Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, visited a Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya, in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, on Tuesday, November 10. The camp visit puts humanitarian support at the center of her three-day trip, following meetings in and around Dhaka with women peacekeepers and young athletes.
The Daily Observer reported that Sophie left Cox’s Bazar for the camps Tuesday morning, and the Daily Inqilab reported her arrival at a camp in Ukhiya. Later local reports described a daylong visit across four camps, including a children’s learning center and a soap-making livelihood project. A later PA account and first-hand reporting from The Daily Star added independent detail. The Royal Family has now published an official summary and photo carousel confirming Sophie’s visits to peacekeeping, sport and Rohingya-support programs.
November 11 update: Sophie met Bangladesh’s president, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, at Bangabhaban in Dhaka. The British High Commission confirmed that they discussed the partnership between the two countries. The president’s press secretary told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha that the president called for stronger international action to support the safe return of Rohingya refugees and protect vulnerable women and children. The statement describes the president’s appeal; it announces no new British commitment.
Why Cox’s Bazar matters
The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim minority from Myanmar. According to the United Nations refugee agency, more than 750,000 fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in August 2017. Bangladesh now hosts more than a million Rohingya refugees, most in the Cox’s Bazar area near the border.
The visit at a glance
Where: Camps 4, 5, 18 and 20 in Ukhiya, according to local reports.
What she saw: Education, livelihoods, protection and inclusion programs for displaced women, children and people with disabilities.
Official confirmation: The Royal Family has published a summary and photo carousel. A detailed outcome report remains pending.
What Sophie saw in the camps
T Times reported after the visit that Sophie began at a CODEC learning center in Camp 18, then visited the PHALS soap production center in Camp 20 and programs in Camps 4 and 5. Amader Teknaf independently reported the same four-camp itinerary and said the day’s visit concluded Tuesday afternoon.
At the soap center, the local reports say Sophie reviewed the production process and asked about employment, skills and self-reliance for Rohingya refugees and nearby host communities. PHALS describes the Camp 20 program as an IOM-linked livelihood and hygiene initiative designed to include women and people with disabilities. That program description supports the project context, but it is not an official account of Sophie’s visit.
The distinction matters. A royal visit can bring attention to work that goes on long after the visitors leave. The British High Commission’s program, reported by Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, describes planned conversations about protection, rehabilitation and opportunities for refugees to take leadership roles in their own communities.
Later reporting added first-hand detail. A PA account published by The Independent placed Sophie at a UNICEF learning center, an IOM Women and Girls’ Safe Space and the PHALS soap factory. PA emphasized the connection to her work on the Women, Peace and Security agenda and the United Kingdom’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative.
The Daily Star’s Mohammad Jamil Khan focused on children Sophie met at the Camp 18 learning center. Students described ambitions to become an engineer, doctor and teacher while explaining the barriers to further education. British High Commissioner Sarah Cooke told the outlet that the United Kingdom has provided more than £460 million to support Rohingya refugees and host communities, and said the visit could help keep international attention on the crisis as humanitarian funding declines. The report carried original photography credited to Prabir Das. These accounts support the earlier local itinerary while adding direct voices and clearer program attribution.
The Royal Family adds its official account
The Royal Family’s verified accounts published an official summary on November 10. The Instagram carousel and Facebook album confirm that Sophie saw organizations supporting Rohingya refugees at Cox’s Bazar and heard about protection and support services for women, girls and families affected by displacement. The posts also document her earlier meetings with women peacekeepers and young athletes.
The official posts supply valuable visual context, but no photographer credit or separate reuse license was visible. We are linking and embedding the original post rather than downloading or republishing its images.
From peacekeeping to the hockey field
The previous day, Sophie visited the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training, where The Financial Express reported that she met women peacekeepers, citing a High Commission spokesperson. The High Commission also confirmed her meeting with young athletes, including girls and young women who play hockey. The two events showed different sides of the visit’s focus on women’s participation: one in international security, the other in sport.
See the High Commission’s first-day photos
The British High Commission in Dhaka shared original posts from the peacekeeping visit and the meeting with young athletes. Both sets are from November 9, before the camp visit.
The Bangladesh visit fits a longer strand of Sophie’s work. In 2019 she publicly committed to championing the United Nations’ Women, Peace and Security agenda, which calls for women’s participation in decisions about peace and conflict, and the United Kingdom’s initiative to prevent sexual violence in conflict. The Royal Household’s account of her work explains how that commitment has shaped her overseas engagements.
We’ll follow confirmed updates from Bangladesh in this week’s Royal Diary.
Sources: Daily Observer; Daily Inqilab; T Times; Amader Teknaf; PHALS; PA via The Independent; The Daily Star; Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha; UNHCR; British High Commission posts linked above; Royal Family Instagram carousel; Royal Family Facebook album.
Featured photograph: Sophie at the March 2025 Invest in Women event, not in Bangladesh. UKinUSA, via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0.
