Burma Human Rights Network’s report: “We also have dreams” Introduction This report interviewed a sample of Rohingya refugees living in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. All of them fled Burma in 2017 when the Burmese military waged a genocidal campaign against the minority driving one of the largest mass exoduses in recent history¹. Since then, they have lived in squalid and crowded conditions regularly exposed to the elements during monsoon season. Crime has increased in the camps and militant groups have established a firm presence in many of them². Kidnappings are frequently reported and traffickers exploit the desperation of refugees seeking to flee for work, marriage, or safety³. Violence between groups periodically escalates into ‘gang wars’ that involve shootings, kidnappings, and murder. Refugees are unable to work to improve their situation in life and for some, the only alternative is to become involved in criminal activities⁴. The international community has made superficial efforts to repatriate the Rohingya, negotiating with Bangladesh and the former government of Burma with terms unfavorable to the Rohingya, such as a lack of viable plans to ensure the rights, citizenship, ethnic recognition, and safety of the Rohingya. Initial plans to repatriate the Rohingya sought to force them to participate in the National Verification Card scheme which would further disenfranchise and delegitimize them. Plans since then have made little progress and the international community has become less interested in the subject as time passes. 1- “Remembering the Rohingya Exodus.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 24 Aug. 2020, www.reuters.com/ article/us-myanmar-rohingya-graphic/remembering-the-rohingya-exodus-idUSKBN25K0W 2 - Jazeera. “Several Killed in 'Gang War' at Rohingya Camps in Bangladesh.” Drugs News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 9 Oct. 2020, www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/9/several-killed-in-gang-war-atrohingya-camps-in-bangladesh. 3 - Hölzl, Verena, et al. “As Violence Soars in Refugee Camps, Rohingya Women Speak Up.” The New Humanitarian, 24 Aug. 2021, www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2021/8/2/as-violence-soars-inrefugee-camps-rohingya-women-speak-up. 4 - Jazeera. “Several Killed in 'Gang War' at Rohingya Camps in Bangladesh.” Drugs News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 9 Oct. 2020, www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/9/several-killed-in-gang-war-atrohingya-camps-in-bangladesh. www.bhrn.org.uk 6