August 25, 2026 | PRESS RELEASES

Jewish Rohingya Justice Network Statement on  

the 9th Anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As American Jewish leaders, we cannot let another year go by without demanding the United States take more decisive action to halt the oppression of the Rohingya people. It has been nine years since the start of the genocide against the Rohingya. The U.S. must meet the moment with decisive action.  

On August 25, 2017, the Burmese military junta launched a campaign of mass atrocities against the Rohingya community in Burma. The ongoing attacks against the Rohingya have killed thousands of people and forced more than 700,000 others to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. In 2022, the United States formally determined that the Burmese junta’s military campaign against the Rohingya constituted genocide. Today, the Rohingya represent the world’s largest stateless population, with more than one million living in Cox’s Bazar.  

In the years since the genocide began, the situation in Burma has changed, but the persecution of the Rohingya people has not. The Rohingya still living in Burma are caught in the midst of fighting between the junta and other armed forces grappling for control of territory. Rohingya civilians continue to face killings, displacement, restrictions on movement, and other human rights abuses, including lack of access to sufficient nutrition, medical care, jobs, safe housing, and other necessities.  

For the Rohingya in Bangladesh, conditions remain just as catastrophic. Food assistance, healthcare, education, and other essential services remain severely underfunded, while the refugee camps offer no opportunities for Rohingya to build safe and sustainable lives. With dwindling access to basic dignities like healthcare and education, refugees are increasingly turning to illicit economies or taking dangerous and often-fatal journeys by sea in search of a more promising future. Meanwhile, the intensified fighting has driven nearly 150,000 additional Rohingya to Bangladesh since 2024. 

In 2021, the same military regime responsible for the genocide that forced Rohingya people to flee their homes seized power in a coup that overthrew the Burmese democratically elected government. The junta then sought to formalize its hold on power by holding elections – which were neither free nor fair – in late 2025 and early 2026.  

The U.S. has acted to curb the actions of Burma’s repressive regime. In 2022, the U.S. enacted the BURMA Act, establishing a statutory framework for sanctions, humanitarian assistance, democracy support and accountability for serious human rights abuses in Burma. Despite these efforts, attention and humanitarian response to the needs of the Rohingya have waned over time. 

While we applaud the efforts of Members of Congress in enacting the BURMA Act, the 2025 cuts to U.S. foreign assistance and to multilateral humanitarian agencies have exacerbated the already severe humanitarian crisis facing the Rohingya. Additionally, the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Burmese nationals has put nearly 4,000 people Burmese people living in the U.S. at risk of being returned to Burma, despite the ongoing violence and persecution occurring there.  

The United States has longstanding legal and policy commitments for protecting refugees and preventing their return to persecution. While the U.S. has fallen short of fully upholding these commitments, we acknowledge the bipartisan efforts of Members of Congress who have kept progress for Burma on the agenda. Leaders of the House and Senate foreign affairs committees have publicly denounced the junta’s sham elections and have asked the Trump administration to do the same. Another bipartisan group of House Members urged the State Department to reject any effort to legitimize the Burmese junta; hold the junta accountable for its human rights abuses and violence; and provide assistance to Rohingya and other refugees in the region through humanitarian aid. Congress has also introduced legislation to restore TPS for Burmese nationals.  

Nine years into the Rohingya crisis and five years since the genocide determination, the persecution of the Rohingya continues.  

As leaders of the American Jewish community, we urge the U.S. government to: 

1. Uphold its obligations under international and U.S. law; 

2. Restore humanitarian funding and assistance for the Rohingya living in Burma and surrounding countries; 

3. Demand an end to the violence and reject efforts to legitimize the junta;  

4. Support and strengthen accountability mechanisms for the junta’s violations; 

5. Support Burma’s democracy movement and an inclusive political future that protects the rights of the Rohingya; and  

6. Restore access to asylum, Temporary Protected Status, and other migration protections for Rohingya in the U.S. 

About the Jewish Rohingya Justice Network 

The Jewish Rohingya Justice Network (JRJN) is the prominent consortium of Jewish NGOs advocating for the rights of the persecuted Rohingya people of Burma. JRJN’s membership includes over 30 organizations and all major branches of American Judaism that together encompass the support of millions of American Jews. 

Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, the Jewish Rohingya Justice Network works to promote a robust U.S. and international response to the Rohingya genocide through education of our communities and advocacy in Washington, DC. 

The JRJN was founded in 2017 and has been advocating in solidarity with Rohingya leaders ever since. 

To reach the Jewish Rohingya Justice Network for comment, email jewishrohingyajusticenetwork@gmail.com. For previous statements, click here.