Rohingya Crisis Deepens Nine Years After Myanmar Military Attacks

Life outside Myanmar has brought safety from some immediate threats, yet many refugees continue to live with poverty, acute food insecurity, preventable illnesses and inadequate living conditions.

Nine years after military attacks in Myanmar drove hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from their homes, the community remains caught between violence inside the country and an increasingly difficult life as refugees across South and Southeast Asia. United Nations experts have warned that continuing conflict, persecution, denial of citizenship and shrinking humanitarian support are leaving Rohingya families with few realistic prospects for a safe and dignified future.

More than 1.6 million Rohingya refugees remained outside Myanmar at the end of 2025, according to reports cited by the experts, with the largest population living in Bangladesh and others residing in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Inside Myanmar, Rohingya communities continue to face displacement and serious abuses amid fighting involving the military and the Arakan Army, while entrenched discrimination and the lack of citizenship make safe, voluntary and sustainable return extremely difficult.

Funding Cuts Deepen an Already Severe Humanitarian Crisis

Life outside Myanmar has brought safety from some immediate threats, yet many refugees continue to live with poverty, acute food insecurity, preventable illnesses and inadequate living conditions. UN experts warned that declining humanitarian funding is making these pressures more severe at a time when refugee communities remain heavily dependent on outside assistance for food, healthcare and other essential services.

The situation in Bangladesh, which hosts the vast majority of Rohingya refugees, has become particularly concerning as funding shortages have contributed to significant reductions in humanitarian assistance, including healthcare support in recent years. Conditions differ across host countries, yet Rohingya communities continue to encounter serious barriers to education, medical care and livelihoods, alongside risks of arbitrary detention, racist hate speech and forced return to Myanmar.

Women and Girls Face Growing Risks as Desperation Rises

The worsening humanitarian environment is creating additional dangers for Rohingya women and girls, who are increasingly exposed to trafficking, exploitation and gender-based violence. Limited employment opportunities, inadequate services and uncertainty about the future can push vulnerable families toward desperate choices, while refugees searching for security elsewhere may place themselves in the hands of smugglers or attempt dangerous sea crossings.

Journeys across the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal can become life-threatening, particularly when people travel in overcrowded or unsafe vessels with limited food, water and protection. The experts warned that continuing persecution in Myanmar, combined with deteriorating conditions in refugee communities, is contributing to further movements across the region rather than creating the stability needed for people to rebuild their lives.

UN Experts Call for Protection, Aid and Accountability

UN experts urged the international community to prevent the Rohingya crisis from slipping out of global attention, stressing that many people remain without citizenship, adequate protection or meaningful prospects for their future nine years after the attacks that triggered the mass displacement.

They called on all parties to the conflict in Myanmar to protect Rohingya communities from violence, forced recruitment, displacement and other serious human rights violations, while allowing unhindered humanitarian assistance to reach people in need. Conditions inside Myanmar must also allow displaced Rohingya to return safely and voluntarily to their places of origin rather than placing them under renewed threats.

Host countries were urged not to forcibly deport or return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar when they could face serious violations and abuses. The experts also called on governments to ensure Rohingya people can access essential services without discrimination and are treated according to international human rights standards.

Nine years of displacement have turned what began as an immediate humanitarian emergency into a prolonged regional crisis, leaving an entire generation of Rohingya facing uncertainty over citizenship, education, livelihoods and the possibility of ever returning home safely.