en route. There are more than 3,000 Rohingyas in detention in Myanmar from attempting these routes. Approximately 700 have been charged and sentenced under draconic immigration rules, receiving prison sentences of 2-5 years. Those who have travelled from Bangladesh usually receive the longer sentences as they are also charged with illegally crossing an international border.12 Currently there is a conflict in Rohingya areas of Rakhine State with large swathes of territory falling under the military and administrative control of the Arakan Army (AA) and their administrative wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA). Rohingyas are doubly persecuted by both sets of parallel authorities.13 Further, according to findings from our research, both the Myanmar security forces, and Arakan Army are implicated in human smuggling and trafficking, both facilitating travel and abusing Rohingya travellers en route. The pressures and impacts of living under formal and informal authorities in Rakhine, both of which effectively treat Rohingya as noncitizens, has increased insecurities and financial hardships.14 It is vital that Rohingya survivors of genocide, have safe routes within and out of the country, should they choose to escape ongoing structural discrimination and persecution, or build better lives elsewhere. Whilst travel routes are a vital lifeline for some, for others they have become fraught with violence, abuse and risk to life. Further, there is a strong link between the deprivation of Rohingyas’ citizenship in Myanmar and the denial of the right of return. Since the 1990s, those that have left the country have had their names struck from household registers, effectively erasing their permanent residence. Thus, migration, in most cases, is permanent. Many are concerned that the facilitation of travel out of the country assists broader strategies to permanently remove Rohingya from Rakhine State, and at the same time generates revenue for state-like structures. The treatment of Rohingyas returned to or transiting through Myanmar by both state authorities and non-state actors, sometimes following experiences of trafficking, is also understood by many as a form of persecution due to their ethnicity, religion and lack of legal status. On 5 December 2022, 13 dead bodies of Rohingya were found on the roadside close to Yangon. The bodies were photographed and bore the signs of severe beatings and torture. The victims had reportedly been abducted by a Buddhist ultranationalist militia group connected to the military government, called Pyu Saw Htee, while they were attempting to travel to Southeast Asia. When brokers failed to pay the ransom, they were reportedly beaten to death. The bodies were not released till after postmortem and were not given an Islamic funeral. 1.2 Socio-economic insecurities Many families know the journey to another country has huge risks, but they try it anyway. People think if they are lucky on their journey, their families in Rakhine will have support to survive. The risk of being arrested on the route and sentenced to two to five years in prison does not stop them. The risk of rape does not stop them. Even the risk of death does not stop families from making these decisions. It’s the limitations and restrictions here that makes them take the risks. ROHINGYA WOMAN, TEACHER, SITTWE15 At the centre of the insecurities and vulnerabilities faced by Rohingyas, is a lack of legal status as citizens in Myanmar, and as residents, refugees and stateless persons elsewhere. In Myanmar, following the 2021 military coup, greater restrictions of movement, checkpoints and administrative costs have been imposed on those who do not have citizenship documents. Conflict has created new layers of financial and physical insecurity for Rohingya households, driving them into poverty and leaving them vulnerable to human rights abuses from state and quasi-state bodies.16 Since the mass exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017, more restrictions on movement and livelihoods have been placed on Rohingyas living in the camps of Bangladesh. The presence of cross-border armed gangs, including but not limited to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), has increased violence in the camps. This includes frequent shootings and gun battles, assassinations, arson, abductions and enforced disappearances.17 In India, the legal status of Rohingyas has become increasingly precarious, leaving them at risk of forced repatriation or refoulment to Myanmar as well as arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention. This erosion of Rohingyas’ legal status and protections in India has impacted living conditions and access to services leading to increasing insecurities and vulnerabilities.18 Rohingyas in Malaysia do not have the right to work or a formal legal status in the country. As such, they work in the informal economy and are vulnerable to unsafe and exploitative conditions in the workplace, 9