Attachments
CONTEXT
• Bangladesh experiences recurrent natural disasters— including cyclones, floods, and monsoon rains— exposing acutely vulnerable populations to annual climatic shocks resulting in crop and infrastructure damage, displacement, and loss of livelihoods, according to the UN. The negative impacts of climate change, combined with high inflation and low incomes, continue to drive decreasing food availability and worsening food insecurity conditions across the country. Heavy rainfall and resultant flash floods in Chattogram Division in August 2023 affected more than 1.5 million people, relief organizations report. Tropical Cyclone Hamoon impacted 1.5 million people in Cox’s Bazar District in October 2023, and Tropical Cyclone Remal in May 2024 affected approximately 3.75 million people, according to the UN. The UN projects that Bangladesh—already one of the most climate-affected countries in the world—will likely face an increased frequency and intensity of climatic shocks in the coming years, generating additional humanitarian needs.
• Bangladesh hosts nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Burma. Displacement from western Burma’s Rakhine State escalated significantly in August 2017 following the launch of large-scale and indiscriminate military operations by Burma’s military forces, which the U.S. Government (USG) has since characterized as genocide. More than 944,000 of these refugees were residing in 33 crowded camps in southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar District, while more than 35,000 refugees had been relocated to Bhasan Char—a silt island in the Bay of Bengal— as of April 2024, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Due to restrictions on livelihood activities and movement, refugees rely almost entirely on humanitarian assistance to meet basic food, health, protection, shelter, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs, according to the UN. Moreover, refugees, particularly women and girls, face a heightened risk of experiencing protection violations, including gender-based violence (GBV), the UN reports. Men and boys also face protection risks, such as forced conscription or recruitment into armed groups.