Rohingya Demand Justice, Rights and Safe Return as Dhaka Discussion Marks Nine Years of Displacement

Rohingya representatives and rights advocates told a Dhaka discussion that nine years after the 2017 mass displacement, return must mean more than crossing the border—it must guarantee safety, justice and fundamental rights in their homeland.

by RK Desk

Dhaka, 23 August 2026: Rohingya representatives and rights advocates have renewed calls for justice, rights and a safe return to their homeland, warning that nearly nine years of displacement have passed without the conditions needed for a sustainable repatriation.

Speaking at a discussion on the Rohingya crisis at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Sunday, Rohingya representative Mujibullah said the community did not want to be treated simply as victims in need of sympathy.

“We do not want sympathy; we want justice and our rights,” he said. “We hope that whatever decisions are made concerning us will ensure justice.”

Rohingya women’s rights activist Razia Sultana said Rohingya women remained determined to return to their homeland but that return could not take place without guarantees of safety.

“Rohingyas want to return to their own country, but the return must be safe,” she said.

She said Bangladesh had carried the burden of hosting the displaced population for years, but stressed that the responsibility for resolving the crisis could not remain with Bangladesh.

“Nine years have already passed,” she said.

The discussion, titled “The Rohingya Crisis: Current Realities and Future Course of Action,” was organised by Neeti Gobeshona Kendro ahead of Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day on August 25.

The event brought together Rohingya representatives, academics, government officials, researchers and journalists to discuss why repatriation has repeatedly failed and what conditions would be needed for Rohingya to return home.

Return Must Address the Crisis Inside Arakan

Former Bangladesh ambassador to Myanmar Mohammad Sufiur Rahman said the roots of the crisis remained inside Arakan and that any durable solution would have to address political and security conditions there.

“The solution to the Rohingya crisis has to come from Rakhine itself,” he said.

He argued that diplomacy alone would not resolve the crisis, but neither would an approach based only on security.

His remarks come as Rohingya face an increasingly uncertain political landscape in Arakan, where the Myanmar military junta has lost control over large areas to the Arakan Army.

For Rohingya, however, a change in territorial control has not yet produced guarantees of citizenship, freedom of movement, security, return of land or equal political rights.

Rohingya organisations have repeatedly said any repatriation process must recognize them by their Rohingya identity and ensure that return is voluntary, safe and dignified.

Questions Over Verification and Return

Sufiur Rahman also criticised the current refugee-verification process and said a large section of the Rohingya population remained outside it.

According to the organisers, he estimated that around 60 percent had yet to be covered by the process.

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

Rohingya representatives have challenged the way Myanmar authorities approach verification, particularly the continued refusal to recognize Rohingya identity and concerns that children born in the camps and people displaced after 2017 may be excluded.

For Rohingya families, verification alone does not answer the central questions surrounding return: whether they will be recognized as citizens, allowed to return to their original villages and land, move freely, access education and healthcare, and live without renewed persecution.

‘Humanitarianism Is Not Weakness’

Ishrat Zakia Sultana, associate professor at North South University, said the Rohingya crisis originated in Myanmar even though Bangladesh had been forced to absorb much of its impact.

She said Bangladesh’s humanitarian response should not be interpreted as weakness.

“Humanitarianism is not weakness, but it becomes a weakness when appropriate policies and strategies are absent,” she said.

She called for a broader refugee policy developed through consultation with different stakeholders rather than an approach focused only on short-term management of the Rohingya population.

Her comments come as humanitarian funding for Rohingya refugees continues to decline, placing increasing pressure on food assistance, healthcare, education and other basic services inside the camps.

Leadership and Rohingya Representation

Journalist Parimal Palma said one of the challenges facing the Rohingya community was the absence of unified and effective leadership.

But the question of Rohingya leadership is also closely connected to representation: who has the authority to speak for more than a million refugees in Bangladesh, Rohingya still living in Arakan, and communities scattered across the diaspora.

Recent Rohingya initiatives have increasingly called for refugees themselves to participate directly in negotiations over repatriation and Myanmar’s political future rather than having decisions made solely by governments and international organisations.

Mujibullah’s message at the discussion reflected that demand.

“We do not want sympathy; we want justice and our rights,” he said.

Nine Years Without a Durable Return

Bangladesh’s Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman, who attended as chief guest, said Rohingya were not Bangladeshis but were human beings whose security and rights must be protected.

He said Bangladesh wanted Rohingya to return to their homeland with their rights ensured and called for national consensus on the crisis.

But for Rohingya communities, the unresolved question after nine years is not simply whether Bangladesh and Myanmar can restart another repatriation process.

It is whether Rohingya will be able to return to Arakan as Rohingya—with citizenship, security, freedom of movement, access to their land and homes, and meaningful participation in decisions about their future.

As August 25 approaches, those guarantees remain absent.