I Was Not Supposed to Graduate from New York University

My name is Maung Sawyeddollah. I'm a Rohingya, originally from Myanmar. When I was fifteen, the military's 2017 crackdown and the massive violence forced my family and me to leave our home. We've been in a refugee camp in Bangladesh ever since.

Before the violence, I dreamed of becoming a doctor. I wanted to provide fair medical care to people in my community. But even before we were displaced, Rohingya students were largely barred from higher education in Myanmar. After we arrived in Bangladesh, that exclusion continued in a different form. For years, university felt like an impossible goal.

After becoming a refugee in Bangladesh, my dream of becoming a doctor changed to becoming a lawyer. I began to see education as more than just a means of personal achievement. It was also a tool for justice. I wanted to hold those responsible accountable and to advocate for the rights of my people. However, access to higher education is restricted for the Rohingya in Bangladesh as well. I Was Not Supposed to Graduate from New York University. Refugee students, like me, were expected to accept that higher education was simply not for us.

In 2019, I founded the Rohingya Student Network (RSN) to support youth in the camps and to advocate for access to education. Besides my advocacy and empowerment work, I wrote articles, worked with human rights organizations, and met officials. Still, meaningful pathways to university remained out of reach.

In search of access to higher education, I encountered a secret pathway that some Rohingya students had used to enroll in a Bangladeshi private university. Using the same path, I started a bachelor’s degree in the spring of 2023. But the opportunity came with a painful condition. I had to hide my identity.

I was instructed to pretend to be Bengali and to change how I dressed, how I spoke, and how I introduced myself. I was warned never to reveal that I was Rohingya. For someone who had spent years advocating for the dignity and recognition of my people, this felt like a betrayal of my own existence.

I survived my first semester, but during my second semester, I failed to follow the condition, and my identity as a Rohingya was revealed to my friends and some professors. Some of my friends were shocked, but they never hated me because of my identity. However, fearing potential government repercussions, the university quickly revoked my studentship.

At that time, I felt like it was the end of my future. In reality, it was the beginning of a new chapter of life.

I have applied to more than 150 universities outside of Bangladesh. After months of searching for opportunities, I was admitted to New York University, becoming the first Rohingya student from the refugee camps in Bangladesh to receive this opportunity. This May 2026, I graduated from New York University, School of Professional Studies, with a bachelor of arts in international studies. 

But my story should not be exceptional.

Thousands of Rohingya students still live in camps without access to higher education. Others continue to compromise their identity simply to study. Education systems should empower young people, not force them to erase who they are.

At the high-level conference on the situation of the Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025, I requested member states to create pathways for Rohingya students to pursue higher education. I also raised this issue in a meeting with Muhammad Yunus, who was serving as chief adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government at the time.

On May 15, 2026, just one day after my graduation from NYU, I organized an event in collaboration with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International not only to celebrate my graduation but also to expand the conversation about higher education for Rohingya students.

Now there is a new administration in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) came to power after the recent general election in the country. This is the best time for the international community to work together with the new government of Bangladesh to establish pathways for Rohingya students to access higher education.

Education is more than just a basic human right. It's an investment in social stability, personal dignity, and the development of future leaders. Denying a generation access to education is denying their dream of having a future.

The world has repeatedly promised justice for the Rohingya. Ensuring access to education would be a meaningful step toward fulfilling that promise and toward building a future in which no student must hide their identity simply to sit in a classroom.

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Author Bio

Maung Sawyeddollah is a Rohingya human rights advocate and the founder of the Rohingya Student Network (RSN). Born and raised in Myanmar, he was forcibly displaced to Bangladesh at the age of 15 after fleeing the Rohingya genocide. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the People. His work focuses on empowering Rohingya communities through education and youth leadership, advocating for protection and sustainable solutions for displaced Rohingya, and promoting accountability for atrocities committed against the Rohingya people.