A collective failure

Dhaka Tribune
Ahtaram Shin
Maung Solaiman Shah
Publish : 27 Nov 2025,

The Rohingya crisis is not a regional burden but a test of global conscience 

 

The face of the Andaman Sea once again turned into a graveyard for the Rohingya. Earlier this month, a boat carrying Rohingya refugees, desperate families fleeing ongoing persecution and violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, sank near the Thai-Malaysian border, with hundreds still missing.

Missing From a U.N. Meeting on Helping Refugees? The Refugees.

The NewYork Times
By Verena Hölzl
Sept. 29, 2025,

World leaders will discuss how to assist the Rohingya in the world’s largest refugee settlement. But no one living there is attending the conference at the United Nations.

Rohingya refugees at a camp near Amtoli, Bangladesh, in 2017.Credit...Adam Dean for The New York Times

They live in the world’s largest collection of refugee camps, which they are rarely allowed to leave. Their shops there have been bulldozed and their schools closed. In their homeland, warring factions seem to agree only on a shared contempt for the stateless exiles.

Who really speaks for the Rohingya?

Dhaka Tribune
Shafiur Rahman
Publish : 20 Jul 2025, 

Understanding Rohingya power struggles before the UN conference

When the Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) unveiled itself on July 13, Bangladeshi and other news sites obligingly reproduced its press release almost word for word. The self‑described “most inclusive and unified platform ever” promised to speak for Rohingya refugees, the diaspora, and those still trapped in Myanmar. Supporters hailed a breakthrough. Skeptics saw déjà vu.

Road to Rohingya repatriation is more complex than it seems

THE BUSINESS STANDARD
Ariful Hasan Shuvo
05 April, 2025

Myanmar declaring a portion of Rohingya refugees eligible for repatriation might sound like overwhelmingly good news. But in reality, they cannot return as long as the Arakan Army controls Rakhine 

Bangladesh is now home to over a million Rohingya refugees who have fled violence in Myanmar since 2017. Photo: TBS

 A Facebook post from the verified page of the Chief Adviser to Bangladesh's interim government broke the internet on Friday. After all, it offered a ray of hope in the longstanding Rohingya crisis the country has been grappling with for over eight years now.

"Myanmar authorities have confirmed to Bangladesh that out of a list of 800,000 Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh, they have identified 180,000 Rohingyas eligible for return," the post reads. 

UN to halve Rohingya food aid in Bangladesh amid funding crunch

Aljazeera
6 Mar 2025 

World Food Programme says ‘severe funding shortfalls’ to force cut in monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to $6 per person.

Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, mark the fifth anniversary of their flight from Myanmar during a military crackdown [File: Rafiqur Rahman/Reuters]

The United Nations has warned that it will be forced to halve rations for about one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from next month due to a lack of funds.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said in a letter on Wednesday that “severe funding shortfalls” are forcing a cut in monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to $6 per person.

Are the Rohingya stateless?

Daily Mirror Online
By Safrah Fazal
Thu, 13 Feb 2025

The testimonies of the Rohingya paint a picture of innocent people trying to flee grave danger in Myanmar

The recent discourse surrounding the arrival of over 100 Rohingya refugees in Sri Lanka in December 2024 has been fraught with statements that they are victims of human trafficking, or they are illegal immigrants and hence are at risk of deportation. However, the testimonies of the Rohingya themselves paint a different picture—one of innocent people whose lives were in grave danger in Myanmar’s Arakan Province. With no other choice, they entrusted their fate to rickety boats and treacherous waters, clinging to a fragile hope for survival.

Arakan Army’s takeover of northern Rakhine: What fate awaits the Rohingyas?

THE BUSINESS STANDARD
SM Abrar Aowsaf
11 December, 2024, 

As the Arakan Army gains full control of northern Rakhine, fears of renewed violence against the Rohingya mount, complicating repatriation efforts

With the Arakan Army gaining power, the fate of the Rohingiyas remains uncertain.

With the Myanmar army having been driven out of their last outpost in Maungdaw, there is uncertainty on both sides of the 271-kilometre-long Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Burmese side of which is now under complete control of the Arakan Army.

Arakan Army poses new threat to Rohingya Muslims

Anadolu Agency
Edited By Nurbanu Tanrıkulu Kızıl
ISTANBUL Dec 03, 2024 

Rohingya refugees sit on a truck after being relocated from Southern Aceh province to Banda Aceh, Nov. 7, 2024. (AFP Photo) 

Rohingya Muslims, who have long been persecuted by Myanmar's military, are now threatened by the Arakan Army, the co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition said.

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar junta chief

The Guardian
Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondent
Wed 27 Nov 2024 

Min Aung Hlaing accused of crimes against humanity over deportation and persecution of Rohingya minority

 The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, for crimes against humanity over the deadly crackdowns against the country’s Rohingya minority that drove hundreds of thousands to flee to Bangladesh.

Karim Khan said that “after an extensive, independent and impartial investigation” his office had concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe that the Myanmar junta chief “bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya committed in Myanmar and in part in Bangladesh”.

A panel of three ICC judges must now rule on the prosecutor’s request. More applications for arrest warrants will follow, the prosecutor’s office said.

Tun Khin, a prominent Rohingya activist and the president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, welcomed the news as “huge step forward in the quest for justice”.

In 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya were forced to flee their homes in Rakhine state and cross over the border to Bangladesh after an operation by the Myanmar military that UN investigators said was carried out with “genocidal intent”.

Rohingya who fled across the border gave harrowing testimonies of mass rape, murder, and of torched homes. The events shocked the world, and for the past five years the ICC prosecutor’s office has been investigating the waves of violence that occurred during 2016 and 2017. Myanmar has denied accusations of genocide.

At the time of the killings, the western-backed politician Aung San Suu Kyi was Myanmar’s democratically elected de facto leader. She was accused by rights groups of standing by while the army committed massacres. Her supporters claimed, however, that Myanmar’s most famous politician was unable to stand up to the military.

Aung San Suu Kyi later defended her country against allegations of genocide at the UN’s top court. In 2021, she was arrested when the military took power in a coup.

Tun Khin said the news brought “a rare day of celebration for the Rohingya”. He said: “For decades the international community allowed the Myanmar military to violate international law against ethnic and religious minorities, without taking any action. This encouraged the Myanmar military to scale up abuses, including the genocide of the Rohingya. Today we have finally taken another step towards justice and accountability.”

Almost 1 million Rohingya remain in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in one of the world’s biggest and most densely populated refugee camps, which is plagued by insecurity. Rohingya who live in Myanmar continue to face persecution and violence, not only from the Myanmar military but also, activists say, from the Arakan Army, which is fighting against the military for control of Rakhine state.

Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya political activist, said the prosecutor’s application was long overdue. “We warmly welcome this move,” he said, adding that he hoped an arrest warrant would be issued promptly. “We deserve justice, we want justice, only the international court can deliver justice for us,” he said.

There is no set timeframe for the judge’s decision but it generally takes about three months to rule on issuing an arrest warrant.

Matthew Smith, a co-founder and the chief executive of Fortify Rights, a human rights group, described Min Aung Hlaing as “one of the world’s most notorious criminals”.

“He’s not only responsible for crimes against humanity against Rohingya but also for genocide and war crimes in Myanmar. He orchestrated the coup d’etat in 2021 and the subsequent mass murder, imprisonment and other atrocities against people throughout the country,” he said. “Min Aung Hlaing’s victims span Myanmar’s many ethnic groups and number in the tens of millions. He must be stopped and brought to justice.”

Link : Here

2 Rohingya groups want Malaysia to push for protection as Asean chair

FMT
Pan Eu Joe-

KUALA LUMPUR:
05 Nov 2024, 

The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK and Free Rohingya Coalition also want Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to put pressure on Myanmar’s military junta and Arakan groups to stop the genocide of the community.

The ongoing conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state has led to thousands of deaths and forced many to flee. (AP pic)
 

Two Rohingya rights groups are calling on Malaysia to play a key role in protecting the community when it takes over as the Asean chair next year.

The two NGOs, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) and Free Rohingya Coalition (FRC), called on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to pressure the Myanmar military junta and Arakan groups to stop the genocide of the community.

Rohingya Muslims risk losing homeland in Myanmar: Rights activist

TRT World
7 September 2024

Buddhist ethnic insurgent group Arakan Army’s efforts to control region led to continued displacement, mass killings, atrocities, human rights violations, co-founder of Free Rohingya Coalition laments.

AP,Lwin emphasised that Bangladesh, where Rohingya refugees have sought asylum due to attacks by the Myanmar Army, must persuade the international community to lead the repatriation process. / Photo: AP

Rohingya Muslims face the risk of losing their homeland if the international community fails to address the issue, according to one observer.

Uncertainty, despair grip Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

UCA News
Updated: August 30, 2024 

Most of the estimated 1 million Rohingya refugees are frustrated with no visible sign of repatriation and poor camp life 

This photo taken on May 24 shows Rohingya refugees walking down a path at a refugee camp in Ukhia in Bangladesh's southeastern Cox's Bazar district. (Photo: AFP)

Sitting in his tiny one-room home in the congested Shalbagan refugee camp in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar on a hot and humid monsoon day, Abu Sufian laments the loss of a relatively happy life in Myanmar's Rakhine state seven years ago.

“End the Impunity”: Rohingya Muslims Under Attack by Both Burmese Army and Rebel Group

DEMOCRACY NOW
StoryAugust 15, 2024 

Topics

Burma
Rohingya
Bangladesh

Guests

Nay San Lwin
co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition.

Up to 200 Rohingya Muslims were killed in drone strikes last week in Burma as they attempted to flee to Bangladesh. This comes amid intensifying conflict between the military junta and the Arakan Army, a rebel armed group. Human Rights Watch says the military and the Arakan Army have both committed extrajudicial killings, unlawful recruitment for combat, and widespread arson against Rohingya civilians. “They are the enemy of each other, but when it comes to the Rohingya issue, they have the same intention,” says Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition. Only about 600,000 Rohingya remain in Burma, down from about 1.4 million before a campaign of ethnic cleansing began in 2016, though Nay San Lwin says the Rohingya genocide goes back even further to 1978. 

Children among up to 200 Rohingya killed in Myanmar drone attack

The Guardian
Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok
Mon 12 Aug 2024

Witnesses say people killed in artillery and drone attack that targeted civilians fleeing violence

People mourn near the bodies of Rohingya refugees who drowned in the Naf River last week. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Many dozens of Rohingya people, including children, were killed in an artillery and drone attack that targeted civilians as they tried to flee Myanmar last week.

Civilians were trying to escape violence in Maungdaw town, Rakhine state, by crossing the Naf River into Bangladesh when they were targeted last Monday. Videos shared on social media, which appeared to have been taken in the aftermath of the attack, showed bodies and bags strewn across the ground.

Nearly 200 Rohingyas killed in single day by Arakan Army, says activists

Maktoob Media
Maktoob Staff
August 9, 2024

Rohingya advocacy groups have said that, on 05 August, the Arakan Army (AA) attacked thousands of refugees gathered at the beach in Maungdaw Township of Rakhine State in Myanmar with drone bombs killing about 200 of them. Two Rohingya activists told

Malaysia must push for peace and justice for Rohingyas

ALIRAN
22 July 2024 

Follow us on our Malay and English WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube channels.

There is a revolution ongoing in Myanmar. But where do the ethnic minority Rohingyas fit into this picture?

MALAYSIA URGED TO LEAD ASEAN AGAINST MYANMAR'S HUMANITARIAN CRISIS, ROHINGYA PERSECUTION

BERNEMA
By Wan Muhammad Aslah Wan Razali
18/07/2024

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Bernama) -- As chair of the upcoming ASEAN Summit in 2025, Malaysia is being called upon to take a leading role in addressing the humanitarian crisis and safeguarding the rights and lives of the Rohingya people in Myanmar.

UN World Food Program decries looting and burning of its warehouse in western Myanmar combat zone

The Washinton Post
By Associated Press
June 25, 2024 

The United Nations’ food agency has strongly condemned the looting of food supplies and burning of one of its warehouses in a war-torn area in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine

BANGKOK — The United Nations’ food agency on Tuesday strongly condemned the looting of food supplies and burning of one of its warehouses over the weekend in a war-torn area in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine.

A statement released by the World Food Program said the destroyed building in Rakhine’s Maungdaw township held 1,175 metric tons (1,295 U.S. tons) of food and supplies — enough to sustain 64,000 people for a month in case of an emergency.

Escaping inferno: Rohingya flee as violence escalates in Rakhine

BIG NEWS NETWORK
Khalid Umar Malik
16th June 2024, 

RAKHINE, Myanmar - Fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) has risen in the western province of Rakhine in recent days, putting thousands of predominantly Muslim Rohingya residents at risk.

According to discussions with Rohingya activists who spoke with witnesses in Buthidaung, there have been large fires throughout the town in recent days.

Rohingya Muslims Flee Violence in Myanmar as ‘Hate-Driven Unnatural Disaster Unfolds’ – Sparking Pleas for UK and US to Act

BYLINE TIMES
Steve Shaw
14 June 2024

The attack on Buthidaung – where thousands of Rohingya Muslims had sought refuge – has been called a “turning point” in what has been dubbed a “slow-burning genocide”

Rohingya women sit inside a shelter in Lhokseumawe, Aceh province, Indonesia, in December 2023. Photo: Associated Press / Alamy

 

It was late evening when the first bursts of gunfire echoed through the town of Buthidaung in western Myanmar. Soon after, dark plumes of smoke rose as home after home was set ablaze.