Genocide Remembrance Day for Rohingyas today

Today (25 August) marks seven years since the military operations in Myanmar, which drove 700,000 across the border into Bangladesh.

"Genocide Remembrance Day will be held at Camp-26 and Camp-27 in Cox's Bazar from 9am to 11am on Sunday," Osman, a Rohingya leader, told UNB yesterday (24 August).

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.3 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char. Not a single Rohingya has been repatriated so far, though there were attempts to begin repatriation in the past years.

Ahead of the day, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk raised concerns about the sharply deteriorating situation across Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State, where hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed while trying to flee the fighting.

Over the past four months, tens of thousands of people, many of whom are Rohingya, have fled a major offensive by the Arakan Army to take control of Buthidaung and Maungdaw towns from the military.

In one of the deadliest attacks along the Naf River bordering Bangladesh on 5 August, dozens were reportedly killed. It remains unclear which party is responsible for the conflict.

"Thousands of Rohingya have been forced to flee on foot, with the Arakan Army herding them repeatedly into locations that offer scant safe haven," Türk said. 

"As the border crossings to Bangladesh remain closed, members of the Rohingya community are finding themselves trapped between the military and its allies and the Arakan Army, with no path to safety."

Despite repeated warnings and calls for action, the ongoing violence underscores the prevailing sense of impunity and the persistent challenges in ensuring the protection of civilians in accordance with international law, the High Commissioner said.

General Secretary of the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) Dr Mohammad Habib Ullah on Saturday called for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission in Myanmar to uncover the true causes and extent of the genocide.