The Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh: an analysis of the involvement of local humanitarian actors

Abstract

Since August 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya have sought refuge in Bangladesh from neighbouring Myanmar, resulting in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. A significant endeavour is taking place involving various humanitarian actors for the provision and overall management of the humanitarian activities in Rohingya refugee camps. The article studies the configuration and evolution of the humanitarian operations with the aim of identifying the extent of localisation, ie the involvement of the Bangladeshi actors in the management of the camps in the early stage (1–2 years) of the crisis. It employs a quantitative method by analysing the 4W data of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Segregation of humanitarian operators by national and international non-governmental organisations and a network analysis suggest that the humanitarian operations are dominated by international actors, and localisation was not achieved in the early stage of the crisis. Additionally, the article provides a profile of the humanitarian operation along with the context and background of the crisis; as such, it can be utilised by both academic and non-academic audiences.