Attachments
To date, this Emergency Appeal which seeks a total budget of CHF 198.2 million, is 45.6 per cent funded (funding coverage as of December 2024 is CHF 90.5 million). At the time of this report preparation, US Government halted the funding of Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (BPRM) for 90 days effective 24 January 2025 for review. Under this funding halt, around 9 million USD has been uncertain. This may impact on the overall funding coverage and the operations. Further funding contributions are needed from all sources including IFRC and its membership to enable the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), to continue to meet the humanitarian needs of displaced people from Rakhine, as well as the local community affected by the influx of displaced people.
Description of the crisis
A significant movement of people from Rakhine State in Myanmar to Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh was triggered in 2016 by an escalating conflict. In August 2017, an estimated 655,500 people crossed the border within a month. Adding to the existing population of displaced people from Rakhine who have been seeking refuge in Bangladesh since 1978, the total number stands at 1,006,670 as of 30 November 2024. Of these, 970,294 currently live in 33 overcrowded camps located in Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-district of Cox’s Bazar. Since late 2020, a total of 36,376 people has been relocated from the Cox's Bazar camps to Bhashan Char Island. In addition, ongoing conflict in Rakhine state of Myanmar resulted in new arrivals of approximately 60,000 people during this period who began living in this camp settlement. This ongoing complex and protracted population movement crisis has left the displaced population fully reliant on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs with no durable solutions in sight and uncertainty surrounding their repatriation. The situation has been further compounded by frequent cyclones, seasonal rainfall, flash flood, fire incidents and heightened security concerns in the camps.
According to the population factsheet, displaced people comprise 51 per cent female and 49 per cent male, while out of the total population, 52 per cent are children, 44 per cent adults and 4 per cent older person. Moreover, 6.22 per cent of people are extremely vulnerable individuals (EVIs), including 3.03 per cent of people with disabilities (PWDs)4 . Their essential basic needs include food, healthcare and safe shelter, water, sanitation, hygiene, lifesaving information, protection services, and preparedness for seasonal cyclones, monsoon rains, multi-hazards and disease outbreaks (cholera, dengue etc.) as well as prevention of environmental and ecosystem degradation.
The ongoing protracted crisis is also manifested in the continuing challenges directly faced by around 445,972 local host community population5 in Cox’s Bazar in terms of pressure on livelihoods and the local economy, among other factors, brought about by the presence of the huge number of displaced people from Rakhine.
Subsequently, the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) responded to the emergency in December 2016, in line with its mandate to provide humanitarian services as auxiliary to the public authorities. As such, an international operation was launched with IFRC-DREF support, followed by an Emergency Appeal on Population Movement Operation (PMO) launched in March 2017. The appeal has been revised on eight occasions, with the last published revision (in July 2024) effective 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027. The new phase aims at continuing support to BDRCS in its response to the protracted crisis and following key recommendations of a rationalization exercise in 2024, i.e. extension of emergency appeal, restructuring human resource and updating the One Window Framework and strengthening of the National Society Capacity. The extension of the emergency appeal also considers the likelihood of fresh influx (which actually occurred since August 2024) with disease spread and social tensions, as a consequence of ripple effect rooted from the escalating conflict between insurgent groups and the army in Myanmar.