Why the 2025 UN Conference Must Deliver on the Rohingya Crisis

THE | DIPLOMAT 
By Zulficar Niaz Tushar
July 02, 2025

Seven years on, the refugee camps are still full. Rohingya futures are still frozen. And the promises from the international community remain, for the most part, unfulfilled.

 

This September, the United Nations will host a long-awaited High-Level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar. Set to take place in New York, it’s a moment that has been years in the making — proposed by Bangladesh’s chief adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, during the 79th U.N. General Assembly and now backed by 106 countries across continents. But behind the diplomacy and formality lies something far more urgent: the fate of over a million people who have been living in limbo for far too long.

Dhaka for innovative solution for Rohingya crisis

BSS NEWS
23 Mar 2025, 

DHAKA, March 23, 2025 (BSS) – Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin today expressed hope that the upcoming High-Level Conference under the aegis of the UN, to be held in New York, would offer innovative solutions over the Rohingya crisis.

He made the remarks as UNHCR Executive Committee Chair Ambassador Marcelo Vazquez-Bermudez met him at the foreign ministry here, said a ministry’s press release.

UN SG reaffirms continued support to Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh

BSS NEWS
BSS
08 Feb 2025,

High Representative of Bangladesh's Chief Adviser on Rohingya Issue and Priority Matters Dr. Khalilur Rahman met UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday. Photo: PID

DHAKA, Feb 8, 2025 (BSS) - United Nation (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has reiterated the UN's continued commitment to a durable solution to the Rohingya crisis and assured Bangladesh of ensuring funding for the issue.

Dhaka highlights Rohingya crisis challenges in talks with Ottawa

Dhaka Tribune
UNB
Publish : 10 Feb 2025

A meeting between Foreign Adviser Hossain and visiting Minister of International Development of Canada Ahmed Hussen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo: UNB

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain has highlighted the "considerable challenges" that Bangladesh faces in accommodating Rohingyas and stressed the importance of facilitating sustainable repatriations of the forcibly displaced population.

The issue was discussed during a courtesy meeting between Touhid and Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.

Dhaka’s repeated calls for Rohingyas’ return fall on deaf ears

daily observer
Sunday, 22 December, 2024

Dhaka has once again called for the safe and immediate repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh, pointing to the fact that there can't be lasting peace and stability in Myanmar without resolving the Rohingya crisis.

This was pointed out by Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Friday at a bilateral meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa on the sideline of the Informal Consultation on Myanmar in Bangkok. The meeting was also attended by high-level representatives from China, India, Lao PDR and Myanmar.

No lasting peace in Myanmar without resolving Rohingya crisis: Touhid

BSS NEWS
20 Dec 2024, 

File Photo

DHAKA, Dec 20, 2024 (BSS) – Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain today said that there can be no lasting peace and stability in Myanmar without resolving the Rohingya issue.

Resolving the Rohingya crisis needs a three-pronged diplomatic strategy

THE BUSINESS STANDARD
Dr Mohammad Tarikul Islam
11 October, 2024,

Bangladesh now needs to take proactive and well-coordinated action to stop the Rohingya migration and move towards the restoration of their rights

Rohingya refugees' fear of violence upon their return caused previous attempts at repatriation in 2018 and 2019 to fail. Photo: Bloomberg

Because of the presence of around one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, concerns have been raised about the safety of the native people. In spite of diplomatic efforts, Myanmar, which has been ruled by a military junta since 2021, has refused to allow its Rohingya citizens to return home, infuriating Bangladesh and jeopardising regional stability. 

Left Behind: The Rohingya Crisis and the World’s Failure to Act

Georgetown Security Studies Review
16 November 2024

Image Credit: Asnthantan

The Rohingya, Myanmar’s Muslim minority, face what the United Nations has termed a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” Despite this strong condemnation, international efforts have failed to prevent or mitigate the ongoing atrocities. The plight of the Rohingya exposes not only Myanmar’s entrenched ethnic and religious conflicts but also highlights significant gaps in global accountability mechanisms. The People’s Republic of China (PRC), Myanmar’s influential northern neighbor and primary economic partner, has shielded Myanmar from international pressure through its role on the United Nations Security Council, complicating efforts to address the crisis. As Myanmar’s military-backed government continues policies of forced displacement, denial of citizenship, and organized violence against the Rohingya, the crisis signals an international community unable—or unwilling—to intervene against genocide within sovereign borders.

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.

The only one solution to the Rohingya crisis

Dhaka Tribune
Tribune Editorial
Publish : 22 Jun 2024,

The ethnic cleansing of Myanmar’s Rohingya population has been one of the most prolonged humanitarian crises in human history, one which has led to the exodus of more than a million of the Muslim minority to seek refuge in Bangladesh where they are currently subsisting in various camps.

US to remain Bangladesh’s partner in Rohingya crisis response: Envoy

NEWAGE
United News of Bangladesh .
Dhaka
12 June, 2024, 

Regional refugee coordinator at the US embassy Mackenzie Rowe addresses a small group briefing at the American Centre on Wednesday. | UNB photo

The United States said that it would continue to advocate with countries in the region, and at the United Nations, for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Myanmar so that the Rohingyas and others displaced by the violence could safely return home.

FM calls for coordinated efforts to resolve Rohingya crisis

The Business Standard
BSS
01 June, 2024

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud speaks at the UN Headquarters in New York on Friday. Photo: PID 

 

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud has called for addressing the ongoing conflict in Rakhine state and taking coordinated international action to repatriate Rohingyas to Myanmar from Bangladesh.

 

Bangladesh calls for UN push to solve Rohingya crisis amid efforts by Myanmar to stem criticism

AA
SM Najmus Sakib
DHAKA, Bangladesh
01.06.2024  

In meetings with UN officials, Bangladesh alleges Myanmar is using its internal conflict as pretext to delay repatriation

Bangladesh’s top diplomat has called for coordinated efforts by UN agencies to resolve the longstanding Rohingya crisis, accusing neighboring Myanmar of using its internal conflict as a pretext to delay repatriation of the persecuted Muslim group.

Rohingya crisis in Indonesia a ‘ticking time bomb’ if political indifference, misinformation continue: analysts

South China Morning Post
Johannes Nugroho
Published: 6 Apr 2024

• Analysts point to social-media disinformation to ‘discredit’ and ‘demonise’ Rohingya refugees in the lead-up to the presidential election in February
• They say the government has not been inclined to counter such narratives, which have stoked paranoia about the refugees and led to conflict
  

Rohingya refugees rest in a temporary shelter at the Indonesian Red Cross Office, after being evacuated from the sea at Meulaboh, West Aceh, Indonesia, on March 22. Photo: EPA-EFE

 

The orange truck crammed with 75 Rohingya survivors of a capsized boat was told to hurry along by Indonesian police in Beureugang, West Aceh, as dozens of angry villagers gave chase, shouting “[we] reject the presence of refugees here!”
Footage of the incident on March 21 was screened by a number of television channels across Indonesia and observers say the growing hostility is nothing new, attributing it to misinformation campaigns and political indifference towards the plight of Rohingya refugees in the country.

Dhaka urges immediate action on Rohingya crisis at UNSC briefing

Dhaka Tribune
Nurul Islam Hasib
Publish : 05 Apr 2024,  

This file image taken on April 2, 2024 shows a United Nations Security Council meeting at UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US, on April 2, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Bangladesh at a UN Security Council briefing has highlighted the “urgent need” for action to resolve the Rohingya crisis.

The Geopolitical Stakes of the Rohingya Crisis

INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIGEST
Rasel Hossen Shakib
04.01.2024 

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in 2017.

 

To resolve the impasse over repatriating Rohingya Muslims, all relevant stakeholders must engage in dialogue.

The Rohingya issue has surged to the forefront of international concern, casting a long shadow over the prospects for political stability, social tranquility, and environmental viability in Southeast Asia. The quagmire, originating from Myanmar, extends its geopolitical tendrils, ensnaring not only its immediate neighbor, Bangladesh but also posing a broader threat to the Southeast Asian region.

Unravelling the Rohingya crisis

The Star
Saturday, 30 Mar 2024

Gruelling journey: A file pic of ethnic Rohingya disembarking from their boat upon landing on a beach in Ulee Madon, North Aceh, Indonesia, on Nov 16, 2023. — AP 

A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives.

Shahriar: Bangladesh warned neighbours about Rohingya challenges in 2017

Dhaka Tribune
Nurul Islam Hasib
Publish : 28 Feb 2024,

• ‘Next five years agenda divided in two major parts – economic and politics’
• ‘Continuity of govt has changed Bangladesh for good’
• Developing skills of the migrant workers is a top priority
• One of the biggest challenges is dealing with misinformation

 Rajshahi-6 MP Md Shahriar Alam speaking at an event in Dhaka on Wednesday, February 28, 2023. Photo: Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune

 

Rajshahi-6 MP Md Shahriar Alam, also the former state minister for foreign affairs, on Wednesday said that Bangladesh had conveyed to the neighbours back in 2017 about the consequences of the Rohingya crisis when the first massive exodus took place.

Rohingya crisis may get deeper for Bangladesh, India in coming days: Donald Lu

bdnews24.com
Senior Correspondent
Published : 18 Feb 2024,

The US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia says he now spends a lot of time thinking about the refugee crisis, which does not appear to be getting better

Donald Lu, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, has flagged the security risks from the Rohingya refugee crisis for Bangladesh and India amid the ongoing conflict between the Myanmar military and rebel groups.

Rohingya: MSF Calls Attention to the ongoing Rohingya Crisis

MSF
February 1'2024 

On the 29th of January 2024, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) launched a short animation film, "Lost at Sea", that illustrates the harsh reality Rohingya endure as they try to seek safety—and their resilience.

The film “Lost at Sea” is based on the experience of Muhib, a Rohingya man who fled Myanmar and made a dangerous journey across the sea to seek safety in Malaysia. He was stranded for more than two weeks on board a fishing boat in the Andaman Sea, full of men, women and children also fleeing for their lives. He witnessed 27 people die onboard. Passengers had no choice but to put their bodies into the sea as no help arrived. In the film, dream-like flashbacks tell the story of Muhib. He is haunted by a song his mother sang him in Myanmar. He tries to remember the reasons that forced him to flee in the first place.