Refugees

Malaysia to return 1,500 Rohingya refugees next month, despite safety fears

First phase of Malaysia’s repatriation plan will involve Myanmar nationals who are ‘willing to return voluntarily’.

UNRWA chief condemns Israeli seizure of East Jerusalem training centre

Christian Saunders tells Al Jazeera raid part of campaign to weaken agency and eliminate Palestinian rights.

Israel extends campaign against UNRWA to advance West Bank annexation

Raid on UNRWA centre exposes Israel’s strategic push to erase refugee rights, seal West Bank annexation, analysts say.

Rohingya rally at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. [Abdul Goni/AP Photo]

A Rohingya carries Myanmar's national flag during a rally at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar to mark the anniversary of their mass exodus from neighbouring Myanmar during a military crackdown. [Abdul Goni/AFP]

More than 1.2 million Rohingya live in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar District in southeastern Bangladesh. [Abdul Goni/AFP]

In August 2017, Rohingya refugees flooded into Bangladesh as Myanmar soldiers rased their villages and engaged in mass killings and rapes. [Yassin Abdumonab/EPA]

The United Nations says the military crackdown was carried out with "genocidal intent". The United States have called it a genocide, and The Gambia has brought a genocide case against Myanmar before the International Court of Justice. [Yassin Abdumonab/EPA]

Conditions in the refugee camps, where more than half the residents are children, have deteriorated due to funding cuts and reduced food rations, aid agencies say. [Yassin Abdumonab/EPA]

One in three refugees is expected to face "crisis" levels of hunger or worse between September and December, according to the charity Save the Children. [Yassin Abdumonab/EPA]

Bangladesh's government has previously tried to begin repatriation at least twice, but the efforts have stalled because none of the refugees was willing to return to Myanmar, citing security concerns. [Yassin Abdumonab/EPA]