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For years, the plight of the Rohingya has been fading from the world’s conscience. About a million people languish in Bangladesh’s refugee camps, trapped in limbo after fleeing Myanmar’s brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing in 2017. Aid is dwindling, food rations have been slashed and children are growing up without education or prospects. Meanwhile, repeated repatriation attempts have failed, leaving both Bangladesh and the refugees themselves with little hope.

But a surprising development in Dhaka changed the dynamics. The August 2024 appointment of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammed Yunus as Bangladesh’s interim prime minister put the Rohingya issue back on the international agenda. Unlike his predecessors, who largely treated the refugees as an unwelcome burden, Yunus brings a humanitarian ethos and global stature that is reviving international engagement with one of the world’s most protracted refugee crises.

Since assuming office, Yunus has reframed the Rohingya not only as Bangladesh’s burden but as a global responsibility

Dr. Azeem Ibrahim

The scale of the crisis remains staggering. Nearly 1 million Rohingya live in camps around Cox’s Bazar, making it the largest refugee settlement in the world. Conditions are dire. The UN World Food Programme was forced to cut rations last year due to funding shortfalls, leaving families on the brink of malnutrition. Violence, trafficking and despair are on the rise. Yet, despite the gravity of the situation, global attention has moved elsewhere, to Gaza, Ukraine and other geopolitical emergencies.

Past Bangladeshi governments often reinforced this neglect. Dhaka’s strategy was built almost entirely on pressuring Myanmar’s military leaders to take the Rohingya back, without exploring alternative avenues of negotiation. When those repatriation attempts repeatedly collapsed, Bangladesh’s leaders responded with frustration but little innovation.

Yunus represents a break from that pattern. Best known as the founder of microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank, he is an international figure with credibility in Washington, Brussels and the UN. His moral authority as a Nobel laureate gives him a platform few Bangladeshi leaders have enjoyed.

Since assuming office, Yunus has reframed the Rohingya not only as Bangladesh’s burden but as a global responsibility. He has highlighted the human rights dimension of their plight in ways his predecessors avoided, knowing it would resonate in Western capitals. And he has made clear that the issue cannot simply be wished away, that Bangladesh needs international partners and that the Rohingya themselves deserve more than indefinite exile.

This rhetorical shift has already revived conversations in diplomatic circles that had fallen silent. International agencies and Western governments are once again talking about the crisis, reassessing how they might support both the refugees and Bangladesh. Even more importantly, Yunus’ language has created space to think about new strategies.

The clearest signal of this shift came late last month, when Yunus’ government hosted a high-level international dialogue on the Rohingya in Dhaka. The conference gathered representatives from the UN, the US, the EU and regional partners to reexamine the crisis and explore solutions. It was the first time in years that the Rohingya issue had been given such prominence on the international stage.

By convening this dialogue, Yunus achieved two things. First, he reminded the world that Bangladesh cannot shoulder this burden alone. Second, he placed the Rohingya crisis firmly back into global diplomatic discussions, ensuring that it is not sidelined in favor of other emergencies. The Dhaka conference did not produce immediate breakthroughs, but it marked the return of serious international engagement and gave momentum to efforts that had long been stalled.

One of those efforts must involve engaging with new power realities inside Myanmar itself. Over the past two years, the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed group, has gained control of 11 out of 18 townships in Rakhine State. It is now impossible to envision any repatriation plan without the Arakan Army’s involvement.

The Dhaka conference did not produce immediate breakthroughs, but it gave momentum to efforts that had long been stalled

Dr. Azeem Ibrahim

Yet the Arakan Army and its political wing, the United League of Arakan, remain deeply ambivalent about the Rohingya. They seek legitimacy in Rakhine but have not recognized the Rohingya’s identity or rights in a meaningful way. This creates both risks and opportunities. For Dhaka, past reliance solely on Myanmar’s junta has been a dead end. Yunus’ government may be willing to chart a new path by engaging with the Arakan Army and even the national unity government, Myanmar’s opposition in exile, to find practical solutions for repatriation.

Such a shift would mark a major departure from the status quo. It would also align Bangladesh more closely with the international community’s growing recognition that Myanmar’s junta is neither a legitimate partner nor is it capable of delivering on agreements.

Yunus’ leadership is resonating beyond Bangladesh. In Washington, policymakers have long struggled with how to translate the 2022 US genocide designation of the Rohingya crisis into concrete policy. Yunus offers a credible partner who could give that recognition real substance. In Brussels and New York, diplomats see an opportunity to reframe the crisis not as a Bangladeshi domestic issue but as a shared international responsibility.

In the Gulf, Yunus’ stature may encourage more active engagement. ����ֱ�� and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council have the resources and influence to play a significant role, whether through increased humanitarian aid, diplomatic pressure on Myanmar’s factions or support for long-term solutions.

Of course, Yunus’ leadership is no guarantee of success. His interim government has limited time and uncertain authority. Bangladesh’s domestic politics are deeply polarized and Rohingya refugees remain an unpopular issue inside the country. The Arakan Army’s ambiguous stance on the Rohingya complicates any negotiation. And global attention is still fragile, easily diverted by the next crisis.

But even symbolic gestures matter. By reframing the Rohingya as a humanitarian cause and by reactivating international networks, Yunus has injected new momentum into an issue that had all but disappeared from the global conversation. The Dhaka dialogue is proof of that momentum.

The Rohingya are often described as the world’s most persecuted minority. For too long, their suffering has been treated as background noise in international affairs. Now, thanks to Yunus, their plight is back on the agenda.

Whether this revival of attention leads to meaningful change will depend on what comes next, on Dhaka’s willingness to engage new partners, on the international community’s commitment to support them, and on the courage of regional actors to confront difficult truths in Myanmar.

Yunus has opened a window of opportunity. The question is whether the world will seize it before the Rohingya crisis drifts back into silence.

• Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is the director of special initiatives at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, DC. X: @AzeemIbrahim