The annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) once again passed with lofty speeches about war, climate change, human rights, and global security. Yet one of the most acute humanitarian tragedies of our time-the plight of the Rohingya-was relegated to the margins, barely mentioned beyond the predictable symbolic statements. More than seven years after the Myanmar military unleashed a genocidal campaign that forced nearly a million Rohingya into Bangladesh, the international community has allowed their suffering to fade into the background, normalized by indifference and fatigue.

The tragedy today is not only that the Rohingya are suffering, but that their suffering has been rendered invisible in the eyes of global leaders. Since 2017, when Myanmar’s Tatmadaw carried out mass killings, rape, and the torching of entire villages, the world’s response has largely been confined to strong words, investigations, and legal proceedings. The United States formally determined that the atrocities amounted to genocide. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) began hearings. The United Nations issued report after report cataloging abuses. Yet the material conditions of the Rohingya remain unchanged: they are stateless, confined to camps, and stripped of any prospect of returning home safely.

This year’s UNGA could have been a turning point. The political landscape in Myanmar has shifted dramatically since the military coup of 2021. The Arakan Army (AA), a powerful ethnic armed group, now controls 11 of Rakhine State’s 18 townships-the heartland of the Rohingya people. For decades, the Myanmar state dictated the fate of the Rohingya through repression, restrictive laws, and denial of citizenship. With the AA’s territorial ascendancy, there is an opening for new political arrangements.

But this opening carries as much risk as promise. If the Rohingya are excluded from whatever settlement emerges in Rakhine, they could face yet another cycle of........

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