By Gabriela Popescu - MSF Medical Coordinator

The scandal over Thailand's treatment of the Rohingya, washed up in Indonesia and on the Andaman Islands after being set adrift by the Thai military forces has finally brought the plight of these people in the headlines. Seeing so much press coverage has filled me with both a competing sense of promise and frustration.

Promise because finally their desperate situation is gaining public recognition. For decades these people have fled the hardships they face in Myanmar, only to suffer horrible living conditions and a lack of official recognition as refugees in Bangladesh and elsewhere. And frustration because of the atrocities that people continue to suffer and because the situation is not always understood for what it clearly is - a chronic humanitarian crisis - with its roots firmly in Myanmar.

During the past three years, I have been working as a Medical Coordinator for the international medical aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres, providing healthcare to the Rohingya who have fled across the border to the Cox's Bazaar area in Bangladesh. Between 100,000 and 300,000 are thought to reside in the country.

The Rohingya people are a Muslim ethnic group who live in northern Rakhine State in Myanmar. Denied citizenship by the government, they are subjected to a litany of restrictions and indignities. For example they must obtain an official permit to travel or even get married.

Over the years I have heard many reasons why people fled from Myanmar. Largely it comes down to fear of being arrested or intimidated. A woman and her three children left following her husband's arrest, in fear for her family. Another couple - the woman some months pregnant - fled out of fear of the repercussions they would face for being unable to afford the official marriage license, not to mention the child birth license.

People fear that they will be punished or beaten up for marrying without permission, for having children without permission, for travelling without permission, for having left without permission, for doing anything without permission, and permission costs money, something that the Rohingya have little of - partly due to the numerous other discriminatory measures imposed upon them.

There's been a steady flow of Rohingya risking their lives in dangerous journeys on rickety boats in the hope of finding a better future.

Sadly, the horrible living conditions that many Rohingya face in Bangladesh offer little respite from the indignity they have suffered elsewhere. In Tal Makeshift Camp I saw first hand the medical impact of people's plight. Tal was home to around 7,500 Rohingya who lived there without official recognition or assistance until it was closed and moved to another location last year. MSF regularly treated diarrhoea, skin infections and respiratory tract infections, along with malnourishment and mental health illnesses.

The surroundings in which people lived were atrocious; your nose was constantly assaulted by the foul smells of the mud at low tide, latrines, and various other waste, worsened by frequent flooding. The women were the most vulnerable. There were many single female headed households, mothers who were left with few means to care for their children, while their spouses and sons risked life-threatening journeys aboard boats to Thailand and further afield. Such women were prime targets for exploitation, in the sex industry for instance. Their sexual and mental health was of especial concern to us.

But one man told me that however hard the day-to-day struggle to survive is in Bangladesh, he would rather lead a difficult life in the camp than be forced to live in fear in Myanmar. No one can kid themselves that these people are simply opportunists seeking a better life elsewhere, because the evidence is completely contrary.

An old Rohingya woman said it the most clearly: "We are a suffering people, suffering is every where we go."

Something fundamental has to be done to address the root of this problem in Myanmar and ensure that those who have fled to seek asylum elsewhere are treated humanely and decently, and provided with the necessary support and assistance.

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