ERC supports a future in which all communities can live in safety, equality and mutual respect, without persecution, fear or forced displacement.
For the European Rohingya Council (ERC), peace in Arakan cannot mean simply the end of fighting while injustice, discrimination, exclusion and insecurity continue. Genuine peace must create conditions in which Rohingya and all other communities can live without fear, enjoy equal protection and participate meaningfully in shaping their common future.
The Rohingya have experienced repeated cycles of violence, persecution and displacement over generations. These experiences demonstrate that peace cannot be sustained unless the causes of conflict and persecution are addressed rather than temporarily contained.
Peace with justice and equality
For ERC, peace is more than the absence of open violence. Sustainable peace requires justice, equal rights, security, recognition and the ability of communities to participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lives.
A society cannot be genuinely peaceful while one community remains deprived of citizenship, freedom of movement, education, livelihoods, political participation or protection under the law. Nor can peace be durable when people live in constant fear that their homes, villages, identity or future may again be taken from them.
Justice, dignity, rights and peace are therefore inseparable. Peace without justice can preserve grievances. Peace without equal rights can preserve discrimination. Peace without dignity can preserve humiliation. A durable peace must address all of these conditions together.
Breaking the cycle of persecution and displacement
Rohingya people have endured repeated cycles of persecution and displacement. Families have been forced to leave their homes, communities have been fragmented, and successive generations have grown up under insecurity or in exile.
Preventing those cycles from continuing requires political solutions that address their causes and protect all communities from violence and discrimination.
Returning displaced people to the same conditions that caused their displacement would not create peace. A sustainable solution must ensure that persecution is not simply interrupted for a period before beginning again.
Security for every community
Peace requires security that protects civilians regardless of ethnicity, religion or political affiliation.
Rohingya must be able to live in their homeland without fear of attacks, arbitrary detention, forced recruitment, forced labour, confiscation of property, restrictions imposed because of identity, or renewed mass displacement.
At the same time, ERC believes that the security and dignity of every civilian community in Arakan must be respected. Protecting Rohingya rights does not require denying the rights of others. Lasting peace depends upon a system in which the security of one community is not built upon the insecurity of another.
Equality as a condition for peace
Long-term peace cannot be established through permanent inequality.
When communities are divided into those who possess full rights and those who are expected to accept inferior status, resentment, insecurity and instability remain. Equal citizenship, equal protection of the law and equal access to public institutions are therefore essential foundations for coexistence.
Rohingya should not be treated as outsiders in their own homeland. Their identity, history, rights and belonging must be respected as part of any political future for Arakan.
Recognition and belonging
A peaceful society must allow people to live openly with their identity and sense of belonging.
Attempts to erase, deny or impose identities deepen division rather than reconciliation. Rohingya must be able to identify themselves by their own name, preserve their culture and religion, and participate in society without being required to surrender who they are.
Recognition does not threaten coexistence. Respecting the identity of different communities can instead provide a foundation for mutual confidence and equal belonging.
Building conditions for coexistence
ERC supports peaceful dialogue, responsible international engagement and community cooperation that can help build a future in Arakan based on respect for human rights and equal belonging.
Coexistence cannot be created merely through declarations. It must be supported by institutions, laws and everyday practices that treat communities fairly and protect people from discrimination.
Schools, workplaces, markets, public institutions and local communities can all contribute to rebuilding trust when people are able to interact as equals rather than through systems of separation and exclusion.
Dialogue must include Rohingya voices
Dialogue about peace in Arakan must include the Rohingya themselves.
For too long, major decisions concerning the future of Rohingya have often been discussed by governments, international organisations, political movements and armed actors without sufficient Rohingya participation.
ERC believes that Rohingya civil society, community representatives, women, youth, professionals, refugees and people remaining inside Arakan must have meaningful opportunities to contribute to discussions concerning peace, security, governance, repatriation and reconciliation.
Peace cannot be imposed upon a community. It must be built with its participation.
The responsibility of political and armed actors
All political and armed actors exercising power or influence in Arakan have a responsibility to protect civilians and respect fundamental human rights.
No political objective can justify persecution, collective punishment, forced displacement or attacks against civilians.
ERC believes that allegations of serious abuses should be addressed through credible and lawful processes. Accountability is important not only for victims but also for preventing future violence and creating confidence that abuses will not be repeated.
Voluntary, safe and dignified return
Peace must create conditions in which displaced Rohingya can return voluntarily, safely, dignifiedly and sustainably when genuine conditions for return exist.
Return must mean more than crossing a border. People must be able to return to communities where their rights, identity, security, movement, livelihoods, education and property are protected.
No refugee should be forced to return to continuing persecution or confinement. Nor should displaced Rohingya be required to abandon their identity or accept permanent inequality as the price of returning home.
A successful return should allow families to rebuild their lives with confidence that they will not again be driven from their homes.
Peace for those who remain displaced
Until safe and sustainable return becomes possible, Rohingya refugees and displaced people must be able to live with dignity and hope.
Prolonged displacement can create frustration, dependency and lost opportunities, particularly for younger generations. Access to education, livelihoods, healthcare and protection is therefore important not only as a humanitarian necessity but also as an investment in future peace.
A generation deprived of opportunity cannot be expected simply to wait indefinitely for political solutions.
Women and youth in building peace
Women and young people must have meaningful roles in building the future of Rohingya communities and Arakan.
Rohingya women have carried enormous responsibilities through persecution and displacement, while young people will inherit the consequences of decisions being made today. Their experiences, ideas and leadership are essential to sustainable peace.
Peace processes become stronger when they draw upon the knowledge and participation of the whole community rather than a narrow group of political actors.
Rejecting hatred and dehumanisation
Violence is often preceded and sustained by language that portrays another community as dangerous, inferior or undeserving of rights.
ERC rejects hatred, dehumanisation and collective blame. Differences between communities must never be used to justify violence against civilians or denial of fundamental rights.
Building peace requires responsible leadership and a willingness to challenge narratives that encourage fear and hostility between communities.
International engagement for durable peace
The international community has an important role in supporting conditions for durable peace, justice and protection.
International engagement should focus not only on managing humanitarian emergencies but also on addressing the political and rights-based causes of the Rohingya crisis.
ERC supports principled international efforts that protect civilians, advance accountability, encourage inclusive dialogue and help create conditions in which displaced people can eventually return in safety and dignity.
Peace in Arakan and beyond
The consequences of instability in Arakan extend beyond its borders. Large-scale displacement affects neighbouring countries and the wider region, while prolonged statelessness and insecurity create humanitarian and political challenges that cannot be contained indefinitely.
A peaceful and inclusive Arakan would therefore benefit not only the Rohingya and other communities living there, but also neighbouring countries and regional stability.
ERC believes that a durable solution to the Rohingya crisis should be understood as an investment in peace for the wider region.
A future without fear
The ultimate measure of peace is whether ordinary people can live normal lives without fear.
Parents should be able to send their children to school without fearing violence or discrimination. Families should be able to work, travel, worship, build homes and plan for the future. Young people should be able to imagine their lives in terms of education and opportunity rather than persecution and escape.
That is the kind of peace ERC seeks: not merely silence after violence, but a future in which the conditions that produced violence no longer determine people's lives.
ERC's commitment to peace
The European Rohingya Council remains committed to peaceful, lawful and constructive efforts to secure a just and durable future for the Rohingya.
ERC will continue working with Rohingya communities, civil society, governments, international institutions and other partners to promote dialogue, justice, equal rights, accountability, security and coexistence.
Peace must allow displaced people to return voluntarily and safely when conditions genuinely permit, and it must give future generations confidence that they will not again face persecution for who they are.
ERC believes that the future of Arakan should not be built upon domination, exclusion or forced displacement. It should be built upon equal rights, human dignity, justice, security and mutual respect.
Peace in Arakan will become durable only when every community can see a future for itself within it.