Ethnic Communities in the News: Kurd, Madhesi, Rohingya

Each group is tied to one main country. Exams try to swap the countries. Fix the pairs first.

1. Who are the Kurds, and how many are there?

The Kurds are one of the indigenous peoples of the Mesopotamian plains and nearby highlands. They live in south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Syria, northern Iraq, north-western Iran and south-western Armenia.

BBC puts them at 25 to 35 million people. That makes them the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East. Most are Sunni Muslims, but they follow several faiths.

AFP counted by country in 2017. Turkey had 12 to 15 million Kurds, about 20 per cent of its people. Iran had about 6 million. Iraq had about 4.7 million. Syria had over 2 million.

2. Who are the Madhesi, and where do they live?

The Madhesi are people of Nepal’s southern plains, the Terai. This belt runs along the Indian border. Many share cultural and family ties with communities across it.

The Terai holds 53 per cent of Nepal’s people. Madhes Province alone has about 6.3 million. The word “Madhesi” is itself debated. Some draw a line between “Madhesi” and “Madhesbasi” (anyone who lives in the Madhes). Tharu, Rajbanshi and Pahadi communities there often do not call themselves Madhesi.

Counts differ by definition. The 2011 census gave 15.4 per cent in the narrow election-law category. Foreign Affairs called them nearly a quarter of Nepal.

3. Who are the Rohingya, and what is their status?

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority from Rakhine State in Myanmar. Myanmar’s government lists 135 official ethnic groups. The Rohingya are not one of them.

They have had no citizenship since the 1982 law. They are stateless. They were also left out of the 2014 census.

Al Jazeera put them at about 1.1 million inside Myanmar in 2018. BBC said about 1 million in early 2017, before the big exodus.

The Kurdish story is spread over four states. Each state treats Kurds differently. In 2026 the news is moving fast in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

4. Why did the Kurds never get a state?

After World War One the Ottoman Empire collapsed. The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres made room for a Kurdish state. Three years later the Treaty of Lausanne set Turkey’s borders. It made no such promise.

Kurds became minorities in several countries. For about 80 years, moves toward independence were crushed, says BBC.

Syria added its own wound. The 1962 Hasakah census stripped many Kurds of citizenship. Hundreds of thousands became stateless.

5. What is the new law on the PKK's disarmament?

The PKK fought Turkey for decades. More than 40,000 people died. In February 2025 the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan called on the group to disarm. The call followed a peace move by nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli.

On 10 August 2026 Turkey’s parliament passed a 12-article law by 468 votes to 88. It offers a conditional pardon and suspended sentences to militants who lay down arms.

There are limits. People convicted of intentional killings are excluded. So are those given life terms before 2005, which covers Ocalan. The law takes effect only after the National Security Council confirms the PKK has disbanded. Applicants then get six months to apply.

6. What changed for Kurds in Syria in January 2026?

Kurdish-led forces called the SDF held much of north-east Syria. In January 2026 they fought Syrian government forces. A ceasefire was announced on 18 January.

On 30 January the SDF agreed to merge into Syria’s state forces. Government units were to deploy in Hasakah and Qamishli. The SDF would form a division of three brigades. A Kobane brigade would sit under Aleppo governorate. Syrian forces deployed in Hasakah by 2 February.

The state also moved on rights. Decree No. 13 of 16 January 2026 recognises Kurdish cultural rights. It also addresses the statelessness that began in 1962.

7. What happened in Iraq's Kurdistan and Iran's Kurdish areas?

Iraq’s 2005 constitution recognises the Kurdistan region as a federal region under Article 117.

In September 2017 the region held an independence vote. About 92.73 per cent said yes, on a turnout above 72 per cent. Baghdad rejected it. Iraqi troops took Kirkuk without a fight on 16 October 2017.

Two recent items matter. On 10 September 2026 the region’s Peshmerga minister said the unification of its forces under one ministry was complete. Those forces had been split between the PUK (Unit 70) and the KDP (Unit 80). Shafaq News reported in June 2026, more than a year and a half after the October 2024 election, that the tenth regional cabinet remained stalled.

In Iran, five Kurdish opposition groups announced a coalition on 22 February 2026. They include the PDKI and PJAK.

Madhesi anger is about fairness inside Nepal. It is about borders of provinces, citizenship and a voice in power.

8. Why did Madhesi protests turn deadly in 2015?

Nepal adopted a new constitution on 20 September 2015. It created seven provinces. Madhesi and Tharu groups said the province lines split their homeland and left them under-represented.

More than 40 people died in the protests. India expressed concern at the violence in southern Nepal. A border blockade by Madhesi parties followed. Foreign Affairs says it choked off about 70 per cent of trade entering Nepal.

The roots are older. Madhesis with Indian heritage were barred from citizenship and land until 2006, says the same report.

9. Did Nepal change the constitution for them?

Yes, in part. Nepal’s first amendment passed in January 2016. It won 461 of 468 votes. Madhesi parties said it was not enough to meet their demands. They did not take part in the vote.

A new amendment bill came in April 2017. It proposed a federal commission on boundaries. The Madhesi front still had demands.

Province No. 2 has eight districts. It was renamed Madhes Pradesh on 17 January 2022. The name won 80 of 99 votes. Janakpur stayed its capital.

10. What is the latest Madhesi news (2025-26)?

On 8 and 9 September 2025, Gen Z protests hit Nepal. In Madhes Province, about 90 police posts and 207 government offices were set ablaze or vandalised, reports Nepali Times.

Elections followed on 5 March 2026. The RSP party won a landslide. Balendra Shah was sworn in as prime minister on 27 March 2026, aged 35. All India Radio called him the first prime minister from the Madhes region.

Nepali Times (October 2025) also calls federalism in Madhes Province unfinished. Many Madhesi voices still want real powers for the province.

The Rohingya story is about citizenship, flight and justice. Today it is also about money, camps and courts.

11. How did the Rohingya lose their citizenship?

Myanmar’s 1982 citizenship law recognised 135 official groups. The Rohingya were not among them. Without papers they could not claim rights. Al Jazeera calls them stateless.

The 2014 census left them out. BBC notes that about a million lived in Myanmar, most of them in Rakhine, at the start of 2017.

12. How many Rohingya fled in 2017, and how many are in Bangladesh now?

Human Rights Watch says more than 700,000 fled from August 2017. Reuters wrote in January 2026 that at least 730,000 fled. A UN fact-finding mission found “genocidal acts”.

UNHCR counted 1,204,492 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on 31 August 2026. Of these, 1,170,978 were in Cox’s Bazar and 33,514 on Bhasan Char island. Cox’s Bazar has 33 camps.

UN News (23 September 2026) reports that falling funding is hurting the camps. A UN speaker said conditions for return do not exist. An estimated 30,000 or more children are born in the camps each year. Bangladesh’s PM Tarique Rahman said the solution lies in Myanmar.

13. What are the ICJ and ICC doing about it?

The Gambia filed a genocide case against Myanmar at the ICJ on 11 November 2019. In January 2020 the court ordered provisional measures. In July 2022 it rejected Myanmar’s objections. Three were rejected unanimously and one by 15 votes to 1.

Merits hearings ran from 12 to 29 January 2026. Eleven states intervened. As of 9 October 2026, the ICJ’s case page lists no merits judgment. Reuters said on 31 January 2026 that a ruling was expected in three to six months.

The ICC is a separate court. Its prosecutor asked for an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing on 27 November 2024. The charges are deportation and persecution as crimes against humanity. HRW noted on 6 October 2026 that the prosecutor has requested a warrant. He named himself president in April 2026.

14. What is India's position on the Rohingya?

India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. The Supreme Court heard Mohammad Salimullah v. Union of India (WP(C) 793/2017). On 8 April 2021 it refused to stay deportations.

In May 2025 the Court again declined to halt deportations. In December 2025, CJI Surya Kant asked if the government had ever declared Rohingya refugees.

India also sent aid. In September 2017 its foreign ministry launched Operation Insaniyat to supply relief to Bangladesh.

Exam questions often pair a people with a country and hide one wrong pair. Know the home country, the region and one hook for each.

15. How do I avoid the Kurd-Bangladesh type of trap?

Kurds are never tied to Bangladesh. Their home states are Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria, with some in Armenia. Rohingya are tied to Myanmar, and Bangladesh is where they took refuge. That is why Bangladesh feels familiar in a Rohingya story.

A quick test is to ask where the group is from, not where it is now. Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar are still Myanmar’s people.

16. What is a one-glance table of the three?

Add one current hook for each. For Kurds, it is Turkey’s 10 August 2026 PKK law. For Madhesi, it is Madhes Province and PM Balendra Shah. For Rohingya, it is the ICJ merits case.