Rohingya Cultural Advocacy Centre Calls for a Determined Myanmar Government to Ensure Safe and Dignified Return of the Rohingya

Press Release

London, Ontario – 11-November 2025.

The Rohingya Cultural Advocacy Centre (RCAC) calls for a determined, responsible, and democratic government in Myanmar that is willing to ensure justice, equality, and peace for all including the long-persecuted Rohingya people.

For more than five decades, the Rohingya have been denied their citizenship, homes, and fundamental rights. 750000 Rohingya were forced to flee after repeated waves of violence, culminating in the 2017 genocide, which drove over one million Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, where they now live in overcrowded camps.

Despite Bangladesh’s generosity, the conditions in the refugee camps remain desperate, with limited opportunities for education, health care, and freedom of movement. The Rohingya people’s deepest hope remains the same: to return safely and with dignity to their ancestral homeland in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

"Bangladesh has shown extraordinary humanity by sheltering over one million Rohingya refugees, protecting the helpless and stateless when the world, including ASEAN countries, failed to act, and despite the ongoing military oppression in Myanmar."

However, this return will never be possible without genuine political change in Burma. Since the military coup in February 2021, Myanmar has plunged deeper into chaos and violence, with widespread human rights violations against civilians. The military junta continues to deny justice and equal rights to all ethnic minorities, including the Rohingya.

The Rohingya Cultural Advocacy Centre emphasizes that a true path to peace and democracy in Myanmar will only begin when the government recognizes the Rohingya as full citizens, restores their legal status, and guarantees their protection under the law.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the international community must also act decisively. ASEAN, as a regional body committed to peace and stability, must move beyond silence and take firm action to pressure the Myanmar military to end its persecution and engage in meaningful dialogue for national reconciliation.

The RCAC urges the United Nations, ASEAN, and global human rights organizations to support a coordinated international effort to ensure accountability for crimes committed against the Rohingya and to establish conditions for their safe, voluntary, and dignified repatriation.

“The world cannot remain silent while an entire people are kept stateless and exiled from their homeland,” said a spokesperson for the Rohingya Cultural Advocacy Centre. “Myanmar needs a government that respects the dignity of every citizen and guarantees justice and equality for all including the Rohingya.”