A deplorable future for the stateless Rohingya ethnic minority? NGO intervention in refugee camps in Bangladesh

Abstract

Since the 1970s, Rohingya refugees have been migrating to Bangladesh with large influxes in 1992 and 2016–2017. Following the brutal operations carried out by Myanmar’s security forces during August 2017, approximately 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar, especially Rakhine State of Myanmar, in fear of their lives and took shelter in the Cox’s Bazar area in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. As a result, Bangladesh, which is a densely populated country itself, is now hosting about 855,000 Rohingya refugees. This sudden and massive influx of refugees made life in the camps significantly challenging with very congested and deplorable living conditions, limited access to food, clean water and sanitation. However, in the past three years, several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played a facilitator role by building dialogue with the Bangladesh government, UN agencies, and other funding bodies to effectively address the needs of the Rohingyas and provided life-sustaining support in the refugee camps. Still, these efforts lack initiative towards building human capital which is essential for the growth and sustainability of any community. A study by Human Rights Watch reports the presence of approximately 400,000 school-age children in the camps. The NGOs are providing informal schooling by setting up temporary schools and employing teachers, but these initiates are desperately inadequate. The Myanmar authorities barred education above grade 10 and do not allow their curriculum to be used for these children. Since Bangladesh, the host country is not a signatory of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, it has little incentive to provide education to Rohingya refugees via its national curriculum, especially fearing assimilation. However, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) with the assistance of UNICEF recently started a pilot programme to provide formal education from sixth to ninth grade based on the Myanmar curriculum for 10,000 children living in the camps. Though this is a welcome step from the government, this initiative is limited in scope, and needs an immense scaling-up and further support from NGOs as its outreach is only 2.5% of the total Rohingya school-age children. Further, the UNHCR reports that around 91,000 children were born in the camps starting from August 2017. As per the UN projection, another 10–12 thousand live births will take place in the next 12 months. A crucial concern is whether the camps have sufficient facilities to provide necessary prenatal and antenatal care to the newborn babies and their mothers. Additionally, the utter lack of employment opportunities, except for the few cases where Rohingyas can gain work as NGO volunteers, pose a major concern for these forced migrants. Increased frustration due to these factors leads to increase in criminal activity, drug abuse, and the trafficking of girls. The overarching objective of our study is to document the roles of the NGOs in providing humanitarian assistance to ensure basic human rights and meet the needs of Rohingya refugees in the presence of inadequate assistance from the host country government. This study investigates the role, function, efficiency, and efficacy of service delivery of the NGOs. It reviews the existing body of literature that documents the humanitarian crisis and the supply of basic amenities, essential services, and support for the refugees in the camps. We provide an in-depth, and critical analysis of the demand-supply gaps in the provision of essential basic human rights, especially services pertaining to shelter, education, health and employment.