From policy to practice : Canada’s engagement with the United Nations and Canadian-based non-governmental organizations on the Rohingya crisis (2017–2024)

The Rohingya Crisis remains one of the largest humanitarian crises in Asia, yet it has received limited sustained political attention since its escalation in August 2017. Canada, a well-recognized humanitarian middle-power nation, responded promptly during the onset of the crisis, but its engagement eventually declined over seven years. This research asks: Why has Canadian interest and governmental commitment to the Rohingya Crisis changed from 2017 to 2024? This research draws upon Kymlicka and Walker’s (2012) concept of Rooted Cosmopolitanism and Cortina’s (2024) Proximity Politics to analyze Canada’s diplomatic and humanitarian engagement through two stakeholders involved in the crisis response: the United Nations (UN) and Canadian-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Methodologically, this study adopts a qualitative approach, using data consisting of ten semi-structured interviews conducted by the author with current and former employees of Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the UN sector and Canadian-based NGOs; alongside Global Affairs Canada governmental statements and reports, UN resolutions and reports, official reports from the Canadian government, UN General Assembly votes and Canadian English-language news coverage between August 2017 and December 2024. It also draws upon numerical data from GAC’s international aid dashboard and UN humanitarian funding data. The study further employs methodological and data triangulation informed by Denzin (1978). This research advances a two-fold argument. The first is that Canada initially engaged with the Rohingya Crisis through the UN and Canadian-based NGOs in alignment with the values of rooted cosmopolitanism, as well as its aims to challenge proximity politics as well as adherence to the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. The second is that Canada’s interest in the Rohingya Crisis declined following COVID-19, as self-interest conflicts and resource allocation diversions compromised the sustainability of Canadian engagement with the crisis through the UN and Canadian-based NGOs. The findings of this research demonstrate that while Canada achieved partial success in responding to the Rohingya Crisis, important limitations remained in sustaining long-term political commitment and its humanitarian leadership. It concludes with four policy recommendations aimed at strengthening Canada’s future humanitarian engagement with the Rohingya Crisis and other crises.