GENEVA / DHAKA — The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Kelley E. Currie, will conduct a country visit to Bangladesh from 11 to 18 November 2026, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced in a media advisory on Tuesday, November 10.

Source: OHCHR media advisory, Nov 10, 2026

During her visit, the Special Rapporteur will assess the impact of the deteriorating human rights situation in Myanmar on Bangladesh, with particular attention to developments in Rakhine State and the broader armed conflict, the situation of Rohingya refugees and opportunities for future cooperation, OHCHR said. She will visit Dhaka, and Cox's Bazar and camp sites located in the Cox's Bazar District — home to the world's largest refugee settlement, where Bangladesh hosts more than a million Rohingya who fled Myanmar, most in the military crackdown of August 2017, according to UN refugee agency figures.

Source: OHCHR, Nov 10, 2026

Myanmar said no

Currie has formally requested access for a country visit to Myanmar and was informed by the regime that it is not ready to accommodate a visit, OHCHR said — which is why the mandate's closest look at the crisis this month will be taken from the Bangladesh side of the border. The Business Standard in Dhaka reported the same advisory, noting Currie officially assumed the Special Rapporteur mandate on 1 May 2026.

Source: The Business Standard (Dhaka), Nov 10, 2026

Bangladesh's own framing of the visit is security as much as humanitarian. The Business Standard reported that State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said on Sunday that the Rohingya crisis had become a security concern for Bangladesh, stressing the need to keep the issue high on the international agenda. Dhaka has carried the refugee burden since 2017 with repatriation stalled, and fighting in Rakhine State between Myanmar's military and the Arakan Army has kept new arrivals and border tensions in the news through this year.

A visit timed against a court judgment

Currie will hold a press conference on Wednesday, 18 November at 14:00 local time at UN House in Dhaka, OHCHR said. One day later, on November 19, the International Court of Justice in The Hague is scheduled to deliver its judgment in the landmark case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar over alleged violations of the Genocide Convention — the case arising from the 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya. The Special Rapporteur will present her next report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2027.

Source: OHCHR, Nov 10, 2026; The Business Standard, Nov 10, 2026

Awaaz Punjab is already tracking the court side of this story — the ICJ's November 19 judgment in the Rohingya genocide case, and what each possible ruling would mean. Read: ICJ Rohingya genocide ruling due November 19

What happens next: Currie's findings at the November 18 Dhaka press conference, the ICJ judgment the following day, and whether either moves the stalled questions of Rohingya repatriation, aid funding for the Cox's Bazar camps, or international pressure on Myanmar's military. Awaaz Punjab will report the press conference and the judgment as separate follow-up stories.