University of Exeter study urges reversal of Rohingya aid cuts and restoration of citizenship rights

University of Exeter study urges reversal of Rohingya aid cuts and restoration of citizenship rights

(IN BRIEF) University of Exeter research led by Professor Klejda Mulaj warns that the Rohingya face “social death” whether they return to Myanmar or remain in refugee camps, and calls for urgent reversal of aid cuts and collaboration with Bangladesh to improve camp conditions. The study urges dialogue with the Arakan Army, restoration of citizenship, and an end to extortion, tracing the crisis to decades of discriminatory state policies and exclusivist nationalism in Myanmar. Without immediate intervention, it warns of escalating violence and instability in the region.

(PRESS RELEASE) EXETER, 8-Aug-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — University of Exeter research warns that the international community must urgently reverse cuts to humanitarian aid for the Rohingya and work closely with Bangladeshi authorities to improve living conditions in refugee camps. The study stresses that the two options currently facing the Rohingya—returning to Myanmar where they face intense repression, or remaining indefinitely in camps—both amount to “social death.”

Conducted by Professor Klejda Mulaj, the study urges other nations to facilitate dialogue between the Arakan Army and Rohingya refugees to ensure their human rights are protected, including the right to return to their homes in Arakan/Rakhine. It calls for decisive international pressure on Myanmar’s authorities in Naypyitaw and Sittwe to end extortion against the Rohingya, acknowledge past atrocities and provide redress, restore citizenship rights, and enable a dignified return. The research warns that excluding the Rohingya will increase regional instability and fuel further violence, which is already affecting other minority groups in Myanmar.

“The genocide against the Rohingya people of Myanmar is one of the greatest tragedies of our time,” Professor Mulaj said. “Their persecution is the result of decades of state policy and ideology rooted in nationalism, portraying them as a threatening ‘Other’ to be eliminated. Supported by Buddhist-majority endorsement, discriminatory laws have stripped the Rohingya of rights and citizenship, creating a direct link between legal frameworks and violence.”

The study traces the escalation of violence from the 1970s through the genocidal campaigns of the 2010s, showing how exclusivist nationalism and totalitarian governance entrenched the Rohingya’s exclusion. It highlights how Myanmar’s nation-state building process—centred on Buddhist religion and culture—systematically isolated and marginalised the Rohingya, depriving them of security and forcing mass displacement.

Professor Mulaj concludes that any return to Rakhine must come with enforceable guarantees of human rights, particularly citizenship, given Myanmar’s current instability. She emphasises that educating the global community about the Rohingya crisis is essential to ending neglect and stopping further cycles of violence.

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SOURCE: University of Exeter