“I want to be a doctor,” said 16-year-old Syed Kasim, a class six student living in the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Like other boys his age, Kasim, who fled Myanmar with his family nine years ago during a brutal military crackdown, wants to study, learn English and eventually find a job.
But experience has taught him that those dreams are difficult to realise in a refugee camp.
“I often dream of going back to Rakhine,” he told The Daily Star at Camp 4 yesterday, as Rohingyas marked the ninth anniversary of the 2017 crackdown that forced nearly a million people from Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
“I am not naive. I know going there will not be easy. They might attack and kill us again. But that remains our only hope,” he said.
Thousands of Rohingyas marched through Camps 4 and 4E with banners and festoons to mark the mass influx. Many wore white to observe August 25, a day they associate with the violence that drove them from their homes.
A rally was also held at the football field of Camp 4 Extension in Ukhiya, organised by The United Council of Rohingya (UCR) organised a gathering under the theme “Nine years gone, think ten minutes for Rohingya”.
Hundreds gathered from the morning to remember the mass exodus and renew their demand to return home.
At one point, participants chanted slogans in Rohingya for about 10 minutes to draw the world’s attention to their plight. One slogan was “Shesh hot ekkan, firat chai Arakan”, meaning, “Our final word is one: we want to return to Arakan.”
Other slogans included “Hope is our only home”, “We want justice” and “We want to go home”.
Several Rohingyas told The Daily Star that August 25 remains deeply significant. They recalled fleeing across the border in rickety boats and, in some cases, swimming while carrying children and elderly parents.
“We want 10 minutes from the world. We have spent nine years here. This is not our country. We want to return to our homeland,” said Rohingya rights activist Mohammad Rafiq.
“Everyone must remain united. Arakan [Rakhine] is ours. There is no greater truth for us than that. The humanitarian world must think seriously about it.”
Mohammad Syed Ullah, a member of the UCR presidential panel, thanked Bangladesh for sheltering the Rohingyas. But he said their ultimate wish was to return to Rakhine.
“We want to go back to our birthplace, Myanmar, and live a normal life,” he said, stressing that repatriation must be safe, voluntary and dignified.
“It cannot simply mean taking us across the border. After our return, there must be guarantees of security, rights, citizenship, freedom of movement and livelihoods.”
UCR leader Master Shoaib, speaking in Burmese, urged the international community to create those conditions.
At another gathering in Shalbagan camp in Teknaf, Rohingyas demanded justice for the 2017 violence, restoration of citizenship rights and a safe return to Myanmar.
UCR member Abu Taher said the Rohingyas had their own history and heritage in Myanmar. He rejected claims identifying them as “Bangalees” and expressed frustration that no effective path to repatriation had emerged in nine years.
Rohingya leader Badrul Islam described August 25 as a day of suffering rather than celebration.
“It is a dark day,” he said, recalling the atrocities in Rakhine in 2017.
Mohammad Alam, chairman of Leda camp, thanked Bangladesh for providing shelter. But he said the Rohingyas did not want refugee life to become permanent.
“We have been guests in this country for a long time. Now we should return to our birthplace,” he said.
“If we go to another country, it will be difficult to preserve the Rohingya identity. We want the world’s cooperation for safe and dignified repatriation.”
The concern for the next generation was also echoed across the gatherings.
“We have spent nine years as refugees. We do not want this life for our next generation,” said Mohammad Zubair, acting chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights in Ukhiya.
Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman told The Daily Star that no Rohingya had been repatriated in the past nine years. Instead, more had entered Bangladesh.
“Yet we remain hopeful that repatriation will happen, and the Rohingyas share that hope,” he said, adding that the government remained engaged in repatriation efforts and was working on a long-term national strategy.
Security was tightened around the gatherings, with Armed Police Battalion personnel deployed across the camps.
Additional DIG Muhammad Kawsar Sikder of the 16 Armed Police Battalion said Rohingyas in several camps under his jurisdiction observed the programmes peacefully.
