Recent inter-communal violence in western Burma between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya has displaced over 70,000 people, mainly Rohingya but also some Rakhine. In the state capital, Sittwe, where photos for this report were taken, members of the stateless Rohingya community have been moved away from the town center, cutting them off from their livelihoods. Since June, tens of thousands of them have been living in squalid displacement camps. Confidence-building measures between the two communities are urgently needed to end the current system of segregation. Tensions between the two groups will never be fully resolved until the Rohingya community’s marginalization and lack of citizenship are addressed.
This plot in Rakhine State once housed a Rohingya neighborhood. It was burned down and bulldozed during the June inter-communal violence.
Refugees International (RI) advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises.