Perception and Plight: The Rohingya Refugee Crisis

In the current state of the world, refugees have always been a “problem”. Refugee’s have never really had a safe place in any country. As of 2015, over 1.6 billion people were considered Muslim but no matter where the refugee goes, they are seen as a terrorist (Lipka 2017). Almost half of these Muslims are children. Feliz Solomon wrote an article about the Rohingya refugees. In the article “Rohingya Children Are in Desperate Need of Aid, the U.N. says” the author Solomon was able to explain the trouble the Rohingya children were facing by using the elements ethos, logos, and pathos.

With war still raging, many Muslim people in the world are involuntarily moving. As many as 12,000 young Rohingya Muslims are being driven across the border (nine

Since August 25, more than half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled their home country of Myanmar to escape the murder, rape, and arson that the Military had responded with towards the violence (Solomon 2017). In addition to being forced to move, the children have a complicated sanitation issue. Hundreds of thousands of kids are at risk of many different types of diseases due to being placed in overcrowded refugee camps. At such a young age, a child's immune system isn't as strong, therefore a child being in an overcrowded place is not ideal. Ensuring good health and dignity in a refugee camp is hard when sharing a bathroom with so many other people. In regards to all refugee camps, still, only 30% do not have adequate waste disposal and latrines (Unite for Sight). These sanitation issues are just the beginning of the problems refugee’s face. There are only so many places a refugee can stay, which is why most camps are overcrowded. Housing protects one from so many dangers such as storms and physical hazards. ¨The presence of dampness and

Solomon explained that the violence in Myanmar are pushing well over 12,000 people across the border. It was also said in the article that over 60% of these people are children. By using this statistic, Solomon was able to convince his readers of why these children need help. The former children from Myanmar deserve all the help that they can get.

The biggest device Solomon used was pathos, or an appeal to emotion. There are a bunch of things in the article that would cause tears in anyone’s eyes. For example, Solomon said “that hundreds of thousands are at risk of waterborne disease” due to the child’s poor immune system and overcrowded camps. All of the children are traveling a nine day tract on foot. With Solomon explaining how many of these children are getting across the border, he is able to make the reader feel upset and worried.

] By using the rhetorical devices, the author Solomon was able to explain the children’s situations. Solomon concluded a successful article mostly through the emotional aspect. Including Unite for Sight further helps Solomon’s argument and also contributes to the pathos factor. By also including UNHCR and Lipka, the readers are able to feel the emotion Solomon was trying to portray. The children of Myanmar are in desperate need of a safe and sanitary place to live, rather than an overcrowded camp just miles away from the violence they’re trying to