COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh -- A vast refugee camp for Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority group from Myanmar, stretches across a slope in Bangladesh to the horizon. As evening falls, the air is filled with the jangle of people fixing dinner, mixed with the cries of babies and the buzz of families and friends in conversation.
The sounds might be comfortingly familiar were it not for the desperate circumstances: an entire people displaced as a result of violent sectarian strife.
Since August 2017, 670,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh, driven from their homes by Myanmar security forces. Coupled with fellow Rohingya who were already living there, their numbers total about 880,000, filling makeshift huts in camps such as this one, south of the city of Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh.
Nikkei recently visited the camp to document, through photographs, the plight of the displaced people who now call it home.
Refugees wait for water. The crisis stems in part from the Rohingya being regarded by the majority in Myanmar as "alien" people with a different religion and language.
Children study the Quran. Most Rohingya were forced out of their homes in Myanmar with few possessions.
Refugees cross a shaky wooden bridge. The Myanmar government has called for the Rohingya to return, but many fear that they would be met by further discrimination.
Camp residents play "chinlone," or caneball, Myanmar's national sport.
Medicines at a camp pharmacy. Refugees who cannot visit other villages to attend school or receive medical care are torn between staying in Bangladesh or risking a return to Myanmar.
Refugees queue for housing materials, such as bamboo poles and plastic sheets. Myanmar has been widely condemned by Western nations over its treatment of the Rohingya.
Nikkei staff writers Yuichi Nitta and Yuji Kuronuma contributed to this report.
