Bangladesh to host major dialogue on justice for Rohingya genocide
September gathering will examine how genocide denial and weak international recognition affect Rohingya refugees’ pursuit of justice, accountability and secure future
DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Bangladesh will host an international research and policy dialogue next month aimed at strengthening the Rohingya community’s pursuit of genocide recognition and justice, as nearly a million refugees remain displaced with little progress toward a safe return to Burma.
The Sept. 27 gathering will bring researchers and policy experts to Cox’s Bazar, where the Rohingya refugee camps are located, to examine why some mass atrocities receive international recognition and action while others are met with denial, geopolitical calculations and diplomatic inaction — a question with direct consequences for the Rohingya struggle for justice and accountability.
Titled “Genocide Diplomacy and the Rohingya: Justice, Recognition and the Politics of International Response,” the dialogue will examine how those international responses shape the prospects for accountability and the rights and future of survivors, according to the Rohingya Khobor.
The issue carries consequences beyond academic debates over whether atrocities meet a particular definition. International recognition can help preserve historical truth, strengthen demands for accountability and increase political pressure on governments and international institutions to act on behalf of survivors.
The event will also launch an open-access research volume examining violence against the Rohingya alongside genocide denial, identity and international recognition.
Making the research freely available could give Rohingya advocates, civil society groups and researchers another resource for challenging denial and pressing governments and international institutions for action.
Professor Imtiaz Ahmed, a longtime researcher on Rohingya affairs and retired University of Dhaka professor, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address.
The book, “Politics of Denial and Non-Recognition of Genocide: The Case of the Rohingya,” was edited by Professors Nasir Uddin and Palash Kamruzzaman and researcher Bayes Ahmed.
It grew out of a wider project examining how state sovereignty, geopolitical interests and media narratives influence whether genocide is internationally recognized or denied.
The research also focuses on what non-recognition means for survivors, refugees and their descendants and seeks to develop recommendations for governments, international organizations and civil society.
The Refugee and Migration Lab is organizing the dialogue with University College London, the University of Chittagong, the University of Dhaka and the University of South Wales. The wider research project is funded by the British Academy.
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