On 16 July 2012, a coalition of 58 civil society groups - led by The Equal Rights Trust (ERT), the Arakan Project (AP) and Refugees International (RI) ? condemned the abuse and violence carried out by state authorities in Myanmar against the Rohingya community for over one month. What began as inter-communal violence between Rohingya and Rakhine, escalated into large-scale state sponsored violence against the Rohingya, following the deployment of the military. This joint statement also charges Bangladesh with flouting international law in its attempts to prevent fleeing Rohingya from reaching safety, and pushing them back into dangerous waters.