Assist Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

A protracted crisis

Five years to the day since they were forced to leave their homes in Myanmar, the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh live in fear of being forgotten. 

Close to one million people live in the camps in the Cox’s Bazaar region of this impoverished country, and all across the camps are stories of people who are living in cramped conditions, forced to live off aid provided by humanitarian organizations like Concern, without hope of education or the opportunity to rebuild their own livelihoods.

Fiona McLysaght, Concern's Country Director in Bangladesh, is concerned that the world's focus will turn away from what remains the world's largest refugee camp. "The overall response to the Rohingya crisis is slipping off the global radar," Fiona explains.

"Given what's happening in Ukraine and other countries, this is having a direct impact on the Rohingya response. Once you go into the sixth year in any response, it's referred to as a protracted crisis, so inevitably it will get less focus than it has previously. That is a concern because there are so many global competing priorities. Donor countries, as well, have been impacted by inflation and increased fuel costs etc., so we're worried that there will be less money allocated to overseas humanitarian development aid."

The population within Cox's Bazar is increasing all the time, Fiona explains, with Concern's work in terms of nutrition also scaling up to try and reach as many people as possible. "Year on year there are approximately 40,000 births, so the population is increasing every year. Our work has really scaled up, particularly in our nutrition programming. We're working in more camps - we're in 17 camps now - and we're taking on a lot of extra work in the response.

"There is also genuine worry on the government's side about where the money will come from to continue support to the people in the camps."

Concern's role in helping the Rohingya population

At Concern, our focus remains on helping the thousands of families who are essentially confined within tight spaces within the camps to stay healthy and to maintain their dignity. This includes a combination of life-saving integrated nutrition support, livelihood development, disaster risk reduction, non-food item distributions, and home gardening initiatives. Three of our biggest focuses are nutrition and safeguarding against weather-related disasters.

Thus, Concern is working with both the Rohingya and the host communities to help address the immediate needs of the current refugee crisis, now across 17 camps, including: 

• Treating over 4,000 Rohingya for malnutrition, including children under the age of 5
• Preparing and delivering hot meals for over 32,000 people
• Screenings of over 35,000 children and pregnant/lactating women each month for malnutrition and providing treatment
• Providing food rations, cooking demonstrations, and health education to over 9,800 caregivers
• Developing a “Mother Care Group” for caregivers of children under 5 focusing on improving maternal & child heath, reaching over 108,000 Rohingya refugees and host community members
• Providing training and supplies for homestead gardening to nearly 11,000 Mother Care Group members
• Nearly 400 cooking demonstrations attended by over 12,000 participants
• Over 2,100 families provided seeds and fertilizer support for home gardening
• Forming 27 livelihood groups for 750 program participants
• Cash grants provided to 750 families, as well as relevant training for building livelihoods
• Constructing roads, drainage lines, slope protections, walls, and culverts to improve disaster preparedness 

Many Concern colleagues in Bangladesh have been working day in, day out for the last five years. “They're frontline, they've been working throughout COVID-19, multiple emergencies and there's such competency and skill within the team,” Fiona reveals.

Concern plans to continue to stay and deliver our critical life-saving crisis response, health and sanitation, and livelihood programming. Our goal, along with many of our partners and humanitarian colleagues, is to help the Rohingya stay healthy, care for their families, and live with as much security and dignity as possible.

No access to education

Despite the fact that there are children in the camps who have never seen Myanmar, and the fact that repatriation seems as far away as ever for the Rohingya people, formal access to education is not accessible to the population of the camps.

“The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recently visited the camps meeting Rohingya refugees who, after repression and human rights violations, fled Myanmar five years ago to, in her words, 'get some safety.' She also advocated for education and livelihood opportunities for the Rohingya people," Fiona says.

Access to education, and ultimately the opportunity to earn money through livelihood programmes, is the only way for the Rohingya population to become somewhat self-sufficient and not wholly reliant on aid. “However, given the fact that there's less funding around, that's tough," she adds.

Given the dangers they would face by returning to Myanmar, these refugees have no option but to remain in Bangladesh despite the lack of access to education, to work, to travel and to a dignified standard of living, which is why Concern Worldwide is committed to stay and deliver programs and interventions to this fragile population.

Links:

• Rohingya Refugee Discusses Life in the Camps

Five years ago, on August 25, 2017, the latest outbreak of violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar, forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people to flee their homes. Since then over 1 million Rohingya have been forcibly displaced, with more than 914,000 are currently settled on a narrow strip of hilly land below the city of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Over half of the Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar are children. This year, as this humanitarian emergency turned five, the global pandemic further complicates an already-complex situation. As COVID-19 continues to spread, concern is growing around the potential impact of an outbreak among the 900,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh.

However, this isn’t just a crisis affecting the Rohingya. The Rohingya are a stateless, predominantly minority ethnic group, many of whom have lived in Myanmar’s Rakhine State for generations. Over time, many families migrated to Rakhine from Bengal, an area encompassing parts of India and all of Bangladesh. Without recognition as citizens or permanent residents of the country, the Rohingya have limited access to education, jobs, and health services, resulting in chronic poverty and marginalization. Violence targeting the Rohingya in Myanmar over the last several decades has driven hundreds of thousands to neighboring countries, most notably in 1978, 1991-92, and 2016. Some return, but many have lived for decades in areas like Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. An escalation in violence that began on August 25, 2017, however, became the starting point for the latest — and largest — crisis. 

There are other factors also making the crisis complex – both for the refugees as well as their host communities. The Rohingya crisis has developed into a protracted emergency for both the Rohingya and Bangladeshis. Most of the camps that were set up for incoming Rohingya around Cox’s Bazar were built on uneven sandy hills that were rapidly cleared in response to the 2017 mass exodus. Since then, these informal settlements have faced the constant threats of flooding and landslides. All shelters are required to be built from bamboo and tarps, meaning that concrete and bricks can’t be used as added protection against the elements. Many have collapsed, leaving residents exposed to the elements. 

Bangladesh’s main cyclone season begins in April, making this a time where Rohingya are most vulnerable. Beyond shelters facing destruction from high winds, these rainy seasons can also foster waterborne illnesses in crowded camps that don’t have proper water and sanitation facilities. This poses an especially risk to children and the elderly. The main cyclone season in Bangladesh begins in April, and previous years have shown us that this is one time in which the Rohingya are most vulnerable. Beyond shelters facing destruction from high winds, these rainy seasons can also foster waterborne illnesses in crowded camps that don’t have proper water and sanitation facilities — posing a particular risk to children and the elderly.

The realities of COVID-19 have further complicated matters. By May of 2020, the novel coronavirus had reached the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. Early lockdowns in Bangladesh meant that most local camp volunteers were forced to stay at home, leaving the camps with a reduced number of staff and resources. While lockdowns are no longer implemented during successive Covid waves, the pandemic nonetheless still affects operations and causes shortages in the camp.

Because we have been in Bangladesh for over 40 years, had former staff members in the area, and had worked on previous projects there (including with Rohingya refugees as early as 1991), we were one of the first organizations to respond to the crisis. Since then, we’ve maintained a combination of life-saving integrated nutrition support, livelihood development, disaster risk reduction, non-food item distributions, and home gardening initiatives. Three of our biggest focuses are nutrition, and safeguarding against weather-related disasters, and responding to COVID-19. 

Thus, Concern is working with both the Rohingya and the host communities to help address the immediate needs of the current refugee crisis. With the Rohingya, we work with refugees in 5 camps and we will also be extending livelihood support to the host community.

Last year alone, our work included: 

• Treating over 4,000 Rohingya for malnutrition, including 2,853 children under the age of 5
• Monthly nutritional screenings of over 45,000 children 
• Providing food rations, cooking demonstrations, and health education to over 9,800 caregivers
• Group messaging on infant and young child feeding and hygiene for over 5,000 pregnant and lactating women and caregivers
• Nearly 400 cooking demonstrations attended by over 12,000 participants
• Over 2,100 families provided seeds and fertilizer support for home gardening
• Forming 27 livelihood groups for 750 program participants
• Cash grants provided to 750 families, as well as relevant training for building livelihoods
• Constructing roads, drainage lines, slope protections, walls, and culverts to improve disaster preparedness 

Often underreported in coverage of any refugee crisis is the host community’s efforts to maintain their own dignity and health in such difficult circumstances. The area surrounding Cox’s Bazar had already experienced weak service provision and is a very poor area of Bangladesh. Concern’s former Country Director in Bangladesh, A.K.M. Musha, pointed out that local lives have changed significantly since this massive population flow. 

 “There is huge socio-economic and environmental pressure resulting in increased tension between refugees and the host community,” he said. “The tensions will continue to increase unless the host communities are supported well. It’s a difficult situation for all.”

While the Bangladeshi government has gone to great lengths to accommodate the influx, the impact is being felt. As local resources go into the relief effort, prices of goods and services are driven up, and labor becomes cheaper.

Unfortunately, there’s no end in sight. “The Rohingya people don’t believe the situation in Myanmar is currently conducive to repatriation. It would be very difficult for people to go back to Myanmar unless the situation improves there,” adds Musha.

Concern plans to continue to stay and deliver our critical life-saving crisis response, health and sanitation, and livelihood programming. Our goal, along with many of our partners and humanitarian colleagues, is to help the Rohingya stay healthy, care for their families, and live with as much security and dignity as possible.

Links:

• Rohingya Crisis Explained - 5 Years On