1991–1992
A new military operation and mass exodus
In 1991–1992, the Rohingya people were again subjected to a large-scale military operation in northern Arakan. This period is regarded as one of the largest mass exoduses before the 2017 genocide. The Burmese military junta, known as SLORC, strengthened its control over Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung, and the Rohingya population faced serious abuses, forced labour, violence, harassment and systematic oppression.
Many described the operation as a new phase in the state’s policy of pushing Rohingya out of Arakan. Soldiers and local authorities forced Rohingya civilians to work without pay, including building roads and military camps, serving as porters and doing other heavy labour for the army. Many families also faced arbitrary taxation, confiscation of property, arrest, physical abuse and religious persecution. Mosques and religious leaders were monitored, and Rohingya freedom of movement was severely restricted.
The abuses generated great fear in the villages. Many Rohingya felt they no longer had any security in their own homeland. Women feared sexual violence, men feared arrest and forced labour, and families feared their children would grow up without rights, education or safety. As a result, an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 Rohingya fled across the border into Bangladesh, most crossing the Naf River or travelling through dangerous border areas to Teknaf and Cox’s Bazar.
Bangladesh received the large refugee influx, and Rohingya were placed in numerous camps in Cox’s Bazar District. At the peak, around twenty camps were established. For many, the flight was traumatic. They arrived with little or nothing after leaving homes, land, livestock, documents and family property in Arakan. Many lost relatives during the journey or in military abuses before reaching Bangladesh.
After several years, Bangladesh, Burma/Myanmar and UNHCR began a major repatriation process. Most refugees from this period were eventually returned to Arakan between 1993 and 1997, but the process was highly controversial. Many did not want to return because the original causes of flight remained unresolved: they still lacked citizenship, continued to face discrimination and remained at risk of forced labour, arbitrary control and movement restrictions. Human-rights organisations therefore criticised the process and argued that many returns were not genuinely voluntary, safe and dignified.
Although the majority were repatriated, the refugee crisis did not end. Several thousand Rohingya from the 1991–1992 period remained in Bangladesh, especially in the older Kutupalong and Nayapara camps. Others lived outside official camps without formal refugee status. Many had no full right to work, education or free movement. For these families, life in Bangladesh became prolonged uncertainty, poverty and legal limbo.
Some Rohingya from this period also moved onward to other countries. Some travelled to Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, India and elsewhere in search of safety, work and a more dignified life. The 1991–1992 exodus thus also expanded the Rohingya diaspora, and many Rohingya families abroad today have roots in this wave of displacement.
The years 1991–1992 therefore constitute an important turning point in modern Rohingya history. This was not merely a temporary refugee crisis but part of a longer process in which statelessness, military control, forced labour, violence and systematic discrimination pushed Rohingya out of Arakan. The flight to Bangladesh again showed that the Rohingya problem was not simply poverty or local conflict, but political and legal persecution that made it impossible for many to live safely in their own homeland.