Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman appealed for international support for Rohingya refugees in his address to the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2026. The Bangladesh mission's published text calls both for their safe return to Myanmar and for lifesaving assistance until return becomes possible.
Rahman told the assembly that Bangladesh had sheltered more than 1.2 million displaced Rohingya for over nine years and described pressure on resources and host communities. These figures and assessments are attributed to his speech, rather than presented as a new independently conducted census.
The two parts of the appeal serve different timescales. Humanitarian assistance addresses needs while people remain displaced; repatriation requires conditions in the place to which they would return. Cutting the first short does not by itself create the second.
A contemporaneous UNHCR statement is important to that distinction. In remarks dated September 23, the agency's High Commissioner said conditions for voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return did not then exist. The statement also called for support for refugee self-reliance, other opportunities including third-country options, and a wider sharing of responsibility with Bangladesh and other hosts.
With return conditions unresolved, the immediate financial burden remains support for refugees and host communities. Rahman's appeal links that continuing assistance to repatriation, while UNHCR places voluntariness and safety at the centre of any return.
