According to the United Nations on Friday, Bangladesh has seen the largest influx of Rohingya refugees in the last 18 months since the overwhelming departure of Myanmar’s predominantly Muslim minority almost ten years ago.
Since early 2024, up to 150,000 Rohingya have entered Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee camps, according to the UN refugee agency.
“Thousands of Rohingya have been forced to seek protection in Bangladesh due to targeted violence and persecution in Rakhine State and the ongoing conflict in Myanmar,” UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva.
“This movement of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, spread over months, is the largest from Myanmar since 2017, when some 750,000 fled the deadly violence in their native Rakhine State,” he stated.