A three-day “Stakeholders’ Dialogue” in Cox’s Bazar closed Wednesday with calls for uninterrupted funding and a credible, time-bound plan for the safe, voluntary return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar—but no concrete enforcement mechanism, participants and officials said.
The meeting was billed as input for a High-Level Conference on the Rohingya situation due on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on September 30.
Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus—Bangladesh’s interim leader—unveiled a seven-point proposal: a realistic roadmap for dignified, sustainable returns; sustained donor support; security and livelihoods guarantees by Myanmar authorities and the Arakan Army; rights restoration through dialogue; a more active ASEAN role; a tougher stance against genocide; and accelerated accountability at international courts. “The time for action is now,” he said.
Pledges versus pipeline
In April, Bangladesh said Myanmar had confirmed 180,000 names from Dhaka’s lists as eligible to return, fuelling hopes for a phased start. Four months on, none has moved—another reminder that verification without rights guarantees is a political cul-de-sac. Earlier repatriation attempts in 2018 and 2019 collapsed amid refugee fears; a 2023 pilot stalled for the same reason.
Refugee leaders told DW and local media the Yunus plan “offers hope but needs enforcement”—citizenship, security and a return to places of origin remain non-negotiable.
War across the border
The conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state has intensified. The Arakan Army now claims sway over most of the state, with Sittwe, Kyaukphyu and a handful of areas still contested or under junta control. Analysts warn any return corridor would require robust, monitored security guarantees that do not presently exist.
Camps under strain
UN chief António Guterres visited the camps in March during Ramadan, urging donors to step in as agencies flagged looming ration cuts.
The World Food Programme has since warned and planned a reduction that would take monthly food vouchers to about US$6 per person without new funds, a move aid groups say would worsen malnutrition and protection risks.
Education services have also buckled, with thousands of learning centers shuttered and rising reports of child marriage and child labor.
Bangladesh now hosts roughly 1.1–1.3 million Rohingya across 33 camps, according to UNHCR and government estimates; on August 25—eight years since the 2017 crackdown—large rallies in the camps renewed calls for a safe return.
Justice track: long road, short on cash
On accountability, the International Court of Justice genocide case (The Gambia v. Myanmar) remains active, with further hearings expected later this year; the International Criminal Court is investigating crimes linked to the Rohingya’s deportation into Bangladesh. But the UN’s evidence-gathering mechanism for Myanmar says budget cuts are undermining its work.
Who’s at the table—and who isn’t
UNHCR’s Raouf Mazou, UN Resident Coordinator Rana Flowers and Nicholas Koumjian of the IIMM attended sessions alongside diplomats and civil society. Domestic parties from across Bangladesh’s spectrum also showed up.
Media readouts did not signal clear buy-in from Beijing, New Delhi, Moscow or Washington—the actors with the deepest leverage over the conflict’s trajectory.
Bottom line
The Cox’s Bazar dialogue sharpened principles but left the hardest question unanswered: who will guarantee, verify and enforce conditions for return while war rages in Rakhine and aid to the world’s largest refugee settlement is being pared back?
Without that backbone, seven-point plans risk becoming annual rituals rather than operational roadmaps. On August 25, refugees themselves put it bluntly: “We want to go home—with rights.”
