According to the United Nations, nearly 310,000 Rohingya refugees are seeking shelter in Bangladesh from Myanmar's Rakhine state at the moment. The United Nations report stated that there are "countless" more still stranded in Myanmar attempting to find a way out of the country in order to flee persecution. Border security from the state of Bangladesh has reportedly made it difficult for them to find refuge in the south-eastern parts of the country. If you want to help the Rohingya people, here are some organizations to look into.
From Partners Relief and Development, Save the Children, to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, a handful of organizations are leading desperately needed initiatives to help Rohingya refugees find physical and political shelter from alleged state-sanctioned violence (the state denies allegations of human rights violations).
For those who may not know, repression of the Rohingya people has been an ongoing case of human rights violations for decades. As BBC noted, citizenship of the Rohingya people is rejected by Myanmar while, on a social level, opportunities for employment and education are little to none.
A military crackdown executed by the Rakhine state on alleged "terrorists" within Rohingya people has been going on for the past few months but global activists have criticized the state's modus operandi and have described the operations as "mass atrocities" against the Rohingyas. While speaking to BBC, Tun Khin of the Burmese Rohingya Organization in the United Kingdom said that "mass atrocities" were being committed by security forces against the frequently vilified minority group while the United Nations fears that the Rohingya people in the Rakhine state are facing ethnic cleansing. So far, the Myanmar government has denied all allegations of human rights violations against the Rohingya ethnic group.
Some humanitarian organizations are operating on the ground in Bangladesh, attempting to help Rohingya men and women find a semblance of stability in the middle of such violence and chaos. Humanitarian activists believe Rohingya refugees could face starvation, which is why an organization called Partners Relief and Development (PRD) is helping refugee men and women gain basic access to food. The PRD initiative is meant to supply refugees with seeds and fertilizers so that they are materially enabled to grow their own source of nutrition.
The website also offers three types of help you can provide, including giving a monthly donation for Rohingya children, fund-raising for the campaign, and conducting advocacy. The advocacy campaign of the PRD initiative involves amplifying voices on social media to bring awareness about the ongoing refugee crisis. You can use your reach on social media to highlight the issue for your friends and followers.
Another organization called Save the Children is centered on protecting young Rohingya people who don't have parents or guardians around them. As numerous children have lost their parents in the ongoing crisis, STC seeks donations to provide counseling to these children as well as child-friendly spaces where they can seek temporary but much-needed refuge from political violence.
If you want to help Rohingya men and women with basic items like blankets, drinking water, and mats to rest on, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees is seeking donations to do just that. You can give a one-time donation or a monthly donation as the website provides both options.
Activists have implored the world to pay attention and help as they find feasible. As the political violence escalates against the ethnic minority group in Myanmar, the need for increased aid and protection from the global community continues to grow. Human rights officials at the United Nations have labeled the ongoing repression of Rohingya people as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and further described the Myanmar security operation as "cruel" reflecting a "pattern of severe and widespread discrimination against the Rohingya population."
