Event: Rohingyas

Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall in Moscow on Aug. 18. | REUTERS Geneva – The already dire human rights situation in Myanmar has plunged to a “new low,” the United Nations warned on Tuesday, with illegal mining and scam centers fueling the crisis.The U.N. human rights office denounced the “ever-worsening brutal abuse” of the Rohingya minority and the “devastating impact” of illicit economies, including mining for rare earths.Myanmar’s ruling junta seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021, that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, ending a 10-year experiment with democracy and plunging the southeast Asian nation into bloody turmoil and a humanitarian crisis. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. SUBSCRIBE NOW

Rohingyas shout slogans during an event at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on August 25, 2026, marking the anniversary of their exodus. | Photo Credit: AP Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in dozens of camps in Bangladesh held a rally Tuesday (August 25, 2026) to demand their safe return to their home state, nine years after they fled a government crackdown.The demonstrators urged the international community to ensure security in Rakhine State as they marked what they call the “Ninth Anniversary of Rohingya Genocide Day”.More than 1 million refugees from Myanmar's Rohingya ethnic and religious minority now live in the sprawling camps around the Cox's Bazar district of southeastern Bangladesh.Most of them fled across the border in a mass exodus in 2017 after Buddhist-majority Myanmar launched a crackdown in Rakhine, following an attack by a Rohingya Muslim insurgent group.The Bangladesh government earlier attempted to start the repatriation at least twice, but it did not work out as none of the refugees was willing to go back, citing security concerns. Bangladesh says it will not force anyone to return.In January, the International Court of Justice held hearings in a case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2017.During three weeks of hearings, the court reviewed documentary evidence, expert testimony, and private witness statements concerning mass killings, systematic sexual violence and the destruction of villages.The scale, organisation and ferocity of the operation led to accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide from the international community, including the United Nations.Myanmar told the court that its deadly military campaign against the Rohingya was a legitimate counter-terrorism operation and did not amount to genocide.After the 2017 crackdown, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims crossed from Rakhine into neighbouring Bangladesh on foot and by boat during shelling,…