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Lemkin Institute

THE INHUMANE CONDITIONS IN COX’S BAZAR AND WHAT MUST BE DONE TO SUPPORT REFUGEES LOOKING FOR A DIGNIFIED, HOPEFUL FUTURE

Cox's Bazar is filled to the brim with huts, with barely enough space to make the area liveable.

[Mohammad Rakibul Hasan]

The Rohingya people have been persecuted for decades by the Myanmar military as an ethnic minority, with a renewed wave of violence in 2017 causing nearly one million people to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh. The United States in 2022 declared the Myanmar military had perpetrated a genocide against the Rohingya during the 2017 atrocities. They aren’t recognised by their own government and are stuck in limbo.


The homes they left behind have been destroyed, and the Bangladesh government is signalling that they want them to return to Myanmar. The vast majority of Myanmar’s Rohingya have no legal status, having been effectively deprived of a nationality as a result of discriminatory laws, policies and practices.


The vast majority of Rohingya refugees have fled across the border into Bangladesh, settling into the Cox’s Bazar district. Cox’s Bazar shares a border with Myanmar’s Rakhine State where the Rohingya primarily reside. Refugees are settled across multiple refugee camps within Cox’s Bazar, with no investment in their living conditions or education.


The conditions in the camp


In October 2023, Amnesty staff travelled to Bangladesh alongside Médecins Sans Frontières and UNHCR to the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. The Rohingya shared with them accounts of Myanmar security forces carrying out mass killings, torture, rape and burning of entire villages. The conditions in the camp are inhumane. With refugees not allowed to leave the fences that surround them, they’re trapped inside with limited food, water and electricity.


There are close to one million people living in Cox’s Bazar, with around 800,000 of those having been there for at least 6 years. With over 200,000 families spread across 34 camps in just 24km2, it’s one of the most densely populated parts of the world. There are an average of 4-5 people per household, with families living in makeshift bamboo and tarp shelters that were designed to be a temporary housing solution.


The huts have become semi-permanent homes, providing little protection against heat, cold and frequent extreme weather events. Without plumbing, families are forced to collect water by hand, often travelling long distances to reach a water pump. Toilets are communal and provide no privacy, putting women and children at risk, particularly at night as there’s almost no lighting and a constant danger of being attacked.


As they’re not allowed to work, refugees are wholly dependent on foreign aid for food supplies. They’re provided with a ration of just US$8 a month per person, which allows them to purchase only oil, rice, salt and chillies. These meagre rations have also been decreasing due to a lack of funding, forcing refugees to live off 27 cents per day. Not only does this severely impact their mental health, but also physical health, as the food they purchase isn’t up to the minimum standard of nutrition for a person.