The Library for Rohingya Young People That Refused to Wait

Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh — In one of the densely populated Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, 18-year-old Mohammad Siraj stood out as someone who carried both confidence and a quiet sense of responsibility for others.

An articulate and thoughtful young man, he spoke with clarity about the challenges facing young people in the camp. Like many Rohingya youth, Mohammad was forced to flee Myanmar as a child. He has grown up in displacement, separated from the country he still considers home. As the conversation ended and visitors began to move on, Mohammad ran after them. He wanted to ask for something.

In a place where needs are immediate and visible, his request might have been expected to reflect the daily hardships of camp life.

But it did not. He asked for books about Myanmar’s history.

“The youth will be very happy if we can provide knowledge about Myanmar history,” Mohammad said.

His request is not only about learning Rohingya history. He wants young people to understand the history of Myanmar as a whole, the country they came from, the country they still belong to in memory, and the country many still hope one day to return to.

The library he was sitting in was built by his own hands. A year ago, he was joined by ten other peers, and together they debated, voted, and decided to build a place for reading. There was nothing much in the area for young people to be busy with. Young men in the camp used to spend long hours in tea stalls. Some gambled. Some drifted toward groups that did not have their futures in mind.

The idea for the library came through UNFPA's youth peacemaking initiative under the Rising Together project funded by Switzerland. Youth facilitators from Mukti Cox's Bazar gathered groups of young people in camps and asked them what they wanted to do with the unused space near the youth centre.

Some boys voted for tree planting, and Mohammad wanted a library.  

"If we plant trees, in half a year they will just provide some breeze," he explained. "But if we make a library, we can get free time there, we can read books."

Young people did not just decide. They led the entire process, from needs assessment through library design to seeking approvals from camp authorities to source materials. Today, the library exists because young people were passionate about it.

Eighteen such youth-led revitalization initiatives were implemented across camps and host communities under the Rising Together project in its first year in 2025. In camp after camp, young people transformed unused, neglected spaces into gardens, libraries, reading clubs, and gathering points because they were given the tools, support, and trust to lead.

In the Rohingya camps, 75% of youth lack access to education, and 72% report feeling unable to contribute meaningfully to their communities. A generation growing up in displacement, with no formal pathway to a livelihood, no legal right to work, and no clear prospect of return, is a generation at risk of exploitation, recruitment, and the slow erosion of hope.

But a library is an argument, a hope against that erosion. It says: your time has value, your questions matter, your future is still worth imagining.

Mohammad’s message to the youth of his camp is direct. He wants the library to become what he and his peers built it to be: a place that replaces the tea stall, the gambling app, and idle hours with something that builds rather than diminishes. 

Fahmida Amin, an Adolescent and Youth Centre Facilitator, has watched dozens of young people move through the same programmes that shaped Mohammad. 

"We have taught them life skills through structured sessions," Fahmida said. "We referred them to different services. We help them understand what they can do in an emergency. But we also see something else. Young people who start as participants become the ones leading."

The Rising Together, in its first year, reached 1,410 young people through the Youth4Peace initiative and 2,010 adolescent girls through life skills education. 12,847 people were reached through youth-led community awareness initiatives.

The library was built by Mohammad and his peers, who were told their future had already been decided, but young people decided to build their future otherwise - page by page, one book at a time.