Rohingya refugees demand justice, dignity at Cox’s Bazar protest

By Al Jazeera Staff and AFP. Published On 25 Aug 202625 Aug 2026.

Key points

• Reporting from Cox's Bazar, Al Jazeera's Tanvir Chowdhury remarked protesters wanted the world to pay attention to their demands.
• One in three Rohingya refugees is projected to face "crisis" hunger levels or worse between September and December, according to the rights group Save the Children.
• It saw Rohingya villages burned and civilians killed, is the subject of a genocide case at the United Nations' top court in The Hague.
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pressed "renewed global attention and action" for the Rohingya.
• Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees have rallied to protest against conditions at overcrowded camps in Bangladesh, demanding more international assistance to improve conditions.

In practice, the United Council of Rohingya refugee group remarked it organised the protest on Tuesday to "remember the atrocities committed" and highlight the "ongoing humanitarian crisis" on the ninth anniversary of the exodus from Myanmar.

More than 1.2 million Rohingya individuals, numerous of whom fled the 2017 military crackdown in their home country, live in regarding 30 camps in the world's largest refugee settlement in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar.

Conditions in the camps have deteriorated against the backdrop of a funding reduction, limited rations and cuts in services, aid groups say.

In practice, the aid organisation Oxfam cautioned that reduced humanitarian resources could undo any progress produced in Cox's Bazar, saying essential services are already under great pressure.

"They want justice, they want dignity, and a safe return home, " he remarked.

Bangladeshi authorities say they are already overstretched and have pressed the dignified return of the Rohingya to their homeland.

For context, the 2017 Myanmar crackdown. It saw Rohingya villages burned and civilians killed, is the subject of a genocide case at the United Nations' top court in The Hague.

Meanwhile, a joint statement issued by 16 diplomatic missions in Bangladesh, including those of the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada, remarked conditions in Myanmar did not allow for the safe repatriation of refugees.

"Rohingya refugees have a right to return to their homes in Myanmar, " it remarked.

"Regrettably, conflict is escalating throughout Rakhine and humanitarian need is rising. Deepening insecurity, airstrikes on civilian infrastructure and the Myanmar authorities' blockades on aid and trade are worsening the humanitarian crisis."

"Rohingya people in Myanmar, Bangladesh and across the region face deepening insecurity, shrinking protection space and diminishing prospects for durable solutions, exacerbated by funding cuts impacting life-saving assistance, " the UN chief's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, remarked in an official note.

Taken together, the developments around rohingya refugees demand justice, dignity at Cox's Bazar protest point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.