by Hafizur Rahman
Cox’s Bazar, September 27, 2025 — Just days before the United Nations General Assembly is set to convene in New York, the Rohingya community organized a large peaceful gathering today under the banner “Peaceful Gathering Ahead of UN Conference.” The demonstration aimed to remind the world that the plight of nearly one million Rohingya refugees cannot be sidelined.
More than a thousand men, women, and children joined the event, carrying a unified message of dignity, justice, and urgent repatriation.
Calls for a Roadmap to Return
Ro Khing Maung, the recently elected president of a refugee council, urged the UN and international community to lay out a clear roadmap for safe, dignified, and voluntary repatriation. “Please stand with us,” he appealed. “We have our own land, called Arakan. Arakan belongs to us, and we belong to Arakan.”
He also stressed that Rohingya representatives must be included in global discussions, noting that their absence from the upcoming UN session undercuts the credibility of international efforts.
Maulana Soyed Ullah, another elected president, echoed this concern, saying, “If representatives from the refugee camps were given the opportunity to attend the UN General Assembly, they could directly share their concerns and lived realities. That would make the dialogue more meaningful and effective.”
Demands for Justice and Protection
Participants demanded accountability for atrocities, safe repatriation with full rights, and lasting peace. One speaker warned that repatriation cannot take place under the control of two oppressive forces — the Myanmar junta and the Arakan Army — both of whom have persecuted Rohingya. Instead, he urged the creation of a UN-protected safe zone in northern Arakan, calling ongoing conditions “a continuing genocide.”
“It has been almost eight years without any solution for the Rohingya people,” the speaker said. “The UN and OIC must not delay any longer. This urgent issue can and must be resolved in the short term.”
The Youth Voice
For many young Rohingya, the event was also a chance to speak of hope. Mohammed Soliaman Shah, a Rohingya youth, said: “As Rohingya youth, we dream of returning home with dignity and safety. Repatriation is not just for our parents’ generation — it is our future too. We want to rebuild our lives in Arakan, study, work, and live freely on our own land.”
Life in Limbo
Bangladesh currently shelters nearly one million Rohingya across Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char. Conditions remain dire: overcrowding, lack of education, unemployment, insecurity, and shrinking aid. Families who fled in 2017 now face their eighth year of exile, with no durable solution in sight.
The gathering concluded with a powerful message: the Rohingya people will not abandon their struggle for dignity, rights, and freedom — and the world must not abandon them.
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