25th August – Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day

Eight Years Without Justice, Eight Years of Exile

Commemoration of the 1st anniversary of Rohingya Genocide

The Darkest Night, 25 August 2017

On the night of 25 August 2017, the Myanmar military began a campaign of horror against the Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine State. Soldiers stormed villages, setting homes on fire, shooting families, and committing acts of unimaginable cruelty. Children were killed before their mothers’ eyes, women and girls were gang-raped, and the elderly were burned alive in their homes. Within weeks, more than 740,000 Rohingya fled across the Naf River into Bangladesh, joining hundreds of thousands who had already been displaced by earlier waves of violence (UNHCR, 2018).

The United Nations quickly described this as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” (UN Human Rights Council, 2018). Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International went further, declaring the crimes amounted to genocide (Amnesty International, 2017; Human Rights Watch, 2018). According to Médecins Sans Frontières, at least 6,700 Rohingya, including 730 children, were killed in the first month alone (MSF, 2017).

This violence was not an accident, nor the result of spontaneous conflict. It was the culmination of decades of persecution, especially after the 1982 Citizenship Law, which stripped Rohingya of their nationality and reduced them to statelessness in their own homeland (International Commission of Jurists, 2019).

Life in Exile

Today, more than 1.3 millions Rohingya live in the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. These camps have become the largest refugee settlement in the world, but they are not homes. Families live in crowded bamboo shelters, facing floods, fires, and cyclones. Opportunities for education and livelihood are extremely limited, and young people grow up with no legal status, their futures suspended.

Food rations have been reduced due to international funding cuts. In 2023, the World Food Programme cut aid to less than $10 per person per month, pushing families deeper into malnutrition and despair (WFP, 2023). Many Rohingya describe life in the camps as “an open prison” — safe from immediate killing, but trapped in a life without freedom, justice, or hope.

A New Wave of Violence – The Rebel Group Arakan Army

If the genocide of 2017 was the darkest chapter, it is painful to say that it is not the last. Since 2024, another armed group, the Arakan Army (AA), has launched brutal attacks against Rohingya communities in northern Rakhine. In May 2024, Fortify Rights documented the massacre of hundreds of Rohingya in Buthidaung (Fortify Rights, 2024). In August, reports surfaced that over 200 Rohingya were killed near the Naf River, and whole communities were once again forced to flee.

Amnesty International (2024) and Human Rights Watch (2024) confirmed that the Arakan Army has committed extrajudicial killings, torture, arson, and forced displacement, crimes that mirror — and sometimes exceed — the cruelty of the Myanmar military. The Rohingya Students Network has stressed that both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army must be held accountable. To condemn one and ignore the other is to allow impunity to continue.

Demands for Justice

Justice for the Rohingya has been slow. In 2020, the International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar to take immediate steps to prevent genocide (ICJ, 2020). The International Criminal Court has opened investigations into the forced deportation of Rohingya (ICC, 2022). The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar continues to collect evidence (IIMM, 2024). Yet still, no senior commander has faced trial, and Rohingya remain exiled.

Speaking at the 2025 Cox’s Bazar Dialogue on the Rohingya Situation, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate and Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, laid out a Seven-Point Proposal.His plan calls for securing the right of return, adequate humanitarian support, an end to violence, meaningful dialogue in Myanmar, regional cooperation, united opposition to ethnic cleansing, and above all, justice and accountability (Government of Bangladesh, 2025).

The Rohingya civil society organizations have issued joint statements, reminding the world that Rohingya voices must be central in all discussions. Women, youth, and community leaders demand to be heard, not only as victims but as rightful citizens of their homeland (Rohingya Civil Society Joint Statement, 2025).

The Cry of the People

For eight long years, the Rohingya have lived without a homeland, without citizenship, and without justice. In Bangladesh, their survival depends on aid that is shrinking every year. In Myanmar, those who remain face persecution from both the military and the Arakan Army.

Yet in the midst of suffering, the Rohingya remain strong. Community leaders, students, and activists continue to speak out. On this 8th anniversary of genocide, they say clearly:

• No more refugee life.

• No more silence.

• We demand justice and the right to return.

Conclusion: Never Again, Again

The story of the Rohingya is one of both unimaginable pain and unbroken resilience. On 25 August 2017, the world watched a genocide unfold. Today, in 2025, the world is still watching. The phrase “Never Again” has been repeated for decades after each genocide, but for the Rohingya, it has not yet been made real.

Justice for the Rohingya means restoring their citizenship, ensuring safe and dignified return, and holding all perpetrators accountable. To delay further is to betray another generation. On this day of remembrance, the message is clear: the Rohingya will not be forgotten, and their struggle for justice will not end until dignity, peace, and freedom are restored in their ancestral land.

References

Amnesty International. (2017). Myanmar: Crimes against humanity terrorize and drive Rohingya out.

Amnesty International. (2024). Myanmar: Arakan Army committing war crimes against Rohingya.

Fortify Rights. (2024). New evidence of Arakan Army massacres of Rohingya civilians.

Government of Bangladesh. (2025). Seven-Point Proposal on Rohingya Crisis, presented by Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

Human Rights Watch. (2018). Burma: Military Crimes Against Humanity.

Human Rights Watch. (2024). Myanmar: Arakan Army Abuses Rohingya.

ICJ. (2020). The Gambia v. Myanmar – Provisional Measures Order.

ICC. (2022). Situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar.

International Commission of Jurists. (2019). Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law and its Impact.

IIMM. (2024). Annual Report to the Human Rights Council.

Médecins Sans Frontières. (2017). MSF Survey on Mortality Among Rohingya Refugees.

UNHCR. (2018). Rohingya Emergency Response.

UN Human Rights Council. (2018). Report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.

World Food Programme. (2023). Cox’s Bazar Food Assistance Update.

Rohingya Civil Society Organizations. (2025). Joint Statement on Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day.

Rohingya Students Network. (2025). Statement on the 8th Anniversary of Rohingya Genocide.