Bangladesh Urges China to Turn Rohingya Commitments Into Action as Safe Return Remains Elusive

Dhaka says Beijing should translate its stated support into concrete action, while Rohingya continue to wait for guarantees of identity, citizenship, security and a safe return to their homeland.

by RK Desk

Dhaka, 24 August 2026: Bangladesh has publicly called on China to turn its commitments on the Rohingya crisis into concrete action, as nearly nine years of displacement pass without conditions that would allow refugees to return safely to their homeland.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said on Sunday that Bangladesh expected commitments made by Chinese leaders during Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s June visit to China to be reflected in practical steps.

She did not specify what additional commitments had been made or what concrete actions Bangladesh now expects Beijing to take.

China and Bangladesh said in a joint communiqué issued after the June visit that Beijing would continue helping Bangladesh and Myanmar seek a mutually acceptable solution to the Rohingya crisis “to the best of its capabilities.”

The latest remarks therefore increase pressure on China to demonstrate what that diplomatic support will mean in practice.

For Rohingya refugees, however, renewed diplomatic engagement will matter only if it helps create conditions in Arakan where they can return with safety and fundamental rights.

Large parts of northern Arakan are now controlled by the Arakan Army, while Myanmar’s military junta retains control elsewhere and fighting continues.

Any effective diplomatic process will therefore have to confront a political reality significantly different from earlier Bangladesh-Myanmar repatriation negotiations.

Verification Must Include Camp-Born Children

Shama also called for Myanmar to accelerate the refugee-verification process and include Rohingya children born in Bangladesh’s camps as well as people who fled Arakan after 2017.

“Accurate data and a credible verification process are essential,” she said, describing verification as a potential confidence-building measure between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Myanmar’s junta-controlled foreign ministry recently said it had examined 426,545 people from a list of 828,824 submitted by Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has challenged aspects of those figures and has argued that any process must take account of the population that has grown in the camps since the 2017 displacement and Rohingya who arrived in later years.

For Rohingya families, the issue is particularly important because thousands of children have been born in Bangladesh during nearly nine years of displacement.

Excluding them from future return arrangements could separate families or leave a new generation without a clear status in any repatriation process.

Verification Alone Cannot Make Return Safe

Rohingya organisations have also repeatedly warned that verification should not be confused with the creation of conditions for return.

Being placed on an approved list does not itself guarantee recognition as Rohingya, citizenship, freedom of movement, protection from violence or the ability to return to original homes and land.

Those issues remain unresolved.

UNHCR recently said around 150 newly arrived Rohingya are approaching the agency in Bangladesh every week, citing armed conflict, air attacks, arrests, discrimination, movement restrictions and loss of livelihoods among the reasons people continue to flee Arakan.

The continued arrivals underline the central problem facing any repatriation initiative: while governments discuss how refugees might return, Rohingya are still leaving.

What Can China Deliver?

China has played a mediating role in previous Bangladesh-Myanmar repatriation efforts and maintains substantial political and economic relationships with Myanmar.

Its influence has become more significant as the conflict in Arakan has changed territorial control and created new actors that would have to be involved in any realistic return process.

But neither Shama’s remarks nor the June joint communiqué set out whether Beijing will engage directly with the Arakan Army over Rohingya return, seek guarantees concerning citizenship and rights, or support direct Rohingya participation in negotiations.

Those questions are crucial for refugees.

A diplomatic process that simply produces another list of verified returnees would do little to resolve the crisis if Rohingya remain unable to return to their homeland as Rohingya and live there safely with equal rights.

Speaking at the August 23 dialogue, Shama said humanitarian assistance alone could not provide a lasting solution and reiterated that Rohingya should be able to return voluntarily, safely, with dignity and sustainably.

“A camp should never become a permanent substitute for a homeland,” she said.

For Rohingya, the question now is whether China’s promised facilitation—and the wider diplomatic pressure being sought by Bangladesh—can move beyond statements and help create the political and rights-based conditions that nine years of repatriation diplomacy have so far failed to deliver.