NO SAFE HAVEN vulnerable to exploitation and abuse in hazardous working conditions. While all Rohingya struggle to access education, Rohingya girls, and particularly adolescent girls, are much less likely to access education than boys. This is due to a combination of factors, including cultural norms that require adolescent girls to stay home, take care of children, and help with housework; or expectations for adolescent girls to marry. In some cases, parental concerns about girls’ security – especially if they are in mixed-sex classes, have all male teachers, or have to travel to access education institutions – also prevent them accessing education. The situation has knock-on impacts for girls’ lives, security and future opportunities, as girls who stop schooling are much more likely to marry early and thus are at greater risk of child pregnancy. Denial of access to education has wide-ranging and long-lasting impacts for children. Education is often the main tool for people to lift themselves out of poverty and seek a better future for themselves and their families. It is also an essential way to ensure that people know their rights and are able to seek justice and other remedies when these rights are denied.26 In areas with a history of conflict, communal tension, and instability, education can similarly play an important role in building resilience, countering discrimination, and promoting peace. Lack of access to education also impacts children’s mental health, especially if they feel they have no control over their lives or opportunities for their future. For refugee and asylum-seeking children who have experienced trauma and live with ongoing instability and lack of security, education can play an important role providing them with structure, a daily routine and supporting them to cultivate positive self-esteem. 2.5 A VULNERABLE POPULATION With the situation in Myanmar still extremely dangerous, Rohingya have continued to flee the country in search of a better life for themselves and their families. However, as de facto stateless persons, they hold no recognised proof of legal identity or nationality, which is a prerequisite to entering another country and also leaves them at risk of arrest and detention within Myanmar. Unable to use safe and legal routes, they are forced to rely on non-legal routes, which expose them to abuse and exploitation at the hands of human traffickers and people smugglers. Over the years, tens of thousands of Rohingya, including children, have boarded boats in Myanmar and Bangladesh and undertaken perilous journeys across the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea in search of a better MARITIME MOVEMENTS OF ROHINGYA Estimated number of people attempting maritime journeys. Sea journeys are becoming more deadly. In 2020, 8% of people who attempted the journey lost their lives, amounting to more than 200 dead or missing persons. In contrast, in 2019, less than 1% of persons attempting the journey died. Source: Data from UN High Commissioner for Refugees 6