Dhaka challenged the junta’s account of Rohingya displacement and identity, while urging that children born in Bangladesh and newer arrivals from Rakhine be included in any future repatriation process.
by RK Desk
DHAKA, 19 August 2026: Bangladesh has formally rejected key parts of the Myanmar junta’s latest statement on the Rohingya crisis, including its disputed population figures and continued use of the term “Bengali” to describe Rohingya.
The response directly addresses two issues that remain central to Rohingya demands for return: recognition of their identity and recognition of the full population displaced from Rakhine State.
Md Toufiq-ur-Rahman, director general of the Myanmar Wing at Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, raised the concerns during a meeting with Myanmar Ambassador U Kyaw Soe Moe in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Referring to the junta’s 15 August statement, Toufiq said several figures concerning the displaced Rohingya population were incorrect and that UN registration figures should be used as the more accurate reference.
The junta had claimed that more than 540,000 people crossed into Bangladesh following violence in 2016 and 2017, while rejecting accounts that more than one million Rohingya were displaced from Rakhine.
Bangladesh is currently hosting more than one million Rohingya, including those who fled during earlier waves of persecution, people who arrived after 2017 and children born in the refugee camps.
Children and New Arrivals Must Be Counted
Bangladesh also urged the junta to speed up the verification process for possible repatriation and expand it beyond the existing list of 828,824 names previously submitted by Dhaka.
The junta said earlier this month that it had reviewed 426,545 cases and recognised 308,797 people as former residents of Rakhine State.
Bangladesh said the process must also include children born to Rohingya refugee families in Bangladesh and Rohingya who fled Rakhine after the original lists were prepared.
Dhaka is collecting information on these groups and plans to submit the additional details to Myanmar.
For Rohingya families, inclusion in the verification process is not simply a matter of numbers. Children born in exile remain part of displaced Rohingya families and their future return cannot be separated from the status and rights of their parents.
Likewise, Rohingya who fled more recent violence in Rakhine risk being excluded from any future process if repatriation remains tied only to older lists.
Bangladesh Rejects Denial of Rohingya Identity
Toufiq also objected to the junta’s continued use of the term “Bengali,” saying Rohingya have their own ethnic identity and that Myanmar authorities had recognised that identity in the past.
Rohingya have long rejected the label because it portrays them as foreigners from Bangladesh and denies their historical connection to Rakhine State.
The question of identity is closely tied to citizenship and return. Rohingya refugees have repeatedly said they do not want to return under a system that continues to deny who they are.
The junta’s latest statement again avoided recognising the term “Rohingya,” even while discussing the possible return of hundreds of thousands of people displaced from Rakhine.
Verification Alone Does Not Guarantee Return
Myanmar’s ambassador said he would convey Bangladesh’s concerns to his government and expressed a commitment to speeding up verification.
But verification by itself does not address the central demands raised repeatedly by Rohingya refugees: citizenship, security, freedom of movement, restoration of homes and land, and protection from renewed persecution.
Previous repatriation attempts failed because refugees said those guarantees were absent.
The situation inside Rakhine has also changed significantly, with the Arakan Army now controlling much of the state, including areas from which large numbers of Rohingya were displaced.
Bangladesh Questions Earlier Bilateral Strategy
Separately, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam criticised the previous Sheikh Hasina government’s reliance on a bilateral agreement with Myanmar for Rohingya repatriation.
She argued that Bangladesh should have pursued a stronger multilateral approach involving international actors.
For Rohingya refugees, however, the central question remains unchanged: whether any future return will restore their rights rather than simply move people across a border.
Bangladesh has said repatriation must be voluntary, safe and dignified. Rohingya representatives have repeatedly added that return must also include recognition of their identity, citizenship, security and the right to rebuild their lives in their homeland.
