New Podcast Episode

This episode looks at how Malaysian media reported the recent Langkawi boat tragedy. Many headlines emphasised transnational criminal syndicates, police investigations, and cooperation with Interpol. That framing is not wrong, but it is profoundly incomplete.

The narrative shifts responsibility onto smugglers without asking how state policy contributed to the deaths.

WHAT THIS EPISODE COVERS

In this episode, I unpack how the New Straits Times and other Malaysian outlets report tragedies at sea by focusing on smuggler networks, criminal facilitation, and regional police coordination while avoiding basic questions like:

* Were Malaysian vessels tracking the boat before it capsized?

* Did authorities delay disembarkation?

* Were boats pushed back into deeper waters?

* Did non-assistance contribute to deaths?

These are not academic questions. In past cases, people have died after boats were refused entry or left drifting. The episode argues that focusing on “syndicates” without interrogating state roles turns a structural political crisis into a policing problem.

This allows humanitarian language to coexist with policies of deterrence.

Also, smuggling networks don’t appear out of nowhere. They exist because Rohingya cannot leave Bangladesh or Myanmar through legal routes, cannot seek asylum through formal channels, and cannot move freely inside Malaysia. When escape itself is criminalised, people pay for illegal passage because there is no alternative.

HOW THIS CONNECTS TO THE MAIN ARTICLE

This short episode is the immediate media analysis.

But the deeper argument - the ideological scaffolding behind this rhetoric - lives in my essay:

👉 Revisiting Malaysia’s “Respectable Deportations” of the Rohingya

That piece goes back to 2020 and CENTHRA’s call for “respectable, humane deportations,” a phrase that sounded compassionate but helped normalise refoulement and some sort of moralised removal.

(Substack will generate an automatic transcript once the audio uploads. I may replace it later with a verified manual transcript.)

Rohingya Refugee News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is the audio edition of my essay analysing General Twan Mrat Naing’s recent interview and the Arakan Army’s narrative strategy.

The piece explores how the AA presents itself as a rational, statesmanlike force while managing scrutiny over its actions against Rohingya civilians.

The narration was generated using AI voice synthesis to make the essay accessible to wider audiences.

🎧 Duration: 14 minutes📄 Read the full text version here → https://english.dvb.no/what-the-arakan-army-offers-the-rohingya/

— Shafiur Rahman

What happens when a ‘humanitarian corridor’ becomes the hottest property on a regional chessboard?

In this episode, journalist Shafiur Rahman dissects Bangladesh’s sudden offer to open a UN-run aid route into war‑torn Rakhine. From cyclone damage and junta blockades to cabinet flip‑flops and social‑media free‑for‑alls, he tracks how an emergency food lifeline morphed into a geopolitical tug‑of‑war.

We hear why Dhaka’s new rights‑heavy rhetoric (red line warning to Arakan Army) rings hollow while razor‑wire still cages refugees in Cox’s Bazar, how China, India and the United States read the corridor through pipeline and port lenses, and why Rohingya advocates fear being written out of the script - again. The episode closes with a blunt question: can any convoy truly relieve hunger if it leaves citizenship and justice at the checkpoint?

Skip ahead? Chapter time-codes below let you jump straight to the politics, the geopolitics, or the Rohingya voices.

01:10–02:30 Rakhine’s perfect storm

War, Mocha, earthquake, famine

2:30–05:05 Birth of the corridor idea

Khalilur Rahman’s February soundings → 8 April reveal → UN & Fortify Rights push

05:05–08:30 Dhaka’s political free-for-all

Govt. framing. BNP-led backlash; Jamaat’s 24-hour “independent Arakan” bombshell; carnival of hot takes.

08:30–10:50 Outlandish proposals & local concerns

bdmilitary.com invasion plan, ex-pat academics, using ARSA/RSO, local media scepticism.

10:50-12:25 Big-power chessboard

China-pipeline anxiety, India-Kaladan worries, US vantage point, why sceptics shout “Trojan Horse.”

12:25–16:20 Khalilur Rahman’s ‘red line’ for Arakan Army

Govt bristles, then Khalilur Rahman’s 6 May “justice speech.”

16:20–18:40 Rohingya voices & alignment

Tun Khin/BROUK’s corridor line, alignment with NUG/AA, joint communiqué, demand for a seat at the table.

18:40–20:55 Closing critique

Corridor as potential conveyor belt; rights vs. realpolitik; warning that without citizenship guarantees, hunger relief just cements statelessness.

In this episode, Shafiur Rahman speaks to Dr Ambia Parveen, Vice Chair of the European Rohingya Council, about the recent announcement by Bangladeshi and Myanmar authorities claiming that 180,000 Rohingya refugees have been cleared for return. Dr Parveen offers a sharply critical assessment of this move, calling it “political drama” rather than a serious step toward repatriation.

She condemns the premature announcement as lacking transparency, dismisses it as a “desperate” attempt by Bangladesh to seek validation, and warns of the dangers of retraumatising the Rohingya population. Her withering critique of the Bangladesh government's motives and methods is especially noteworthy, highlighting how such announcements are often staged for optics - aimed more at donors and diplomatic brownie points than genuine resolution.

This conversation also touches on the roles of the Arakan Army, the failures of past repatriation efforts, and how the entire humanitarian ecosystem - including INGOs and the UN - may be perpetuating rather than solving the crisis. Dr Parveen’s analysis is scathing, insightful, and unflinching. She suggested that solving it might threaten the structures that have grown around managing the crisis, saying: “They all benefit... If you have the solution, these organisations... will not run. They need to create a conflict.”

Lastly, she emphasised that Rohingyas were not involved in the process, just as they hadn’t been in the past, and accused Bangladesh of hiding the truth and pushing a plan without regard for the lived realities or desires of the refugees. While expressing gratitude that Bangladesh hosted the Rohingya, she asserted that Bangladesh is “not 100% willing to solve the Rohingya crisis”, in part due to geopolitical pressures and a lack of genuine political interest in long-term solutions.

Host's Note: A Broader Critique of Repatriation

While Dr Ambia Parveen offers a powerful and critical account of the latest repatriation announcement, I want to add my own reflections.

Much of the mainstream discourse treats the Rohingya crisis as a failure of diplomacy or a breakdown in negotiations. But this framing obscures the deeper political economy at play — particularly in Bangladesh.

Why has the idea of repatriation been kept alive rhetorically, even when everyone knows it's unworkable given the conditions on the ground? Because it serves a set of domestic and international interests: it allows Bangladesh to externalise responsibility, maintain control through securitised camps, and attract continued humanitarian funding — all while avoiding integration or enfranchisement of the Rohingya.

The 2023 “pilot repatriation project” is a case in point. Bangladesh attempted to convince Rohingya in Teknaf they were being considered for resettlement — only for them to discover they were actually listed for return. A Myanmar verification team was brought in for formal interviews, and refugees were even offered $2000 to accept repatriation. Does this look like groundwork for a viable return? It was about optics: getting a few families over the border to stage a symbolic repatriation. It was performance - to show “progress” to donors, the international community, and a domestic audience fatigued by the crisis.

In this context, repatriation itself becomes spectacle. Each round of talks, each list of “verified” returnees, is a performance. The camps, meanwhile, are not neutral humanitarian spaces but mechanisms of containment — and bargaining chips in Bangladesh’s geopolitical toolkit.

My argument in Himal Southasian frames the Rohingya not just as a marginalised group but as a surplus population: not needed in the formal economy, too politically risky to integrate, but too symbolically valuable to be allowed to disappear. In this light, non-repatriation is not a failure — it's policy. A strategy to keep this population economically marginal, spatially confined, and politically disenfranchised.

Equally overlooked is the vast camp economy and the NGO industrial complex. Aid infrastructures that claim to “help” often entrench dependency, discipline behaviour, and circulate resources through a tightly controlled ecosystem of UN agencies, international NGOs, Bangladeshi elites, and local contractors. Dependency and control are not accidental. They are designed outcomes. Dr Parveen shares this view in the podcast.

And finally, while the dominant narratives often strip Rohingya of political agency, they remain active subjects: speaking, resisting and refusing imposed ‘solutions’ — even under constraint. And this was especially on display after the theatrics at the Bimstec meeting in Thailand.

Take home message: If you thought repatriation is stalled by circumstance - it isn’t. It’s stalled by design.

In this podcast, a newly arrived Rohinyga refugee shares her reasons for relocating to Bhasan Char and why she encouraged her family to join her. She describes the constant fear and violence that plagued her life in the refugee camps, a place where even daily activities were overshadowed by gunfire, forced night sentry duties, and the looming threat of harm. Her story sheds light on how such real fears have been instrumentalised by the Bangladeshi authorities to encourage movement to Bhasan Char, portraying it as a safer, more stable environment.

Here is the original recording in Rohingya language.

We have a brand new YouTube channel where I will be posting various Rohingya related news. And these podcasts with subtitles. ( You can also access the captions for this podcast under “transcript”. )

Please subscribe to the YouTube channel HERE.

In early 2023, Saiful Arakani and I co-authored an article for the Dhaka Tribune titled “Inside story of death on the high seas,” which detailed a catastrophic event resulting in the loss of 180 lives. This incident contributed to the disturbing statistic of nearly 400 Rohingya refugees perishing at sea in 2022, a figure that may well be an underestimate. Various boats embarked on perilous journeys from Bangladesh and Myanmar to Malaysia, encountering diverse outcomes. Some vessels, devoid of essential supplies, witnessed fatalities, while others were either rescued or handed over to authorities, including the Myanmar navy. Notably, one such vessel, missing for an extended period, eventually reached Aceh, Indonesia, with its occupants in critical condition.

Our latest report, published today by DVB English, provides an update on the ongoing crisis. It focuses on the departure of eight boats carrying approximately 1600 individuals from the shores of Bangladesh towards Indonesia between the end of October and first week of December. The full article, offering a comprehensive overview of the situation, is available for readers via the link provided below.

In this episode of our podcast, Saiful provides the latest update on the situation of Rohingya refugees currently at sea. He explains the reasons prompting these refugees to leave their camps and shares a detailed list of names and addresses of traffickers. Saiful is of the opinion that such information should be widely accessible, especially by the authorities, to facilitate effective action against these traffickers.

A significant point of discussion was raised during my final question to Saiful, inspired by a previous podcast with Meenakshi Ganguly of Human Rights Watch. I asked, “Last week, Meenakshi Ganguly stated that “Bangladesh should acknowledge the presence of traffickers and its responsibility to protect refugees from them.” In your view, are the authorities doing enough to address the issue of trafficking?”

Saiful’s response, though unsurprising, highlighted a grim reality. He pointed out the challenges in prosecuting traffickers, noting that there are seldom witnesses willing to testify against them. Additionally, he mentioned the corrupt practices where traffickers often bribe the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) to evade justice.

As an aside, our January 2023 report garnered attention from the Associated Press, prompting them to dispatch a correspondent. This journalist offered her perspective on the story, yet intriguingly, there was no acknowledgment of our initial report! Additionally, it's noteworthy that they engaged Saiful as their fixer and primary source for the story, and of course that fact remained uncredited in their coverage…

Here is information we have managed to put together on the 11 boats

Between April and November 2023, a total of 11 boats embarked on journeys from Cox's Bazar to Indonesia.

Boat No. 01:

Launched from Saint Martin’s Island on 3 November 2023, Boat No. 01 arrived in Aceh, Indonesia, with 194 asylum seekers on 14 November 2023.

Boat No. 02:

Setting off from Saint Martin’s Island on 3 November 2023, Boat No. 02 landed in Aceh, Indonesia, carrying 147 asylum seekers on 15 November 2023.

Boat No. 03:

Boat No. 03, with 256 asylum seekers, started its journey from Saint Martin’s Island on 3 November 2023. It landed in Aceh, Bireuen, Indonesia on 16 November 2023 but was pushed back into the sea by locals. The same boat made landfall again in Aceh, Bireuen on 19 November 2023.

Boat No. 04:

On 19 November 2023, Boat No. 04 reached Aceh, Pedir, Indonesia, carrying 250 asylum seekers. It began its voyage from Saint Martin’s Island on 3 November 2023.

Boat No. 05:

Boat No. 05, carrying 286 asylum seekers, set out on 19 November 2023. Thirty of these individuals were separated by smugglers and attempted to travel from Aceh, Tamaing to Malaysia. However, the Indonesian government intercepted and arrested them. Boat No. 05, with the remaining 221 asylum seekers, landed in Aceh, Saban, Indonesia on 21 November 2023 after departing from Saint Martin’s Island on 7 November 2023.

Boat Nos. 06 and 07:

These two boats, carrying a total of 350 asylum seekers, left Teknaf, Saint Martin Island for Indonesia on 21 November 2023. As of the last update, Boat No. 06 was adrift between the Andaman and Indonesian Sea, while Boat No. 07 had been missing since 27 November 2023.

Boat No. 08:

Boat No. 08, with 139 asylum seekers on board, started from Saint Martin’s Island and landed in Aceh, Sabang, Indonesia on 2 December 2023.

Boat No. 09:

On 10 December 2023, Boat No. 09 arrived in Aceh, Indonesia, carrying approximately 200 asylum seekers. This boat also began its journey from Saint Martin’s Island. 61 refugees were taken away by the traffickers after landing.

Boat No. 10:

Departing from Saint Martin's Island on 30 April 2023, Boat No. 10, with 170 asylum seekers on board, embarked on its journey to Indonesia. It successfully reached its destination in Aceh, Banda, Indonesia on 25 May 2023.

Boat No. 11:

On 7 October 2023, Boat No. 11 set sail from Saint Martin's Island, carrying over 153 asylum seekers towards Indonesia. The boat arrived in Aceh, Bireuen, Indonesia on 16 October 2023. Post-arrival, 14 of these asylum seekers were separated by smugglers and taken to Malaysia.

The podcast features an interview with Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, about the ongoing abuses committed by the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) against Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Meenakshi describes the widespread impunity that allows APBn members to engage in extortion, harassment, and physical abuse with impunity. She also highlights the broader context of human rights violations in Bangladesh, including the government's failure to hold security forces accountable for their actions.

Key takeaways:

* The APBn is responsible for a wide range of abuses against Rohingya refugees, including extortion, harassment, and physical abuse.

* These abuses are committed with impunity, as the government has failed to investigate or prosecute APBn members for their crimes.

* The broader context of human rights violations in Bangladesh contributes to the impunity enjoyed by the APBn and other security forces.

* The government has a responsibility to protect Rohingya refugees from abuse and to hold perpetrators accountable.

Call to action:

The podcast concludes with a call to action for the Bangladesh government to take concrete steps to address the abuses committed by the APBn. These steps include:

* Conducting credible investigations into allegations of abuse and holding perpetrators accountable.

* Investing in the development of the Rohingya community in Bangladesh.

The podcast emphasises that the international community also has a role to play in addressing the situation in the Rohingya camps. Donors should ensure that their funding is not used to support abusive security forces. The international community should also use its leverage to pressure the Bangladesh government to improve the protection of Rohingya refugees.

Here is the video I refer to in the podcast. Link

Here is Human Rights Watch article on APBn, published January 2023.

Here is a news release from Fortify Rights about APBn, published August 2023.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has recently released a statement that paints a grim picture of the current situation in Rakhine State. The report details the plight of over 26,000 displaced individuals, adding to 63,884 IDPs, along with approximately 150,000 predominantly Rohingya IDPs in Sittwe and Pauktaw from previous conflicts. A sweeping ban on travel has severely impeded aid efforts, trapping the region in a cycle of suffering and despair.

The unfolding story in Rakhine is deeply troubling. The Rohingya, already scarred by a history of systemic persecution, are now grappling with a fresh spate of casualties. These are not mere statistics; they reflect the harsh and ongoing realities faced by this community.

The pressing question that emerges is: What's next for Repatriation? Did Bangladesh and China miscalculate in hatching the pilot repatriation programme?

This is the question I posed to renowned academic and Rohingya expert Professor Imtiaz Ahmed in our inaugural episode of the Rohingya Refugee News podcast.

In response, Professor Ahmed doesn't specifically address Bangladesh's intelligence miscalculation regarding Rakhine State. Rather, he redirects the conversation towards the broader dynamics of instability in Myanmar, emphasising the necessity of a comprehensive approach. A key element of his proposed strategy is a 'mini Marshall Plan,' intended to address the situation more comprehensively and holistically.

Initially, Ahmed discusses the nature of regimes like Myanmar's, which thrive on instability, and the role of the military in maintaining power through such instability. He labels this as a "military business complex," suggesting that the Myanmar military benefits from ongoing conflict and unrest.

Further in our conversation, Professor Ahmed proposes a 'mini Marshall Plan,' akin to Europe's post-WWII reconstruction, arguing that economic incentives and stability could be more lucrative for the Myanmar military than the current conflict. Such a plan, he believes, might make Rohingya repatriation both feasible and appealing to the military.

Throughout our dialogue, Professor Ahmed implies that Myanmar's military is a deeply entrenched and influential entity in the nation's political and economic fabric. His discussion surprisingly implies an expectation of the military's ongoing centrality in Myanmar's affairs.

In our discussion, I raised concerns about what I perceive as a common oversimplification in the narrative surrounding the situation in Myanmar. Proponents of Rohingya repatriation often assert that the military rule and instability in Myanmar have always been present, suggesting that we cannot wait indefinitely for change. However, this view overlooks a crucial and disturbing element: the reality of genocide. It's not merely about longstanding military rule or instability, but also about acknowledging and addressing the severe and ongoing genocide against the Rohingya people.

Tune in to hear Professor Ahmed's insightful responses.

Finally, during the discussion, I reference a seminal paper authored by Professor Ahmed back in 2001. Download it here

PS: The podcast has been auto-transcribed. You can find it in one of the tabs. While there may be transcription errors, you can listen to the audio alongside the script for a fuller experience.