Nearly nine years after the 2017 military crackdown that forced more than 750,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, the prospect of their repatriation to Myanmar remains as distant as ever. Rohingya repatriation is not primarily a logistical or humanitarian challenge. Although China and India compete for influence across Myanmar and Bangladesh, neither has consistently used its leverage to advance Rohingya rights. Taken together, these realities explain why moves toward repatriation remain stalled. Until those conditions are met, repatriation will remain more a diplomatic aspiration than a practical reality, leaving more than 1 million Rohingya trapped in prolonged limbo.