Events in north-west Rakhine state, Myanmar, since 2012, can be described as an attempt to bring about ethnic cleansing or genocide of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority ethnic group who are marginalised, discriminated against, and denied basic rights and legal status in Myanmar. As a result of mass killings, sexual violence and attacks in Myanmar, over one million Rohingya refugees have already fled to neighboring countries, namely Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and Bangladesh, as well as to Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. Recent reports that the Malaysian military pushed back to sea 382 Rohingya in April 2020, contrary to the human rights of the Rohingya and international law, now remind us of the survivors of the May 2015 ‘boat crisis’, when countries in the region also refused to provide Rohingya with access to asylum.
In light of this context, the main purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is any potential to protect and ensure respect for the human rights of the Rohingya, not only by appealing to leaders of States and officials of international organization’s in the region, but also by using blockchain technology to create digital identities that could be used to overcome social challenges, with a focus on the restoration of fundamental human rights and justice.