“The Rohingya: 82 Years of Statelessness, A Journalist’s Story of Survival and Truth”

By Saiful Arakani

I am Saiful Arakani, a Rohingya Political journalist and human rights advocate.I was born stateless, raised in the refugee camps of Bangladesh, and now live in Canada free but still haunted by the cries of my people.Our history is not only about one generation’s pain; it is a story that has repeated itself since 1942.

The Rohingya have faced genocide, displacement, and silence for more than eight decades. Yet we continue to live, to speak, and to seek justice.

A Timeline of Suffering (1942 to 2025)

The first large-scale Rohingya killings took place in 1942, during World War II, when communal violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims erupted in Arakan (Now Rakhine State).Thousands of Rohingya were killed, and entire villages were wiped out. Many fled north into what is now Bangladesh, the beginning of a cycle that has never ended.

In 1978 “Operation Nagamin” (Dragon King)

In 1978, Myanmar’s military regime launched “Operation Nagamin,” claiming it was a citizenship inspection. Soldiers raided Rohingya homes, demanding documents that Rohingya were never allowed to have.Over 200,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh.At that time, Bangladesh’s President Ziaur Rahman, founder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), played a major role in negotiating their temporary return. Under international pressure, Myanmar agreed to repatriate most of the refugees, but the persecution inside Arakan did not end. Those who returned continued to live under surveillance and discrimination.https://jhumanitarianaction.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41018-021-000984#:~:text=The%201977%20Nagamin%20census%20was,army%20barracks%20(Ullah%202011.

1991–1992 -“Operation Pyi Thaya” (Clean and Beautiful Nation)

Again, Myanmar’s military targeted Rohingya communities, forcing 250,000 more people to flee into Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Many of those families have remained in camps ever since, now spanning three generations.

NYP RC

12 June 2012, State-Supported Riots

Coordinated attacks on Rohingya communities began in Rakhine’s towns, particularly in Sittwe.Thousands of homes were burned, dozens killed, and tens of thousands displaced into fenced camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). The government called these “temporary shelters.” Thirteen years later, those people are still there.

On 9 October 2016 -The Silent Crackdown

After an attack on a border post, Myanmar’s military launched “clearance operations.”

Civilians were tortured, women raped, and villages destroyed.The world spoke of concern,but no one stopped the bloodshed.

When the Rohingya fled to Bangladesh to save their lives, they took a temporary shelter NYP RC.that was their first Picture by Saiful Arakani.

25 August 2017-The Genocide

In what the UN called a“textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” more than 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar in just a few weeks.

Entire villages were burned, children shot, and mass graves discovered.Myanmar denied all wrongdoing, calling the survivors “illegal Bengalis.”By 2018, the total Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh exceeded one million.

For the first time, I had to go to the hospital because of my human rights work.

While the world watched other conflicts, a new war erupted in Rakhine State between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military.Both forces targeted Rohingya civilians. Villages were again burned, people again displaced. The violence spread across Buthidaung, Maungdaw,&Rathedaung.Many Rohingya were trapped between these two forces,once again caught in a war not their own.

On 5 August 2024, The Continuing Suffering

The suffering did not stop.

By 05 August 2024, reports emerged of renewed mass displacement, forced recruitment, and killings of Rohingya in northern Rakhine. Eighty-two years after the first violence of 1942, the same pattern continues -with new names, new generals, but the same hatred.

Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh to save their lives from the AA Arakan Army's genocide, took temporary shelters at NYP RC. By Saiful

International Justice: ICJ, ICC, and the United Nations and The International Court of Justice (ICJ) began hearing the case The Gambia v. Myanmar in 2019, accusing Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention.

In January 2020, the ICJ ordered Myanmar to protect Rohingya civilians and preserve evidence of crimes.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) also opened an investigation into deportation and persecution crimes, focusing on the forced exodus into Bangladesh. Yet, as of 2025, justice remains distant. The generals who ordered the massacres still live free. The UN, ICJ, and ICC have spoken, but the killing fields remain active. For the Rohingya, justice has become a promise -not a reality.

The Failure of Repatriation Despite several attempts, no genuine repatriation has occurred.Myanmar’s officials visited Bangladesh in 2018, 2019, and again in 2023 to discuss returning refugees. Each time, they offered National Verification Cards (NVCs) documents labeling Rohingya as “foreigners.”

Even the few who returned were placed in detention-like camps inside Rakhine, with no citizenship, no rights, and no home.

Out of over 1.2 million refugees, fewer than 2,000 have been repatriated, and none have regained citizenship.

When the Rohingyas got stuck at the Myanmar border, we went to the border, rescued them, and put them in a shelter which is hidden place from Bangladesh BGB.

My Story: Witness to Suffering

From 2017 to 2024, I worked as a journalist and human rights reporter along the Bangladesh and Myanmar border. I saw families running for their lives, women carrying the remains of their loved ones, and children asking where “home” was.

I documented the truth for the world to see, through reports, photos, and live videos on social media.But truth has a cost.I received threats. I was followed, questioned, and silenced. Even organizations that should have defended me, including UNHCR, turned their backs.

Eventually, I was forced to flee again. I left behind my home, my work, and my family.

Now, in Canada, I live free but still voice the pain of my community. Freedom is empty when your people remain behind fences.

A Call to the World

Since 1942, the Rohingya have been victims of repeated genocides, first by the Burmese military, and now also by the Arakan Army.

We have been displaced six times in eight decades. We have lost land, homes, identity — but not our humanity.

The world must act: The ICJ must enforce its rulings. The ICC must prosecute those responsible. The UNHCR must protect defenders, not silence them.

Social platforms must help restore the voices of those who risked everything for truth.

I was born as a refugee in Bangladesh,My parents and sister fled Burma in 1991 during one of the mass exoduses of Rohingya people escaping persecution and military violence. For 29 years, I lived without a country, without citizenship, and without hope, in the world’s largest refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

For decades, my Rohingya community has survived on food from the United Nations, enduring hunger, overcrowding, and fear. We grew up believing that one day, we might return to our homeland, but that day never came. The UNHCR has long promised to find a durable solution and facilitate our safe return to Burma. But despite limited repatriation between 1994 and 1998, the Burmese authorities refused to take back most of us.

I decided to become what my community lacked, a human rights defender and journalist. I spoke out for our rights and dignity, not for money or fame, but for justice. I reported freely, without salary, using the little food and resources I had to travel and document what was happening to my people.

From the border between Burma and Bangladesh, I witnessed everything, families crossing rivers, children dying of starvation, mothers crying for lost sons. Since 2019, I have been reporting on human rights violations and the suffering of Rohingya refugees. My work reached international audiences, but it also brought danger. The Burmese military and the Arakan Army (AA) both targeted me for speaking the truth.

In the refugee camps, there was no freedom, no hope, and no education for us. Every day, I saw people struggle to survive, mothers crying for food, children growing up without books, and elders dying without medicine. I told myself, if the world will not speak for us, then I must speak.

For the first time, I had to go to the hospital because of my human rights work. In 2019.

In 2017, when the Rohingya genocide forced hundreds of thousands to flee from Myanmar, I began reporting what I saw. With nothing but a phone and courage, I used social media to tell the truth, to show the world our pain. I went live from the camps, interviewing refugees, filming the burned villages, the wounds, the tears.

But truth has a price.

For years, I was followed, threatened, and punished for my work. I was attacked, detained, and silenced, but I never stopped. Authorities came for me, and my family suffered because of me, they were beaten, questioned, and terrorized only because I chose to speak the truth.

In the camp, my life became like a prison. I was forced to hide. Some nights, I thought I would die. But even in fear, I felt stronger, because silence would mean my people’s suffering would be forgotten.

I asked for protection. I turned to the UNHCR, hoping they would understand that I was in danger for defending human rights. But instead of protecting me, I was ignored and left exposed. My resettlement was denied, and I remained trapped in a place of fear while others were sent to safety.

Finally, with help from Front Line Defenders and other human-rights allies, I found safety in Canada. But safety is not freedom, my heart is still with my people, and my work continues. I still speak for those in the camps, for the families who suffer, and for the journalists who cannot speak.

I am Saiful Arakani l, a Rohingya Political journalist who has suffered, survived, and still believes in humanity. My mission is not revenge; it is justice. My dream is not comfort; it is freedom for my people.

Written by: Saiful Arakani

Rohingya Political Journalist.