Yasmin Ullah

Yasmin Ullah is a Rohingya feminist, author, poet, and internationally recognized human rights advocate working at the intersection of genocide accountability, gender justice, refugee rights, and community-led humanitarian action. Born in Northern Arakan, Myanmar, her family fled to Thailand in 1995, where she spent 16 years as a refugee without legal status before resettling in Canada in 2011. Her lived experience of displacement, statelessness, and persecution has profoundly shaped her commitment to justice, self-determination, and the leadership of marginalized communities.

Yasmin is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network (RMCN), an independent, Rohingya-led, women-led, and refugee-led international human rights organization. Under her leadership, RMCN has developed into a transnational network advancing Rohingya rights through survivor-led advocacy, humanitarian response, women’s leadership, youth empowerment, narrative change, and international justice initiatives.

A prominent voice in international advocacy, Yasmin has engaged with the United Nations, Canadian Parliament, international human rights institutions, and regional civil society platforms across Southeast Asia. She has contributed to international efforts for recognition of the Rohingya genocide, including engagement with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights through its Time to Act: Rohingya Voices exhibition and advocacy connected to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ahead of the US government’s 2022 genocide determination. In June 2026, she testified before Canada’s Subcommittee on International Human Rights, bringing attention to the protection of Rohingya children, statelessness, and the consequences of displacement across Southeast Asia.

A central dimension of her work is advancing survivor-led justice and international accountability. Yasmin has been a leading advocate in universal jurisdiction efforts seeking accountability for genocide and crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya, including a landmark genocide complaint filed in Indonesia involving Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing. She has also contributed to advocacy surrounding The Gambia’s case against Myanmar before the International Court of Justice, working to ensure that Rohingya survivors and communities remain central to international accountability processes.

Beyond institutional advocacy, Yasmin leads RMCN’s efforts to connect international solidarity with practical community action. The organization has mobilized substantial humanitarian resources and delivered emergency assistance, medical and psychosocial support, education initiatives, and protection-focused interventions for displaced Rohingya communities across Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and other countries. Her work particularly prioritizes the safety, dignity, education, and leadership of Rohingya women and girls, including establishing educational opportunities for girls in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Yasmin is also a prominent advocate addressing the intersection of technology, misogyny, disinformation, and gender-based violence. Through RMCN’s creative advocacy and digital initiatives, she challenges the digital erasure and dehumanization of Rohingya people and confronts the weaponization of hate speech against women human rights defenders. She champions storytelling, cultural preservation, humour, and creative advocacy as tools for resistance, solidarity, and political change.

Her creative work includes poetry published in I Am A Rohingya and the children’s book Hafsa and the Magical Ring. She has also contributed to international media, including The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, and Democratic Voice of Burma, writing and speaking on genocide, displacement, women’s rights, and the political struggles of marginalized communities.

In recognition of her contributions to human rights, peacebuilding, and social justice, Yasmin has received several international distinctions. She was named to the FemiList 100 in 2021 and selected as a United Nations Minority Fellow. In 2026, she was named a finalist for the inaugural Pankaj Award to End Conflict, presented by Regent Global in partnership with One Young World, recognizing leaders working to prevent conflict, build understanding across divided communities, and advance sustainable peace. In October 2026, she received the Daniele Po International Human Rights Award in Bologna, Italy, recognizing her tireless work defending human rights and advocating against the genocide of the Rohingya minority. The award was presented under the patronage of the European Parliament, the Italian Senate, the Chamber of Deputies, and several regional and academic institutions.

Yasmin’s work is grounded in an intersectional feminist approach to human rights, the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and the belief that communities most affected by violence and displacement must have the power to shape their own futures. She continues to advocate for a world in which Rohingya people are recognized not merely as survivors of genocide, but as a people with history, identity, agency, and the right to self-determination.