Myanmar journalists met Rohingya refugees for the first time since the 2017 exodus. Emotional conversations, shared memories, and calls for peace highlighted an unprecedented push for more inclusive media coverage.
In 2017, following mass atrocities in their home region of Rakhine, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh. For the first time since that exodus, members of Myanmar media outlets traveled to Bangladesh to meet refugees and attend a high-level international conference on the displaced Rohingya.
The two-day conference was held in Cox’s Bazar, around 40 km from the world’s largest refugee camp, in preparation for a UN meeting in New York on September 30. The Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized it amid ongoing discussions about repatriation, refugee support, and regional stability.
The conference brought together a diverse group of participants, including activists, politicians, diplomats, and various UN representatives. It was the first time a substantial number of refugees were present and free to offer their views on issues that directly impact them.
Chief Adviser Prof. Muhammad Yunus, leader of Bangladesh’s interim government, attended the meeting and called for repatriation, humanitarian funding, and a comprehensive long-term roadmap for return.
After years of planning, DW Akademie invited representatives from Myanmar exile media outlets, including Democratic Voice of Burma, Irrawaddy, Mizzima, and Myanmar Now. DW Akademie arranged their travel, and the trip was supported by the German Federal Foreign Office (AA).
Respectful and emotional exchanges
One attendee. Naw Seng, a researcher with Mizzima who was born and raised in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, was finally able to meet members of the Rohingya community in person for the first time in his life.
“It was unexpectedly emotional, bringing together feelings of both sadness and happiness,” he said. “I was able to converse especially with Rohingya youth from the camp. They were open-minded and moderate.”
Before traveling, Mon Mon Myat, a senior management consultant for the Democratic Voice of Burma, had few expectations for the trip.
“I thought it would just be an introductory visit to the Rohingya community,” she said. But when it happened, she too was touched, adding that the refugees received them warmly and were eager to share their struggles and their dreams to return home.
Su Chay, managing editor of Myanmar Now, recalled a conversation she had with a Rohingya teacher who teaches the Burmese language in a learning center in one of the 33 camps. According to him, the Rohingya, ethnic Rakhine people and Myanmar’s majority Bamar community once lived together like siblings. He believes that if all communities sit down face-to-face, communicate openly, and strive to understand each other, their issues can be resolved peacefully.
“As a Rakhine myself, I was able to speak some Rakhine phrases with them. It felt unexpectedly warm, friendly and harmonious,” said Su Chay.
During their Bangladesh visit, the Myanmar journalists met with young reporters from Voice of Palong, a community media and dialogue project run by the Bangladeshi NGO Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) with support from DW Akademie. The local reporters are both Rohingya and Bangladeshi members of the host community.
Mon Mon Myat said that these meetings carried a positive energy, filled with hope that through engaging with the young Rohingya community, it would be possible to bridge the gaps between them and the Rakhine and Bamar communities in Myanmar.
Hope amid a difficult history
The largest Rohingya exodus happened in 2017 when, after decades of marginalization, massive violence and severe human rights violations by the Myanmar military, forced more than 740,000 Rohingya, half of them children, to flee their homes in Rakhine State and to seek refuge in Bangladesh. According to UNHCR, more than 1.3 million Rohingya are estimated to live in refugee settlements in the Cox’s Bazar region.
At the time, many observers say that Myanmar media outlets tended to downplay or neglect their reporting on military atrocities, human rights violations, and personal stories of the Rohingya.
“I honestly admit that the coverage that time on the Rohingya by Myanmar media was not truly sufficient,” said Mizzima’s Naw Seng.
“Myanmar journalists faced internal and external pressures during that time. I genuinely feel sorry about that,” he added. “Myanmar’s media were not granted permission to visit or interview people in the conflict-affected areas for gathering news to investigate and verify what was happening.”
The refugees who got a chance to sit down and talk to the journalists did not assign blame for their situation. Instead, they spoke of hope and a safe return to their homeland in Myanmar. Others discussed the ongoing civil war in Myanmar that broke out following the military coup in 2021.
“When I first saw all of you at the conference, I was moved to tears. I felt a mix of deep sadness and happiness,” Kamal Hussain, a Rohingya refugee who fled to Bangladesh in 2017 and has lived in a camp in Cox’s Bazar ever since, told the visiting journalists. “All I want for now is to return safely to my home in Myanmar.”
‘Seeing is believing’
Following the conference, thejournalists traveled to the capital, Dhaka, to talk with Bangladeshi colleagues. Daily Star diplomatic correspondent Porimol Palma described the meeting as cordial and informative. For him, Myanmar is like a distant land, even though it is Bangladesh’s only bordering country apart from India.
“I have covered the Rohingya crisis since 2017, but for the first time, I got to learn some internal dynamics of Myanmar society, religion and politics,” said Palma.
Summing up their trip, the visiting journalists said they appreciated the opportunity to see what is happening and meet directly with the Rohingya community in Bangladesh. They also expressed the need for more members of Myanmar’s media to be given such access by the Bangladeshi government so that they too can understand the situation and produce more accurate and comprehensive coverage.
“For me, this trip was eye-opening. It greatly helped me understand what’s happening on the ground,” said Ye Ni, executive editor at The Irrawaddy. “Seeing is believing, after all.”
“Myanmar Media: Resilience and Dialogue”is part of DW Akademie’s Displacement and Dialogue Asia program and is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (AA).
