Rohingya's safe return to Myanmar impossible until crimes against them end and perpetrators held accountable, says Head of Myanmar Mechanism
Geneva, 21 August 2025 – “The more than one million Rohingya forcibly displaced to Bangladesh will not be able to safely and sustainably return to Myanmar until the violence against them ends and perpetrators can be brought to justice,” said Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (Mechanism) ahead of his participation in the Stakeholders’ Dialogue on the Rohingya Situation to be held in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on 24 and 25 August.
The Stakeholders’ Dialogue, organised by the Government of Bangladesh, will explore strategies to ensure the voluntary and safe repatriation of the Rohingya, and will feed into the High-level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar to be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York at the end of September.
The event coincides with the eight-year commemoration of the brutal clearance operations against the Rohingya by the Myanmar security forces in Rakhine State who committed mass killings, sexual violence and large-scale destruction of villages. Approximately three quarters of a million Rohingya fled across the border to Bangladesh, where they have since remained.
“No one has yet been held accountable for these horrific crimes. When crimes go unpunished, this fuels more violence,” said Koumjian.
“I consistently hear from Rohingya refugees that they want to return to their homes in Myanmar, but only when it is safe to do so. Ending the violence and atrocities against civilians from all communities in Rakhine is critical for the eventual safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable return of those that have been displaced.”
Over the past 18 months, an escalation of violence in Rakhine State has forced approximately 150,000 more Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. The Mechanism has opened new investigations into reports of the burning of villages and killings, torture and rape of Rohingya, Rakhine and other civilians.
In parallel, the Mechanism is advancing its investigations into the destruction and dispossession of Rohingya land and property in 2017, with a focus on land that was appropriated by authorities to build security bases.
“The loss of their land and property has destroyed the social and cultural fabric of the Rohingya communities, and it is an enduring aspect of the loss they have suffered,” said Koumjian. “This investigation not only reveals the scale and impact of the clearance operations but will also likely be very relevant for issues of reparations in future judicial proceedings."
The Mechanism is sharing this information, and other relevant evidence and analysis, with authorities working on ongoing cases concerning the Rohingya at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and in Argentina, and is also responding to requests for information from the United Kingdom.
The ICC Prosecutor heavily relied on the evidence and analysis shared by the Mechanism to support his request for an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar military, in November 2024. The Mechanism’s evidence was also used by the Investigative Judge for the Argentine Federal District Court in Buenos Aires who, in February this year, ordered arrest warrants summoning Min Aung Hlaing and 24 other individuals to appear before her.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM or Mechanism) was created by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018 to collect and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes and other violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011. It aims to facilitate justice and accountability by preserving and organizing this evidence and preparing analysis that can be used by authorities to prosecute individuals in national, regional and international courts.
For more information visit iimm.un.org or contact iimm@un.org
