Attachments
Context
Considered as a stateless minority, Rohingya in Myanmar were denied citizenship in 1982 by the government of Myanmar and have faced violence, persecution and discrimination over decades. Following a wave of Myanmar military violence in August 2017 in Rakhine State, that the UN designated as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”, 730,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to nearby Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Bangladesh hosts now more than 967,000 Rohingya refugees, in some of the largest and most densely populated refugee camps in the world. With limited movements, access to regular income and livelihood/educational opportunities in camps, it is estimated that 95% of the Rohingya refugee population is moderately to highly vulnerable, and remain entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance.
It is now six years since the largest forced displacement of Rohingya into Bangladesh, and the possibility of a safe and dignified repatriation to Myanmar remains unlikely given the current situation in Rakhine State. Prolonged displacement and uncertainty about the future have facilitated the proliferation of armed groups and gangs in the camps, leading to a deterioration of the security situation since the beginning of 2022, with armed clashes, targeted killings, kidnappings and harassment. Reports of sexual and gender-based violence, abductions for ransom and enforced disappearances in the camps among other illegal activities are also steadily increasing.
Despite these persistent challenges, the international funding that aid providers and Bangladeshi authorities rely on to provide services has been shrinking since the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in February 2022. The 2022 Joint Response Plan (JRP) received 64% of the funding required, whereas the 2023 JRP’s plan has only received 45% of the required funding to date.
Among overall reduction of global funding for the humanitarian response, in March 2023, the World Food Programme (WFP) reduced their food vouchers from 12 USD per person to 10 USD, and then for a second time from 10 USD to 8 USD in June 2023.
Simultaneously, in June 2023, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector reduced the number of bathing soaps for Rohingya refugees to one per person per month.