Tawhidul Islam,  Cox's Bazar

At 86, Abdul Jabbar still carries vivid memories of the place he calls home. His village, Jabbar Para in Tudeng, Maungdaw Township of Myanmar's Rakhine State, is where he was born, where generations of his family lived, and where he spent most of his life serving as a primary school headmaster. Today, however, he lives in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, with only one wish left.

"I want to return to my own country."

Abdul Jabbar's story is not just the story of one man. It reflects the decades-long experience of an entire community marked by statelessness, identity denial, displacement, persecution and an uncertain wait for repatriation. While the mass exodus of more than 700,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh following the military crackdown of August 25, 2017 drew global attention, the roots of the crisis stretch back much further.

Nine years later, the story remains unfinished.

Instead, a new generation is growing up in the refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, where Myanmar exists more as a memory inherited from parents than as a homeland they have ever seen.

Lifetime of displacement ; 

According to Abdul Jabbar, Rohingya of his generation were once recognized as citizens of Myanmar. They had access to education, employment and public life.

That reality gradually disappeared.

The turning point came in 1978 with Myanmar's military operation known as Operation Dragon King (Nagamin), launched ostensibly to identify citizens and "foreigners." The campaign triggered widespread arrests, abuses and fear, forcing an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. Many, including Abdul Jabbar, later returned under a bilateral repatriation agreement.

They hoped life would return to normal.

"It never did," he recalled. "We were promised our rights, but instead everything was taken away."

The situation worsened dramatically after Myanmar enacted the 1982 Citizenship Law, which effectively excluded the Rohingya from the country's officially recognized ethnic groups. Restrictions on movement, education, employment, marriage and political participation steadily intensified.

"I was born there. My ancestors lived there," Abdul Jabbar said. "Why should I be called Bengali? I am Rohingya."

That question lies at the heart of one of the world's longest-running displacement crises.

Beyond events of 2017 : 

Reducing the Rohingya crisis to the events of 2017 overlooks decades of persecution.

Following the 1978 exodus, another large influx arrived in Bangladesh during the early 1990s. Fresh waves of violence in Rakhine State in 2012, military operations in 2016 and the massive crackdown in 2017 forced hundreds of thousands more to flee.

After attacks on Myanmar security posts in August 2017, the military launched sweeping operations that prompted more than 700,000 Rohingya to cross into Bangladesh within months. The United Nations and international human rights organizations documented widespread allegations of grave human rights violations during the campaign.

The hills of Ukhiya and Teknaf were rapidly transformed into what has become one of the world's largest refugee settlements. Temporary shelters built from bamboo, tarpaulins and plastic sheets remain home to more than a million people nearly a decade later.

 New generation without  homeland : 

As of June 30, 2026, Bangladesh hosts nearly 1.2 million Rohingya refugees. Around 1.166 million live in 33 camps in Cox's Bazar, while another 34,000 reside on Bhasan Char.

Many children born after 2017 have never seen Myanmar.

For them, Rakhine is a place described through family stories rather than personal memory. They know the names of ancestral villages but have never walked their roads, seen their homes or visited their family lands.

They know they belong to Myanmar.

Yet Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens.

This contradiction remains the deepest tragedy of the Rohingya crisis.

They want to return — but under what conditions? :

Contrary to a common perception, many Rohingya do not seek permanent settlement in Bangladesh.

Their demand is consistent: they want to return voluntarily, safely and with dignity.

They insist on several conditions before repatriation: guaranteed citizenship, security, restoration of property rights, compensation for losses, accountability for atrocities and official recognition of their Rohingya identity.

Mohammad Zubair, Chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), says identity remains the central issue.

"We are Rohingya, but Myanmar insists on calling us Bengali. Once our identity was denied, all our rights were taken away," he said.

For the Rohingya, identity is not merely symbolic. It determines citizenship, voting rights, land ownership and their relationship with the state.

Two failed repatriation attempts : 

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed on repatriation after the 2017 influx.

The first attempt, on November 15, 2018, collapsed because refugees refused to return without credible guarantees of safety and rights. A second effort in August 2019 met the same fate.

Lists were prepared, names verified, diplomatic meetings held and international conferences organized.

Yet not a single sustainable repatriation has taken place.

Rakhine become even more complicated : 

Myanmar's 2021 military coup fundamentally altered the country's political landscape.

In Rakhine State, intensified fighting between Myanmar's military and the Arakan Army has further complicated prospects for repatriation. Shifting territorial control and continuing insecurity have made conditions on the ground even more uncertain.

Today, the question is no longer simply whether Myanmar is willing to take the Rohingya back.

The greater question is whether safe conditions for return exist at all.

The UN's 2025-2026 Joint Response Plan continues to identify safe, voluntary and dignified repatriation as the only durable solution while estimating that humanitarian assistance worth US$710.5 million will be needed in 2026 to support refugees and affected host communities.

Verification continues  : 

Bangladesh has submitted information on more than 829,000 Rohingya to Myanmar for verification.

By January 2026, Myanmar had verified approximately 354,751 individuals and identified 253,964 as former residents of Myanmar. Authorities later informed Bangladesh that ongoing conflict prevented repatriation.

By late July 2026, the verification process had expanded further. Myanmar had reviewed 426,545 cases from Bangladesh's list of 828,824 individuals and identified 308,797 as former residents of Rakhine State.

While verification has progressed, actual repatriation has not.

Myanmar says returns may begin when security conditions improve.

For the refugees, however, one question remains unanswered:

When?

Bangladesh faces mounting pressure:

The Rohingya crisis has evolved beyond a humanitarian emergency into a long-term challenge for Bangladesh.

The refugee camps have placed enormous pressure on forests, water resources, healthcare services and local labour markets. Environmental degradation, deforestation, drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion and other forms of organized crime have added to the burden.

Meanwhile, humanitarian funding has become increasingly uncertain.

As the crisis drags on, managing it becomes more expensive while prospects for a durable solution remain elusive.

Greatest risk: A lost generation : 

Perhaps the most serious consequence has yet to fully emerge.

An entire generation is growing up without citizenship, without a recognized homeland and without a clear future.

Children attend learning centres, play with friends and dream about tomorrow.

But they do not know where that tomorrow lies — in Bangladesh, Myanmar or somewhere else.

Many were born in Bangladesh.

They possess birth records but not citizenship.

Nor are they recognized as citizens of Myanmar.

If this situation persists, the Rohingya crisis will no longer be defined solely as a refugee crisis.

It will become a generational crisis.

The solution does not lie in keeping the Rohingya in Bangladesh indefinitely.

Nor does it lie in forcing them back without guarantees of safety and rights.

Any durable solution must come from within Myanmar.

It requires restoring citizenship, ensuring security, recognizing Rohingya identity, protecting land rights, ending discrimination and establishing accountability for serious human rights violations.

Most importantly, the Rohingya themselves must be allowed to decide their future.

Repatriation is not simply crossing a border.

It is about restoring dignity, belonging and citizenship.

Rahman Nasir Uddin, a Rohingya researcher and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chittagong, says previous repatriation efforts failed because conditions inside Rakhine were not conducive.

"It is not enough for the Myanmar government to agree. A genuinely safe environment must exist on the ground," he said.

Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman says there has been no significant progress in the repatriation process, while Bangladesh continues to shoulder the growing burden despite a decline in birth rates.

Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr. Khalilur Rahman recently told Parliament that resolving the crisis largely depends on security conditions in Rakhine, sustained international pressure and Myanmar's political willingness. He stressed that dialogue between Myanmar's authorities and the Arakan Army would be essential to creating conditions for eventual return.

For Abdul Jabbar, however, diplomacy and negotiations mean little compared with the simple hope he has carried for decades.

"I am Rohingya," he said quietly. "Before I die, I only want to return to my own country."

His words capture not only the longing of one elderly man, but the enduring aspiration of an entire people still waiting to go home.