibly displaced Rohingya. Sittwe township in Rakhine, Myanmar, October 2016
