The traffickers reportedly have a series of networks from the refugee camps in southern Bangladesh to Myanmar’s Rakhine state across the border, highlighting the severity of this crisis.
The traffickers reportedly have a series of networks from the refugee camps in southern Bangladesh to Myanmar’s Rakhine state across the border, highlighting the severity of this crisis.
In a new report by the Kuala Lumpur based NGO The Child Rights Coalition Malaysia (CRCM), it has been revealed that Malaysia has become a destination for the sex trafficking of Rohingya girls. The NGO has documented numerous cases in its 101 page report that highlights how criminal gangs lure Rohingya teenagers in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, promising them a better life in Malaysia when in actuality trafficking and exploiting them.
With the girls trafficked mostly under the age of 18, the report stated:
Malaysia has also been a destination for sex trafficking. Traffickers go around refugee camps in Bangladesh promising Rohingya girls a better life in Malaysia by offering them work opportunities. However, these girls are often forced into sex trafficking.”
Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Bangladesh’s senior Home Minister and Rohingya leader, confirmed the details in the report, stating to BenarNews that the trafficking of young Rohingya girls from the refugee camps in Bangladesh were on the rise:
A syndicate of human traffickers lures the Rohingya [with the promise of] of a better life and jobs, and smuggles them to Malaysia. In some cases, they make false Bangladeshi passports to go to Malaysia.”
Because Bangladesh does not issue passports or citizenship to refugees, the traffickers often smuggle the young girls by boats out into the sea en-route to Malaysia. The traffickers also reportedly have a series of networks from the refugee camps in southern Bangladesh to Myanmar’s Rakhine state across the border, where the majority of the Rohingya come from originally. The report highlighted how the sex traffickers are most active at the Kutupalong refugee camp in the Cox’s Bazar district in Bangladesh.
The Rohingya refugee crisis has been condemned by the UN as attempted genocide by Myanmar’s militias, in one of the world’s worst refugee and humanitarian disasters. A small Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar, the Rohingya remain distinct with their own language and culture. Mostly living in Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, and despite living in the state of Myanmar for generations, the Rohingya are still not recognized as citizens and are denied numerous basic human rights within the country.
After a series of clashes between Rohingya militants, in no way representing the majority of Rohingya, and Buddhist-majority government forces, an intensified campaign against the entire population of the Rohingya began in 2017. Thousands of Rohingya have since been killed by militant Buddhist militias and government forces, with more than 700,000 fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh – creating one of the worst refugee crises in the world. Accounts of mass rape, torture, and systematic killings have caused many to label this as a blatant attempt of genocide by the Myanmar state.
Brought forward by The Gambia, Myanmar has officially been accused of genocide in the International Criminal Court. Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has defended the cruel actions of her armed forces at the UN International Court of Justice however, and the trial remains ongoing.
