The Rohingya refugee issue: Differences in media framing in Bangladesh and India

Abstract

<p>The persecution of ethnic group, Rohingya, in 2017 resulted in approximately a million of Rohingya people becoming homeless and taking shelter in neighboring countries. This study examines the framing of Rohingya refugees in India and Bangladesh, two neighboring countries that host the majority of Rohingya refugees. A quantitative content analysis of two Indian newspapers, the Times of India and the Hindustan Times, and two Bangladeshi newspapers, the New Nation and the Daily Prothom Alo, is utilized to examine existing frames in these newspaper articles. This study identified the following frames: victim frame, intruder frame, responsibility frame, administrative frame, and return home frame in the newspaper articles. The findings revealed that Bangladeshi newspapers are more likely to use the victim frame while Indian newspapers are more likely to use the intruder frame. This study also found that Bangladeshi newspapers more often feature refugees, spokespersons for NGOs, and other media/journalist as sources, while Indian newspapers more often feature their own domestic officials as sources. This study also found evidence of association of news sources with news frames.</p>