UCL IRDR in association with the University of Dhaka organised the “International Conference on the Rohingya Crisis in Comparative Perspective” at Gustave-Tuck Lecture Theatre at UCL from 4th to 5th July 2019. Dr Bayes Ahmed was the conference convener.
The conference was opened by Her Excellency Ms Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK, who commented on the current state of diplomacy. Special guest Chris Sidoti, member UN Human Rights Council’s Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar, discussed their call for genocide charges. Other contributors include: UCL Prof Mary Fulbrook (an internationally renowned Holocaust scholar) who placed the Rohingya Genocide in comparative perspective; and Dr Taifur Rahman, a medical doctor, who runs an independent NGO with centres and clinics in the Rohingya camps where (almost) no one else will go for the most vulnerable. Concurrently a professional photography exhibition by visual anthropologist, Mahmud, provided a narrative of the 2017 Rohingya crisis in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh and, with his most recent images, of current life in the camps.
The conference intended to understand the root causes of the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, drivers of Rohingya influx into Bangladesh, Rohingya diaspora and their adaptation strategies in host countries, environmental hazards and degradation, and implications for security and peace in the region. About 300 scholars, students, practitioners, and policymakers signed up to attend. We had over 40 presenters and 100 participants, and published a booklet containing 126 abstracts.
Official Conference link:
Booklet link:
