Attachments
BACKGROUND, APPROACH AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
OVERVIEW OF THE CRISIS
Responsibility for the Rohingya refugee crisis originates in Myanmar and its solution lies there. For decades the Rohingya people have faced systematic disenfranchisement and discrimination in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, along with targeted persecution which has driven them repeatedly across the border into Bangladesh. Large-scale forced displacement of Rohingyas from Rakhine State occurred following violence in 1978, 1992, 2012, and 2016 with the largest forced displacement into Bangladesh 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 with a strong inference of genocidal intent. Resurgent inter-communal violence since late 2023 has since displaced hundreds of thousands of people within Myanmar and, in 2024, forced thousands of Rohingyas and other ethnic groups to flee into Bangladesh. Bangladesh has generously provided shelter to Rohingya refugees/FDMNs on humanitarian grounds, particularly following the events of August 2017 in Myanmar.
As per the Government-UNHCR joint registration exercise, approximately 1,005,520 Rohingya refugees/ FDMNs are registered in Bangladesh, as of 31 December 2024. Households reside in 33 camps formally designated by the Government of Bangladesh in both the space-constrained, densely populated, and climate-vulnerable Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas3 within the Cox’s Bazar District, as well as on the island of Bhasan Char. However, thousands more Rohingya have been forced to flee into Bangladesh in search of temporary shelter and assistance following the intensified fighting across the border in Myanmar in 2024.
Although the international border with Myanmar remained officially closed and the precise number of new refugee/FDMN arrivals is unknown, regulated access to safety for the fleeing civilians is required in Bangladesh, in addition to humanitarian assistance for affected populations inside Rakhine. The Government of Bangladesh agreed to grant assistance to biometrically identified 4 new arrivals already in the camps in 2024. JRP 2025-26 includes activities and assistance for this yet-to be registered population, who is highly vulnerable after fleeing Myanmar and in need of lifesaving protection and humanitarian support.
Under the leadership of the Government of Bangladesh, the humanitarian response has saved and improved thousands of lives since August 2017. In so doing, Bangladesh has borne an enormous responsibility and burden for this crisis – including financial, social, security-related, and environmental – and the international community has demonstrated its solidarity by providing humanitarian assistance and development support.
Increased and sustained financial support is needed from the international community in 2025 and 2026, along with renewed political efforts to end the conflict in Myanmar.
The Government of Bangladesh, with the support of the international community, is committed to the early, voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya to Myanmar. In the meantime, and in the absence of a political solution to the conflict, Rohingya refugees/FDMNs remain entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance. They are therefore highly vulnerable to gaps in basic needs, such as food assistance, forcing many to rely on negative coping mechanisms (such as child marriage, child labour, onward movement, and borrowing money to cover essential needs), which are presented in more detail below.