The Rohang Heritage Center, established in Camp 6 and funded by Bangladeshi authorities in February, was launched as more than 1.3 million Rohingya refugees continue to live across 33 camps in southeastern Bangladesh amid stalled efforts to repatriate them to Myanmar.

The center contains more than 200 items, including historical maps, newspaper clippings, books, photographs and recordings of the Rohingya language.
Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, said the collection was assembled from materials carried into Bangladesh by Rohingya refugees during successive waves of displacement from Myanmar.

“The items have been collected from old newspaper clippings, books published on Rohingya history, and various historical documents,” Rahman said, adding that the initiative aims to help younger Rohingya reconnect with their ethnic and cultural heritage.

The Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim minority from Myanmar’s Rakhine State, have faced decades of discrimination and statelessness. Hundreds of thousands fled to Bangladesh following a military crackdown in 2017, adding to earlier refugee populations that had crossed the border over previous decades.

Bangladesh and the United Nations have repeatedly sought to facilitate the voluntary return of refugees to Myanmar, but the process has remained largely frozen amid political instability and armed conflict. Conditions deteriorated further after Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, while fighting between junta forces and the Arakan Army in Rakhine State has intensified since 2024.

Camp administrator Gazi Shariful Hasan, who initiated the heritage project, said a central objective was to collect official Myanmar documents issued before 1989 that identified holders as Rohingya, preserving evidence of state recognition before citizenship rights were effectively withdrawn.

According to Hasan, the center includes civil records, political archives and profiles of Rohingya figures who once participated in Myanmar’s national political life, including former members of parliament.
“Of course, no government would allow foreign nationals to serve in its parliament, which indicates that the Myanmar government previously recognized this ethnic population,” Hasan said.

The exhibits also document the community’s intellectual, religious and cultural history, including biographies of prominent Rohingya Islamic scholars and archival material related to mosques in Rakhine State.

One section features photographs of 25 mosques built in the early 19th century in Rakhine. Organizers said many of the structures have since been destroyed, making historical photographs among the few remaining records of their existence.

The center is operated by Rohingya volunteers and serves both as a cultural archive and an educational resource for younger refugees, many of whom have spent most or all of their lives in camps and have limited access to formal education.

Bangladeshi officials said preserving cultural memory remains important as uncertainty persists over the timing and conditions for any future repatriation process.