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An Assessment of the Sustainability of Living for Rohingya Displaced People in Cox’s Bazar Camps in Bangladesh

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Abstract

Ensuring human rights and fundamental needs of the forcefully displaced Myanmar nationals (FDMN), also known as the Rohingyas, has become a critical concern for the host and international communities. Based on some cross-cutting approaches such as social sustainability, livelihood, human rights, and security, this article assesses the condition of camps and the situation of lives of the Rohingya displaced people. The applied qualitative method (which incorporates Focus Group Discussion (FGD), Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), and expert interviews) has enabled us to find that Rohingya displaced people have been deprived of enjoying their basic human rights involving livelihood, security, and freedom of movement in many respects. They barely receive adequate food, health facilities, and safe housing in the camps despite efforts from the host and donor countries. The environment and living utilities in the camps are not conducive to healthy and sustainable living. The article also finds that displaced people, particularly women and adolescent girls, frequently face insecurity and violence in their daily lives. Opportunities for education, movement, and employment are also seriously lacking within the camps. This article, thus, emphasizes the proper management of the Rohingya refugees including their relocation to a safer place, and immediate and speedy repatriation to their home country. The findings of this article can be used as an example to analyze other cases where refugee people living in various parts of the world are confronted with similar challenges and problems.

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Fig. 1

Source: ISCG Situation Report (2019)

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Data Availability

The datasets analyzed in this current study are based on qualitative methods which are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Dhaka, 1000, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Md Rafiqul Islam, Md Touhidul Islam, Mohammad Shaheenur Alam & Maria Hussain

  2. Peace Research Institute of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Muhammad Mazedul Haque

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  1. Md Rafiqul Islam
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  2. Md Touhidul Islam
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All the authors including the corresponding author have equal contribution in this article.

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Correspondence to Md Rafiqul Islam.

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Ethics Approval

There is no formal ethical approval system in Social Science research in Bangladesh. However, we received consent from the research participants who took parts in the KI interviews and FGDs. We also sought consent from the authority who have been taking care of the Rohingya displaced people in camps in Bangladesh.

Consent to Participate

The study strictly followed the process of informed consent. We received informed consent from the respondents who took part in the FGDs and KIs. We read out the information form before them about the research and informed them that participation in this research is completely voluntary. Moreover, the study did not ask the name and identity of the research participants.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Islam, M.R., Islam, M.T., Alam, M.S. et al. An Assessment of the Sustainability of Living for Rohingya Displaced People in Cox’s Bazar Camps in Bangladesh. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work 7, 331–345 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-022-00212-5

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