Ukhiya, Sept 28 (V7N) – Ahead of the high-level international conference on the Rohingya crisis scheduled for September 30 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, a large gathering of Rohingya refugees was held in Ukhiya Rohingya Camp, Cox’s Bazar, on Saturday.

The assembly took place at the playground of Camp 13 and was organized by the Rohingya Civil Society. Hundreds of Rohingya men and women participated in the event, using the platform to express their concerns and demands ahead of the UN conference. Speakers at the gathering described the upcoming summit as an important opportunity to address the ongoing crisis but expressed deep concern over the absence of direct Rohingya representation.

Prominent Rohingya leaders, including Maulana Syed Ullah, Mohammad Shoaib, Sajeda Begum, Khin Mong, and Jahangir Alam, addressed the crowd, emphasizing that “now is the time for actionable and time-bound decisions, not mere discussions and assurances. Decisions about our future will be made, yet our representatives are not present there, which is unacceptable.” Syed Ullah added, “No decision regarding our fate can be sustainable without our involvement.”

During the gathering, over a hundred participants presented three core demands:

  1. The creation of a time-bound international roadmap to ensure the safe return of Rohingya to their ancestral lands.

  2. Diplomatic and political support from the United Nations and the international community to guarantee safe and dignified repatriation.

  3. Accountability for the genocide committed by the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, ensuring international justice.

Speakers stressed that lasting solutions to the Rohingya crisis are impossible without the direct participation and political recognition of the Rohingya people themselves.

Since August 2017, over 750,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State following widespread military violence. Subsequently, nearly 150,000 more entered Bangladesh. Currently, more than 1.3 million Rohingya reside in camps across Ukhiya, Teknaf, and Bhasanchar, many of whom remain deprived of basic rights, unemployed, and reliant on humanitarian aid. Despite years of appeals for justice, safety, and dignified repatriation, little substantive progress has been made.

The upcoming UN high-level conference on September 30 will see participation from the United Nations, OIC, European Union, various donor agencies, and international human rights organizations. However, the absence of direct Rohingya representation has fueled frustration and disappointment within the refugee camps.

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