NO SAFE HAVEN MONTHS TRAPPED AT SEA In early 2020, 16-year-old Aziz* was trapped out at sea for almost two months. Aziz ran out of food and water after the boat he was travelling on was turned away from Malaysia for a third time due to COVID-19 restrictions. 19-year-old Abdullah* made the perilous journey by sea so he could find work in Malaysia. After three unsuccessful attempts to reach Malaysian shores, the overcrowded boat he was on started sailing towards Myanmar. “All the food we had was finished. We were starving for days. The boat was not big enough to hold a lot of people. I can’t remember how many people there were, but we barely could move [as] we were sitting so tightly together. We had no water to drink. Some people drunk water from the sea. They got sick later. We were at sea for almost two months. I saw a man dying and the broker threw the body into the sea. The broker beat us when we asked him to turn around and go back to Bangladesh. I never thought I would survive.” 41 “We were hopeless. Because at that time we were already dying for food and water. We had no idea where we should go! Then the broker called us and said to head to Myanmar. We went there but we were turned away. After that we kept floating without any food or a drop of drinking water. Almost 60 days we kept floating. Then we were rescued by the Bangladeshi coast guard. Almost 80–90 people died due to hunger and from drinking ocean water.” 42 Wherever they are, Rohingya risk arrest and detention. In Myanmar, restrictions on their movement mean that those who travel without official permission – including children – are vulnerable to arrest and detention. In Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia undocumented Rohingya face similar risks – accused of being “illegal” migrants, particularly if they are not registered with UNHCR. In Malaysia, authorities routinely arrest and detain undocumented children, including children without their parents or guardians. While both Thailand and Indonesia have enacted policies that prevent the detention of children, such cases have continued to be reported. In Bangladesh, restrictions on Rohingya people’s freedom of movement mean they are essentially confined to refugee camps. When their parents or guardians are detained, children can suffer from emotional distress and anxiety, and are more likely to struggle to access education and adequate healthcare, particularly if the family’s primary breadwinner is detained. The risk of arrest and detention can also create a wider culture of fear, preventing children and their families from leaving their homes or travelling beyond their immediate environment. Confinement and the resulting segregation can also worsen intercommunal tensions between host communities and Rohingya, which, if left unaddressed, could lead to violence. Confinement – whether in immigration detention centres, refugee camps, ‘shelters’ or other locations – has an adverse impact on children’s physical and mental well-being. Girls and boys can experience multiple forms of violence, including physical and emotional violence, sexual abuse, child marriage, child labour and neglect. Where they are confined themselves, children can experience mental illness and poor physical health, and are at risk of self-harm and developmental impairment. 8 Rohingya children are also impacted by wider restrictions on the community, in particular those that affect their parents and guardians. Restrictions on refugees’ right to work mean that parents of Rohingya children face challenges in securing jobs. Those who do work are in informal jobs, without labour rights and other legal protections, which leaves them vulnerable to economic exploitation, abuse, arrest and detention. This situation in turn can limit children’s access to an adequate standard of living, and to education and healthcare, and exposes them to child labour and, in the case of girls, early marriage. These constraints have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as national economies have slowed and employment opportunities have dried up.