PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
17th October 2026 – COX’S BAZAR, BANGLADESH — Razia Sultana, lawyer, researcher, and Founder of RW Welfare Society (RWWS), has issued an urgent statement titled “How Much More Evidence Does the World Need?” warning that the Rohingya again face an imminent threat of total destruction as the crisis in Rathedaung and across Rakhine State escalates.
For nearly a decade, her ground documentation, including the reports “Rape by Command,” “The Killing Fields of Alethankyaw,” “Unravelling Maungdaw Exodus,” and “Kill Them All,” has placed evidence of genocide against the Rohingya before the world. She says the current abuses repeat the patterns those reports recorded:
- Forced expulsion: The Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military target Rohingya communities with drone strikes, village burnings, and expulsion ultimatums.
- Human shielding: Civilians are being rounded up and used as human shields amid the fighting.
- Impunity: Global inaction and impunity only breed further destruction.
“We do not lack evidence. The world lacks the moral courage and political will to act,” said Razia Sultana. “The time for statements of concern has passed. The Rohingya need immediate, concrete international protection before an entire population is erased.”
Demands to UN Member States
She calls on all UN Member States, particularly those that pledged support at the UN High-Level Conference on the Rohingya, to immediately:
- Condemn publicly all combatants, the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military alike, for attacks on civilians, expulsion orders, and human shielding.
- Convene an urgent UN Security Council briefing to demand an immediate halt to hostilities against civilians.
- Use neutral UN protection mechanisms, including the UN Special Envoy on Myanmar, OHCHR, and UNHCR, to enforce International Humanitarian Law on the ground.
- Ensure accountability by directing the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) to collect and preserve evidence of recent crimes by all armed groups in Rakhine State.
“When crimes go unpunished, violence repeats itself,” she added.
- Name: Razia Sultana, Human Rights Advocate and Lead Researcher
- Organisation: RW Welfare Society (RWWS)
- Email: rsmimi15@gmail.com
