Rohingya refugee camp in cox's bazar, Bangladesh, is the world's largest refugee camp, with population more than 900,000.
Over 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh in a matter of months, joining the 100,000+ who had already fled earlier in the decade due to previous bouts of violence. The refugees who fled the violence in Myanmar have mostly ended up in the Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh. These refugees migrated from the Buddhist majority state, Myanmar. Seeing the rising population of Rohingya Muslims, the majority Buddhist community got alarmed, and wanted to push them out of the state.
The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group that has resided in Myanmar for hundreds of years, mainly in Rakhine state. Despite their longstanding presence, they have experienced systemic discrimination from the Myanmar government and military, which does not acknowledge them as one of the country’s 135 official ethnic groups. The mass eradication escalated in August 2017 following a series of attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a militant Rohingya group, on police posts in Rakhine state.
Rise of militants
In just a few months, more than 700,000 Rohingya escaped to neighboring Bangladesh, joining over 100,000 who had already left earlier in the decade due to prior violence. Most of the refugees fleeing the conflict in Myanmar have settled in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
The eradication of Rohingya's led to the rise of different militant groups, like ARAKAN army and ARASA army, both ethnic armed militant group. Both group primarily function in the Rakhine state but with different aims. Protecting the Buddhist and eradicating the Muslims out of the country is the ARAKAN army. On the other hand is the ARASA army representing the Rohingya Muslim population much smaller in size trying to protect its villages and themselves.
As of now, Rakhine region has been effectively taken over by the Arakan Army, which now controls the whole 271-kilometer (168-mile) border with Bangladesh. This is the first time that Myanmar has lost its entire border with any nation.
External influence
China
Beijing has invested a lot in Myanmar, more than US $ 100 million. Amid the civil war it needs to ensure that the investments remain safe, and the power remains with official government not any militant group.
China's main emphasis in Myanmar is the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (KPSEZ). The KPSEZ is one of three special economic zones backed by foreign direct investment and the Myanmar government for economic growth under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a Chinese initiative building roads and railways across Asia till Europe, for trade benefits.
In 2017, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi publicly introduced a set of BRI infrastructure projects called the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC). By linking Kunming in Yunnan province (China) with Kyaukphyu in Rakhine state, the CMEC aims to facilitate China's access to the Bay of Bengal, bypass the Malacca Strait, and foster closer commercial ties between China and Myanmar.
Hence, China has stepped into the Burma civil war supporting the Junta army providing them arms, intelligence and even man power to protect the Chinese investments and assets.
India
Along the 1,643-kilometer border between India and Myanmar, ethnic armed groups have gained more influence than the Myanmar government, affecting not only the Arakan province. As a result, India must now engage with the organizations that dominate the opposite side of the border, including the Arakan Army (AA), the National Unity Government (NUG), the Chin National Front (CNF), and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
The Junta is encountering assaults from various ethnic tribal regions: the TBA in Shan state in the northeast; the Karenni and Karen armed groups and Bago PDFs in the east, stretching from near Nay Pyi Taw, the Myanmar capital, to the borders with Thailand; the Chins in Chin state in the west, near the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur; the Arakan Army in Rakhine in the southwest along the Bay of Bengal; and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in the north.
Therefore the Indian government has held talks with the leaders of these multiple groups keeping the Myanmar government in the loop, to keep situation under control in the Indian border states.
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