Rohingya (JRP)

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OVERVIEW OF THE CRISIS

Responsibility for the Rohingya refugee crisis rests with Myanmar. The Rohingya people have faced systematic disenfranchisement, discrimination, and targeted persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine State for decades. Persecution has repeatedly driven Rohingya refugees/FDMNs across the border into Bangladesh. Large-scale forced displacement of Rohingyas has occurred following violence in Rakhine State in 1978, 1992, 2012, and again in 2016. Rohingya refugees/FDMNs temporarily sheltered in Bangladesh have returned to their ancestral home in Rakhine State in earlier cases. By far the largest forced displacement from Myanmar into Bangladesh began in August 2017. The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar concluded that the root causes of this forced displacement included crimes against humanity and other grave human rights violations.¹

As of 30 September 2022, approximately 945,953 Rohingya refugees/FDMNs are registered in Bangladesh as part of the Government-UNHCR joint registration exercise, residing in thirty-three extremely congested camps formally designated by the Government of Bangladesh in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas² of the Cox’s Bazar District, as well as on the island of Bhasan Char.

Bangladesh has generously provided safety to Rohingya refugees/FDMNs from Myanmar, particularly following the events of August 2017 in Myanmar. Bangladesh has borne an enormous responsibility and burden, including financially and environmentally, for this crisis, and the international community must continue providing humanitarian assistance and working towards voluntary, dignified, safe, and sustainable repatriation of Rohingya refugees/FDMNs to Myanmar.

Under the leadership of the Government of Bangladesh, the humanitarian response has saved and improved many thousands of lives since August 2017. The Government has been clear that the presence of the Rohingya refugees/FDMNs in Bangladesh is temporary, and voluntary and sustainable returns must take place as soon as conditions are conducive. Rohingya refugees/FDMNs continue to express their intentions to return to Myanmar.

The humanitarian community, under the leadership of the Government of Bangladesh, will continue to provide basic humanitarian assistance and services and work towards facilitating repatriation, inter alia, by providing the skills and capacity building activities³ commensurate with opportunities available in Rakhine State in Myanmar, and education in the Myanmar Curriculum to facilitate the eventual reintegration of the Rohingya refugees/FDMNs in Myanmar upon their return. The Rohingya crisis originates in Myanmar and its solution lies there. Strong, visible, and measurable efforts must be sustained from the part of the international community, with a view to finding solutions through voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable repatriations of the Rohingya to Myanmar. Maintaining critical financial support for the ongoing humanitarian response vis-à-vis the Rohingya refugee/FDMN crisis in Bangladesh remains essential. The international community, including the United Nations, has a significant responsibility in finding a sustainable solution through repatriation to Myanmar by creating conducive conditions in Rakhine. Until this is achieved, timely and adequate funding is required to continue to meet humanitarian needs.

Women, girls, and boys, who make up the majority of the Rohingya refugee/FDMN population, are particularly vulnerable to risks of abuse, exploitation, and gender-based violence (GBV).⁴ Children make up more than half the Rohingya refugee/FDMN population and have been disproportionately affected by the crisis due to physical, psychological, and social vulnerabilities.

The Government of Bangladesh-UNHCR registration of Rohingya refugees/FDMNs is an important part of the operation. It helps maintain Rohingya refugee/FDMN identity and documentation and is the basis for access to assistance provided in the camps. Rohingya refugees/FDMNs and Bangladeshi host community members have helped build shelters for all Rohingya households and continue to support their maintenance. E-voucher outlets, fresh food corners, and farmers’ markets promote dietary diversity for Rohingya refugees/FDMNs while supporting Bangladeshi farmers. Primary and secondary health facilities provide quality services for both the Rohingya and Bangladeshi communities, and a comprehensive COVID-19 response strategy have withstood the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, to date.

A Strategy on Family Planning⁵ has established a framework for meeting the sexual and reproductive needs of women and girls. Additionally, among a range of protection needs, mechanisms to prevent and respond to gender-based violence as well as to protect children are in place, such as psychosocial support. Focus has been placed on improving accessibility of water, sanitation, and waste management systems. Preventative and emergency nutrition services have been established and integrated with other services to meet the needs of the temporarily sheltered Rohingya refugees/FDMNs.

Around 5,700 learning facilities have been set-up or rehabilitated in the camps, and teachers and instructors from both the Rohingya refugees/FDMNs and host communities have been trained and capacitated to provide education to Rohingya children and adolescents in the Myanmar Curriculum in the Myanmar language. Over 3,200 hectares of degraded forestland have been planted since 2018, and recycling systems and other environmental protection activities have been integrated across the response. Rohingya refugee/FDMN volunteers are helping with water and sanitation, temporary shelter construction, emergency preparedness and response, reforestation, teaching classes in the Myanmar Curriculum, and assisting Rohingya children, adolescents, persons with disabilities, and women-at-risk.

Due to the congestion in the Cox’s Bazar camps, a number of challenges exist. Disruption in the provision of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) would result in refugees cutting trees and the destruction of forests; and a lack of clean water and hygiene supplies would negatively affect the health of Rohingya refugees/FDMNs and host communities. The location and congested nature of shelters and facilities in the Cox’s Bazar camps exacerbate the likelihood and risk of fires, land slides and flooding. These factors contribute to the use of negative coping mechanisms, and also reinforces the Government’s plan to relocate voluntarily 100,000 Rohingya refugees/FDMNs to Bhasan Char. Consequently, the need for sustained and predictable support towards the Rohingya refugees/FDMNs is essential. This remains, for all practical purposes, a crisis operation.

Cox's Bazar District has a population of approximately 2.8 million Bangladeshis, of whom approximately 537,900 reside in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas and have been the most directly affected by the presence of the Rohingya refugees/FDMNs. This has resulted in a demographic imbalance, with the Rohingya refugees/ FDMNs outnumbering the host community population. In close coordination with the Government, the humanitarian response has continued to scale-up targeted support for the Bangladeshi communities that generously host Rohingya refugees/FDMNs, seeking to address the needs, including in the areas of health, livelihoods, nutrition, education, and case management services to support the most vulnerable, while seeking to mitigate potential tensions between the host communities and Rohingya refugees/FDMNs.

Bangladesh is among the countries most at risk to weather-related hazards in the world with a monsoon season that presents a risk of loss of life and injuries due to landslides, flooding, and communicable diseases. The Rohingya refugee/FDMN population in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas is extremely vulnerable to a variety of natural hazards, including flooding, landslides, fire outbreak, cyclones, and the adverse impacts of climate change. Building on the experiences of the Government of Bangladesh, the humanitarian community will strengthen the preparedness and response to emergencies. Activities in 2023 will strengthen disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management, ensuring the safety of Rohingya refugees/FDMNs and host communities.

By December 2022, the Government of Bangladesh relocated some 30,000 Rohingya refugees/FDMNs on a voluntary basis from the camps in Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char and plans to continue voluntary relocations up to a total of 100,000 refugees by the end of 2023. Efforts will be made to share information with Rohingya refugees/FDMNs about services, facilities, and activities on the island to enable them to make a free and informed choice regarding relocation. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of Bangladesh and UNHCR (on behalf of the UN) in October 2021 has put in place a common framework based on humanitarian and protection principles and the Government of Bangladesh’s priorities and policies. Critical assistance will support and complement the work of the Government to provide needsbased assistance to the Rohingya refugees/FDMNs on Bhasan Char.