What we do

The Rohingya have very limited opportunities to work, though some find and take the risk of informal work. This renders them dependent on humanitarian assistance. Assistance includes basic food rations, cooking gas, and the shelters that were provided in 2017. It is enough to keep people alive but leaves many Rohingya unable to afford other essentials like clothing, essential groceries, and materials to repair their shelters. This dependence on humanitarian aid also takes away from people’s sense of dignity by limiting their ability to be self-reliant.

The temporary nature of shelters, often built on slopes, is a high-risk combination. Annual flooding leaves people vulnerable to death, injury, and displacement with recurrent episodes of shelters being washed away.

Shelters cramped together make tasks like cooking risky. Outbreaks of fires are common. In 2021, around 15 people lost their lives during a massive blaze, 560 people were injured and up to 10,000 families (more than 45,000 people) were displaced.

There are few education prospects for children, as only primary education is provided by NGOs (non-government organisations) for a few thousand of the children within the entire camp population, meaning many go without. This is a key source of distress for parents, who worry about what the future will hold for a generation of uneducated children, either in Bangladesh or in the event of a return to Myanmar in the future.

In a study conducted by Doctors Without Borders, we have found that the current conditions of overcrowding, inadequate water supply and poor sanitation in Cox's Bazar camps pose health hazards to the Rohingya people living there.  Read the study here.

As refugees with UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) cards are not allowed to work legally, many end up in the informal sector doing “3D jobs” (dirty, dangerous, difficult), which expose them to the risk of exploitation.

Rohingya and other refugees and asylum seekers are also forced to pay the foreigners’ rate at public healthcare facilities, which can be up to 100 per cent more than what a local pays.

Meanwhile, refugees and asylum seekers without UNHCR documents face the risk of being reported to the immigration authorities and possibly face detention when accessing public healthcare. This is according to a Ministry of Health circular, which obliges medical staff at public healthcare facilities to report undocumented/irregular migrants to the Immigration Department.

Rohingya have very limited freedom of movement, and therefore restricted access to work opportunities, education, and healthcare. Individuals living in camps are reliant on humanitarian assistance.

Doctors Without Borders staff on their journey to set up a clinic in Sin Thet Maw village in Paukaw township, 14 March 2022 @ Ben Small/MSF

Rohingya in Rakhine state struggle to access proper primary healthcare. Due to freedom of movement restrictions, if they require emergency treatment, for many the only way they can be admitted to the hospitals that accept Rohingya is through a Doctors Without Borders' referral. Discriminatory behaviour, including extortion, towards Rohingya, particularly in public hospitals and from state officials, is an additional deterrent to accessing healthcare. They are also segregated to different areas of the hospital.

With their existence underlined by fear, struggles to afford food, and feelings of hopelessness, this protracted status quo has had drastic consequences on mental health. For those living in the squalid, cramped camps, these issues may be even more pronounced.

Limited availability of water in the displaced persons camps in central Rakhine and in villages in northern Rakhine, including clean drinking water, puts Rohingya at risk of water-borne diseases and skin infections, particularly in the dry season.