‘No more promises’: Rohingya demand return to Myanmar nine years after expulsion

Nine years after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were driven from Myanmar’s Rakhine State by a brutal military crackdown, thousands gathered across refugee camps in Bangladesh on Tuesday with a message to the international community: “We want to go home, not hear more promises."

Rallies, discussions and prayer gatherings were held at four Rohingya camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar on August 25, marking the ninth anniversary of the 2017 exodus and what the refugees observe as Rohingya Genocide Day.

The programmes were held at football fields in Camps 4 and 13 in Ukhiya and Camps 22 and 26 in Teknaf.

From early morning, Rohingya men, women and children streamed into the venues from different blocks, some carrying placards and posters and others wearing matching T-shirts and caps.

Slogans echoed across the gathering grounds as participants remembered relatives killed in 2017, demanded justice and accountability, and called for safe and dignified repatriation.

Abul Hashem, a majhi, or community leader, at the Shalbagan Rohingya camp in Teknaf, said large numbers of refugees from camps across Ukhiya and Teknaf joined the events and peacefully marked Genocide Day while pressing their demand to return home.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya crossed mountainous terrain, the Bangladesh-Myanmar border and the Naf River beginning August 25, 2017, fleeing killings and violence by Myanmar’s military in Rakhine. Their arrival rapidly transformed parts of Ukhiya and Teknaf into one of the world’s largest refugee settlements.

Nine years later, however, no large-scale repatriation has taken place.

“We are grateful to the people and government of Bangladesh. They gave us shelter in our time of crisis,” Master Syed Ullah, a Rohingya leader and organiser of the United Council of Rohingya, told the gathering at Camp 4. “But we do not want to remain refugees forever. We want to return to our own land in Rakhine, Myanmar.”

Syed Ullah said the Rohingya had spent nine years dependent on humanitarian assistance and had repeatedly heard assurances about repatriation without seeing those promises translated into a large-scale return.

He said repatriation could not simply mean transporting refugees across the border. Myanmar must first guarantee their security, citizenship rights, freedom of movement, fundamental human rights and the right to return to their original homes.

Syed Ullah also raised concerns about children growing up in the camps. Many who arrived as children in 2017 are now adolescents or young adults, while an entire generation born during the nine years of displacement has never seen Myanmar.

Their understanding of Rakhine comes largely from their parents’ stories about homes, villages, rivers, hills and relatives left behind.

Syed Ullah said that while efforts for repatriation should be accelerated, education, healthcare and security for Rohingya living in the camps must also be ensured.

Rights activist Mohammad Rafiq made an appeal to the international community.

“We are asking the world for 10 minutes. Nine years have passed. Bangladesh is not ours; we want to return to our country,” he said.

“Arakan belongs to us, and we belong to Arakan — there is no greater truth than that.”

Rafiq called for effective international action to secure the Rohingya’s right to return, saying their overriding aspiration after nine years of refugee life remained a safe and dignified return to their homeland.

Rohingya leader Master Kamal said there could be no sustainable repatriation without guarantees of citizenship.

Returning people across the border without ensuring citizenship, security, freedom of movement, the right to their homes and fundamental rights would not constitute a durable solution, he said.

Myanmar, Kamal said, must create conditions in which Rohingya can live in their own communities without fear of discrimination, persecution or abuse.

“We have been waiting for nine years,” Rohingya leader Master Shoaib said. “A generation of our children is growing up in the camps. We want this waiting to end. We want a path to be created quickly so that we can return to our homeland through safe and dignified repatriation.”

Shoaib said the Rohingya remained grateful to Bangladesh but did not want permanent refugee status. They wanted to return to Rakhine and live there with citizenship rights and dignity.

He urged the international community to play a more effective role in ensuring security, citizenship rights and freedom of movement before any return takes place.

For many at Tuesday’s gatherings, the demands were intertwined with memories of the violence that forced them across the border nine years ago.

Some lost parents, brothers, sisters or other relatives. Many saw their homes burned, while others became separated from family members during their flight.

Abdul Malek, 63, originally from Maungdaw in Myanmar and now living in Block A-7 of Camp 7 in Ukhiya, said years in Bangladesh had not diminished his desire to return.

“I have not been able to see my relatives for a long time. I cannot visit the graves of my relatives,” Malek said. “My memories, relatives and people I know are back home. I want to return.”

Although the camp had given him a place of safety, he said, it had not erased the pain of living away from his birthplace.

Lokman Hakim, another resident of the area, echoed that frustration.

“We have been in this country for a long time. Now we have to return to our own country,” he said. “How much longer can we stay here? We want to return to our own country.”

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