Rohingya Student Network (RSN) Statement on the 8th Anniversary of Rohingya Genocide Day

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide. On 25 August 2017, the Myanmar military launched a brutal campaign of mass killings, rape, torture, and arson against the Rohingya people in northern Rakhine State. Entire villages were destroyed. Families were torn apart. More than 700,000 Rohingya were forced to flee to Bangladesh, joining hundreds of thousands already displaced by earlier campaigns of violence.

Eight years on, justice remains out of reach, and the suffering of the Rohingya continues. Nearly one million Rohingya live in the camps of Cox’s Bazar, denied citizenship, denied education, denied livelihood, and denied a future.

The Rohingya Student Network stresses that the genocide against our people did not begin in 2017. Its roots lie in decades of systematic persecution, institutionalized discrimination, and the deliberate stripping of Rohingya citizenship in 1982. 2017 violence was the most visible chapter, but not the first, and tragically, not the last.

Today, as we remember the victims and honor the survivors, we must also confront the new wave of atrocities unfolding in Rakhine State. The Arakan Army (AA), now the dominant force in northern Rakhine, has been carrying out massacres, forced displacement, and targeted attacks against Rohingya civilians.

• On 2 May 2024, more than 600 Rohingya were massacred by the terrorist Rakhine Rebel group [Arakan Army] in Htan Shauk Kan (Hoyasiri).

• On 5 August 2024, as many as 200 Rohingya were killed by the terrorist Rakhine Rebel group [Arakan Army] near the Naf River.

• Entire communities in Buthidaung and Maungdaw have once again been uprooted.

RSN strongly asserts that both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army must be held accountable for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. To ignore one while condemning the other is to perpetuate impunity.

The world already has tools at its disposal: the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and universal jurisdiction in national courts. What is missing is political will. Condemnation without action only emboldens perpetrators and prolongs cycles of violence.

On this anniversary, RSN calls for:

1. Independent international investigations into atrocities committed by both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army.

2. Accountability and prosecution of perpetrators through international and national courts.

3. Restoration of rights including the right of return to Rakhine in safety and dignity, full citizenship, freedom of movement, education, and livelihood.

4. Investment in education for Rohingya youth, as a pathway to breaking cycles of statelessness, poverty, and exclusion.

Eight years ago, the world said “Never Again.” Yet today, Rohingya are once again facing genocide. The international community cannot afford another failure.

The Rohingya Student Network stands with survivors, with our people in the camps, and with Rohingya still trapped in Rakhine State. We commit ourselves to the fight for justice, dignity, and a future where the Rohingya are free, secure, and recognized as equal citizens in their homeland.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice denied is genocide repeated.