Photo: Chief Adviser GOB

Newsman, Bangladesh

Bangladesh will hold a three-day international conference on the Rohingya crisis in Cox’s Bazar from August 25, 2025, marking eight years since the mass exodus from Myanmar in 2017.

BSS reported today (August 18, 2025) that Chief Adviser (CA) Professor Muhammad Yunus will attend the event as the chief guest, alongside foreign ministers, international envoys on Rohingya issues, and representatives from Bangladesh’s missions and UN agencies.

The meeting will be held at Hotel Baywatch in Inani, Ukhia Upazila, on August 24 and 25. Discussions will focus on humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya and their repatriation to Rakhine. The guests will visit the Rohingya camps on August 26.

Officials have positioned the meeting as a chance to turn international attention, ignited by recent notable visits and warnings, into tangible assistance and political influence.

Delegates will use the Cox’s Bazar meeting to prepare for a high-level session at the UN General Assembly on September 30 and an international event in Doha on December 6, the National Security Adviser (NSA) of Bangladesh and High Representative on Rohingya Affairs, Khalilur Rahman, said.

The CA had earlier called upon all member states to organize an international conference at the UN General Assembly last year, the NSA added. The Assembly quickly convened a conference supported by 106 countries.

Another international conference on the Rohingya issue will be in Doha, Qatar, on December 6, the NSA said.

Over one million Rohingya reside in Cox’s Bazar camps in Bangladesh, significantly straining humanitarian resources and the local economy.

The World Food Programme (WFP) requires US$81 million to continue Rohingya assistance through 2025, warning of potential food ration cuts without new funding.

In mid-March, UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited the camps and warned that proposed cuts to assistance could push the settlement into a severe humanitarian crisis.

Since taking on the interim leadership role, Professor Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate, has prioritized the Rohingya crisis in foreign policy, focusing on diplomacy, resettlement advocacy, and public appeals to boost donor support.

Campaigning for conditions for safe, voluntary return, he has emphasised dignity in any repatriation process. “We are working very hard to make sure that we can repatriate those people to go back,” Muhammad Yunus said on June 11, 2025.