I would like to talk about the Rohingya Muslims who fled to flood-prone camps in Bangladesh. They’ve been under siege by the government because the Tatmadaw (armed forces of Myanmar) do not consider them citizens and are denied all rights, including the right to return home. More than one million Rohingya’s have fled in boats to Bangladesh. The refugees live in poor conditions and face severe restrictions on their mobility. I am aware that I won’t be able to find a Rohingya population in NYC, so I was thinking to collaborate with May to get more insight on how to go about this angle. Or maybe I could find another angle on the people of Myanmar that will allow me to conduct interviews.
In 2021, Myanmar’s hopes for democratic reforms were shattered. A military coup led by a junta leader became increasingly violent, leading to thousands of arrests and mass killings, which have continued since then. I want to incorporate the enormous toll the crisis has took on the children of Myanmar.
Myanmar has a long and complex history and the history behind these conflicts, as well as coups and military rule are central to understanding why Myanmar remains in such turmoil today.
These are just some ideas of what I can report on, but if it is too difficult for me to connect with the immigrant population here, I might just stick to Climate change in Bangladesh. It’s estimated that by 2050, 18 million people in Bangladesh may have to migrate due to sea-level rise alone as it’s extreme weather on an unprecedented scale. For this I can think of a few people to conduct interviews with, including the Bangladeshi Development project as they helped thousands of flood victims.