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the Rohingya themselves. However, it is clear that the current situation in Rakhine State is
not conducive to the safe, dignified and voluntary return of Rohingya refugees. At the
conference in New York, Rohingya representatives described the conditions necessary for
their return to Rakhine State, including the restoration of citizenship, the return of their land
and property, respect for fundamental human rights, and guarantees of safety. None of these
conditions exist.
89.
Funding cuts have similarly impacted support for the more than 100,000 refugees
from Myanmar who live in camps in Thailand. In the first half of 2025, inadequate funding
led to rations reductions and the suspension or disruption of medical, mental health,
protection, water and sanitation programs. The United States government’s decision to end
most refugee resettlement through its U.S. Refugee Admissions Program also impacted
refugees in Thailand, some of whom had already been approved for resettlement and were
awaiting their dates of departure.
90.
In July, a lack of funding forced The Border Consortium—the organization
coordinating services for residents of refugee camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border—
to suspend rations distribution to more than 80 percent of camp residents, preserving rations
only for the most vulnerable households. In September, the United States government
renewed a grant that restores rations through the end of the year, but the grant is not expected
to be extended further.
91.
In August, the Thai government adopted a resolution allowing a majority of campbased refugees to work outside the camps. The new policy, which involves registration with
Thai authorities and safeguards against the exploitation of refugee laborers, went into effect
in October, offering a vital lifeline to refugee families.
92.
Following the April 2025 terrorist attack on Hindu tourists in Jammu and Kashmir,
refugees from Myanmar have been under severe pressure in India even though no individuals
from Myanmar were involved in the attack. Refugees in India told the Special Rapporteur
that they have been summoned, detained, interrogated and threatened with deportation by
Indian authorities in recent months.
93.
In early May 2025, approximately 40 Rohingya refugees, including women and
children, were detained in Delhi, flown on Indian military aircraft to the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, and transferred to an Indian navy vessel. The refugees, who reportedly held
refugee identification documents, were interrogated, threatened and severely beaten as the
ship carried them across the Andaman Sea. The group was then given life jackets and forced
into the sea just off Myanmar’s coast. They reportedly received protection from an anti-junta
armed group upon reaching shore. Indian authorities also deported scores of Rohingya
refugees to Bangladesh in May. The Special Rapporteur has written to the Indian government
concerning these deportations and met with government officials who pledged to report back
after investigating these events. The Special Rapporteur continues to wait for this report.
VIII. State action to isolate the junta
94.
The Special Rapporteur has repeatedly called on states to take actions that deprive the
junta of weapons, money and legitimacy. He has reported extensively on important steps that
governments have taken to this end: sanctioning arms dealing networks that supply the junta;
cutting off the junta’s access to the international finance system; curtailing diplomatic
engagements with the junta. These actions have disrupted military supply chains and isolated
the junta on the international stage. The Special Rapporteur has also reported, however, on
the actions of governments that continue to engage and empower Myanmar’s generals,
calling on them to end material and diplomatic support to the junta.
95.
As the Special Rapporteur has previously reported, sanctions have been among the
most effective tools in disrupting the junta’s ability to acquire weapons and weapons
materials used in attacks on civilians, as well as the funds needed to purchase those weapons
and supplies. In particular, sanctions imposed by the United States on the junta-controlled
Myanma Foreign Trade Bank in mid-2023 have seriously disrupted military supply chains
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