https://arab.news/p8b3m
When Donald Trump returned to Asia this week, most headlines focused on his rhetoric about China, trade, and regional security. Yet beneath the spectacle lies a quieter possibility: that the US president’s distinctive brand of foreign policy realism might reopen a path toward resolving one of the world’s forgotten humanitarian crises — the plight of the Rohingya.
For nearly a decade, the Rohingya have lived in limbo. More than a million remain in sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh, dependent on dwindling aid and with no prospect of return to their homeland in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Inside Myanmar, those who remain face extreme restrictions on movement, education, and access to healthcare. Meanwhile, the world’s attention has drifted elsewhere, leaving the Rohingya stranded on a stage with no audience.
The international community’s approach has long been paralyzed by moralistic posturing and bureaucratic caution. Successive governments in Washington and European capitals have condemned Myanmar’s junta, imposed sanctions, and issued statements of solidarity. But these gestures have not altered the reality on the ground. The junta still controls large parts of the country, resistance groups such as the Arakan Army dominate others, and China has quietly expanded its influence through trade corridors. The Rohingya, as always, remain trapped between competing powers and competing narratives.
