New arrivals in Bangladesh The largest movement of refugees through South-East Asia in 2016 took place in the wake of attacks on border posts in northern Rakhine state, Myanmar, on 9 October and 12-13 November that were followed by a military response to the attacks. By 31 December, an estimated 43,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly from Maungdaw in northern Rakhine state, had led either overland to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, or by boat across the Naf River, which separates Bangladesh and Myanmar. Several capsizes were reported, resulting in dozens of deaths, and between 8 October 2016 and 22 January 2017, Bangladesh authorities reportedly acknowledged pushing back 5,316 Rohingya to Myanmar. In addition to 31,000 more newly-arrived Rohingya refugees identiied in Bangladesh in January and February 2017, a further 20,000 people are believed to have been internally displaced within northern Rakhine state since October 2016, though most of those internally displaced are believed to have since returned home. Access to the area remains restricted, particularly for international humanitarian staf and local Muslim staf, so igures cannot be veriied, but the total estimated displacement of nearly 100,000 people is comparable to some 112,500 Rohingya believed to have travelled by sea to Malaysia from 2012 to 2015. Recently arrived Rohingya refugees build their new home from bamboo in Bangladesh after leeing violence in Myanmar. © UNHCR/Saiful Huq Omi UNHCR staf in Bangladesh conducted conidential protection interviews of over 500 Rohingya families who arrived in Bangladesh after October 2016 to determine their needs and vulnerabilities. Most interviewees led to Bangladesh after becoming direct victims of violence in Myanmar, while a minority had led as a precautionary measure. Among the interviewees, children reported witnessing their parents shot dead in their homes, women said they were raped and sought medical treatment in Bangladesh, and the fate of hundreds of interviewees’ family members apprehended by authorities or separated during light was unknown. Some interviewees had recent bullet or burn wounds, and most said their homes had either been looted, burned, or demolished. Due to the restricted access in many of the refugees’ places of origin in Myanmar, it has not been possible to conduct independent veriication of these accounts. 3