The Rohingya Survey 2017

The Journey

The distance most of the Rohingya Refugees traveled to escape Myanmar is not extensive nor complex. Rakhine state lies on the border with Bangladesh, and Maungdaw township exists on this edge. Buthidaung and Rathedaung are adjacent to Maungdaw. The refugee camps in Bangladesh have been established in the Cox’s Bazaar district, just across the border. Whilst this is a long and exhausting journey to make on foot, which the majority reported to doing, it is not a complex multi-stage journey.

The average journey time taken, measured from the date the respondents reported leaving their village until the date arriving in the camp where located at time of interview, varies according to township. This is owing to the geographical position relative to the border. For those originating from Maungdaw, our findings demonstrate an average journey time of between one to five days. For Rathedaung, individuals took between five to fifteen days, and Buthidaung, six to seventeen days.

[chart of arrival dates + incidents]

As demonstrated in the table, mass arrivals increase sharply from the 26th of August onwards.This trend continues to be evident until the 26th September. The majority of the sample (62%) arrived in just a ten day window; between the 1st and the 10th of September. Whilst the dates of survey collection may have influenced this, UNHCR have also found the majority of arrivals occurred within September. This also reflects the reports of disturbances and clearance operations in Rakhine state which, though building up through the days and weeks preceding, experience unprecedented levels on the 25th August onwards. This trend is corroborated in our findings of incidents experienced in the respondent's home villages mirroring their departure dates.



[footage from entry points]

The Xchange research team found that there were fifteen main entry points through which the Rohingya transited on arrival. These entry points are the first villages that they reached upon entering Bangladesh, whether by boat across the Naf river or through other points. Almost all of the respondents stated that they had to walk for some/all of this emigration. Many entered into Bangladesh by crossing the river Naf; a physical separation of the two countries.

When crossing the river Naf, the Rohingya had to rely on smugglers to assist them through providing boat crossings. Anecdotal reports inform us that these smugglers are exclusively Bangladeshi who opportunistically capitalised on the exodus. They are not professional smugglers but fortuitously found their services in demand by virtue of having access to a boat. Of our sample, 85% had to pay a smuggler whilst crossing the border. The price paid varies a great deal, but there is some trend observable in the average price paid per entry point. This reflects the size of the river, and time taken to cross. In addition, our research team were informed that there did not tend to be a fixed price. The price paid depended on what the smugglers believed they could get according to the wealth of the person - accepting jewelry or gold in some cases. Some respondents reported being robbed or abused by the smugglers. “When he [respondent] was crossing to the Bangladesh border by small boat the local Bengali snatched his wife's ornament in place of money because he didn't have enough money to give.” There were also stories of boats capsizing, killing the people onboard. “On 15th Sept, at 12pm, they [respondent] tried to cross the river at the border to escape, but the boat’s engine failed and it started taking in water. In the boat were his wife, elder son’s wife, and granddaughter who all drowned. Their bodies were recovered by the relatives and bought somewhere to perform burial rites.”

Context

The distance most of the Rohingya Refugees traveled to escape Myanmar is not extensive nor complex. Rakhine state lies on the border with Bangladesh, and Maungdaw township exists on this edge. Buthidaung and Rathedaung are adjacent to Maungdaw. The refugee camps in Bangladesh have been established in the Cox’s Bazaar district, just across the border. Whilst this is a long and exhausting journey to make on foot, which the majority reported to doing, it is not a complex multi-stage journey.
The average journey time taken, measured from the date the respondents reported leaving their village until the date arriving in the camp where located at time of interview, varies according to township. This is owing to the geographical position relative to the border. For those originating from Maungdaw, our findings demonstrate an average journey time of between one to five days. For Rathedaung, individuals took between five to fifteen days, and Buthidaung, six to seventeen days.the preview page. The theme is open source, and you can use it for any purpose, personal or commercial.

Incidents

The distance most of the Rohingya Refugees traveled to escape Myanmar is not extensive nor complex. Rakhine state lies on the border with Bangladesh, and Maungdaw township exists on this edge. Buthidaung and Rathedaung are adjacent to Maungdaw. The refugee camps in Bangladesh have been established in the Cox’s Bazaar district, just across the border. Whilst this is a long and exhausting journey to make on foot, which the majority reported to doing, it is not a complex multi-stage journey.

Incidents

The distance most of the Rohingya Refugees traveled to escape Myanmar is not extensive nor complex. Rakhine state lies on the border with Bangladesh, and Maungdaw township exists on this edge. Buthidaung and Rathedaung are adjacent to Maungdaw. The refugee camps in Bangladesh have been established in the Cox’s Bazaar district, just across the border. Whilst this is a long and exhausting journey to make on foot, which the majority reported to doing, it is not a complex multi-stage journey.
The average journey time taken, measured from the date the respondents reported leaving their village until the date arriving in the camp

where located at time of interview, varies according to township. This is owing to the geographical position relative to the border. For those originating from Maungdaw, our findings demonstrate an average journey time of between one to five days. For Rathedaung, individuals took between five to fifteen days, and Buthidaung, six to seventeen days.the preview page. The theme is open source, and you can use it for any purpose, personal or commercial.