than 860, 000 Rohingya refugees.5 These shutdowns have been effective in cutting off communications and silencing voices from the targeted communities, but their deeper impacts have not, to date, been explored. Set against the backdrop of escalating armed conflict in Myanmar and COVID-19 pandemic, this white paper examines the past and ongoing internet shutdowns in Myanmar and Bangladesh, highlighting their harmful impact on ethnic minority IDPs in Myanmar and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Using sixteen6 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with Rakhine, Rohingya, and Chin IDPs and Rohingya refugees conducted over a one month period in August 2020, we seek to give voice to those who have been deprived of it, and reveal the devastating impacts that internet shutdowns have on their lives. We begin the paper with overviews of the human rights situation in Myanmar and Bangladesh which lays the groundwork for both the rationale behind the internet shutdowns as well as their impacts. This section highlights the Tatmadaw’s 2017 “clearance operations” that forced more than 750,000 Rohingyas refugees to flee to Bangladesh, the ongoing armed conflict in Rakhine and Chin State in Myanmar and the situation in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. We then move to examine the immediate causes of the targeted internet shutdowns in Myanmar and Bangladesh, which both began in 2019. Next, we demonstrate that violations of digital rights are violations of human rights, and explain why internet shutdowns impede the rights of IDPs and refugees. In Section 4, the heart of the white paper, we showcase the voices of our interviewees, and draw out key themes from the interviews. Our findings reveal that there are commonalities in the impacts of the shutdowns in both countries, such as in the areas of public health information around COVID-19, education, and access to reliable news in misinformation-rich environments, as well as differences in areas like work, access to healthcare, and physical security. The paper concludes with key recommendations to the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh. This white paper is a collaborative effort of three civil society organizations: Athan; The Peace and Development Initiative – Kintha; and Rohingya Youth Association; along with the Cyberlaw Clinic and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School. Dhaka Tribune, August 24, 2020 https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/rohingyacrisis/2020/08/24/bangladesh-to-lift-rohingya-internet-ban-very-soon. 5 “Three Years On: Rohingya Refugee Response Report 2020,” World Vision, August 22, 2020, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/RRR_Annual%2BReport%2B2020.pdf. 6 10 interviews were conducted in Myanmar while 6 interviews were carried out in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. 4