The Grimshaw Review of International Affairs Vol. 2, No. 1
continue to perpetuate a cycle of exclusion and dependency, further entrenching the
Rohingya’s disempowerment rather than alleviating it.
7. The Role of Digital Advocacy and NGOs
Digital platforms offer new possibilities for advocacy. However, prevailing power dynamics
in both Myanmar and other countries like Bangladesh often determine who can participate in
these digital spheres, and on what terms. In Myanmar, the military’s systemic repression of
online spaces, through internet shutdowns, surveillance, and the criminalisation of VPN use,
severely restricts the flow of information and marginalises civil society organisations (Human
Rights Myanmar, 2025). Although there was an initial opening of media freedoms under the
USDP, this stalled under the NLD and has regressed sharply since the 2021 coup (Khine,
2020; Crispin, 2019; cited in Middelton & Win, 2021, p. 54). Meanwhile, the digital sphere
has been manipulated through disinformation campaigns, the militarisation of platforms like
TikTok, and inadequate content moderation, particularly in Burmese and minority languages
(International Crisis Group, 2021, p. 30). These dynamics constrain the operational capacity
of NGOs, while simultaneously distorting democratic discourse and silencing refugee voices,
revealing the critical link between digital access and political agency.
Nonetheless, digital platforms and NGOs have exhibited a capacity to emerge as critical
arenas for advocacy and refugee self-representation during the Rohingya crisis. For many
Rohingya refugees, access to the internet is linked with their sense of identity and visibility;
as one refugee participant in Sonia’s (2023, p. 1) study noted, “Without the internet, we have
no existence.” Yet, this essential connection to the rest of the world’s media coverage was
denied to refugees in Cox’s Bazar until August 2020 – three years after their displacement –
leaving the camp residents isolated from global news and critical updates, further
marginalising an already vulnerable population (Chowdhury and Barua, 2020). Internet
access was only granted after significant international pressure, suggesting the need for
global support to push forward local policies that enable the Rohingya to gain greater access
to advocacy tools.
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