Humanitarian Crisis: Cox’s Bazar

Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh has become the largest refugee communities in the world as of February 2019 to over 900,000 Rohingya people who have fled their home country, Myanmar due to violence.

Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country located in Burma with almost 90% of its inhabitants practicing Buddhism as of 2017. The Rohingya represent the largest group of Muslim people within the country (only approx. 1 million Muslims total in comparison to the approx. total population of 54 million in Myanmar). There has been tension between the groups for decades since at least 1948 after Myanmar gained independence from Britain. It is reported that a Muslim rebellion began in the Rakhine state as Muslims wanted a degree of self-governance with equal rights, but ultimately they were defeated. They haven’t been considered residents of Myanmar since the citizenship law was passed in 1982, which recognized 135 ethnic groups within the country, the Rohingya not being one. That rendered them stateless and they were denied citizenship, the right to vote and basic human rights, including education and health care (Hunt).

The conflict erupted in October 2016when a Rohingya insurgent group of around 300 men, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), is reported to have attacked border posts and kill 9 police offers. Retaliation led to around 87,000 Rohingya people fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh. Another attack on August 2017 reported that the ARSA targeted over 20 police outposts and killed 12 security officers (Hunt). The military retaliated on the Rohingya people as a whole and survivors recount the burning of their villages, their families being separated, murders (even “house by house” killings), torture, and the rape and gang rape of women and girls (Myanmar Rohingya). The military’s response has been what the UN considers an example of “ethnic cleansing” (Wong).

I do want to note that Myanmar denounces the accusations of genocidal behavior, some highlighting that they are the victims of violence by the Rohingya. Most are reported to be unsympathetic to the plights of the Rohingya and many have taken to calling them “Bengali” as a slur highlighting that they are immigrants and not native to Myanmar’s lands (Hunt).

“The crimes we have heard echo those committed in Rwanda and Srebrenica some twenty years ago. The Security Council acted in those two situations. It acted too late to prevent them which is all to our lasting shame but it did act to ensure accountability,” British U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce told the council (Nichols).

• access to safe, clean water (16 million liters needed daily)
  • diphtheria and measles outbreaks have occurred and there is increased risk of acute watery diarrhea
  • contamination from fecal matter is also a concern
• waste management
• food (malnutrition at acute emergency levels)
• physical care (particularly obstetric)
• education (5,000 classrooms needed)
• decongestion and relocation
• access roads
• agriculture and reforestation
  • access to cooking fuel can help combat the overuse of firewood resulting in environmental degradation (JRP For Rohingya)

Assistance with psychological trauma and subsequent distress is necessary as well. The camps in Cox’s Bazar are also in vulnerable areas where they’re potentially exposed to monsoons, landslides and flash floods. Early rains can also increase the risk of disease outbreaks. The areas being densely populated puts them in further danger of cyclones, rain and fires as well. The UNHCR has reported that $950.8 million is needed for relief efforts (Bangladesh).

 

Aid Needed and Received

• Food Security
• Health
• Shelter and Non-Food Items
• Site Management
• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
• Protection
• Education
• Nutrition

AAH identifies immediate priorities in Cox’s Bazar as well and their efforts have included daily distributions of food and water, emergency health care for malnutrition, waterborne disease prevention and improving sanitation, and mental health “first aid” (Rohingya Refugee Crisis).

The population in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps and the region where they reside make aid efforts difficult, but the reports I’ve encountered show support from many organizations in all highlighted vulnerable areas. Access makes receiving, storing and distributing aid a challenge, but there are dozens of aid groups working to not only assist with emergent and immediate needs but also work toward establishing sufficient systems that can be used long-term, including schools, medical facilities, secure shelters, agricultural support, wells and water distribution services, waste management services, etc. Efforts are being made for relocation for families in the most vulnerable areas as well to avoid potential natural disasters. From what I’ve researched, the emergency and basic needs of food, water, shelter are of course being given priority and many accomplishments have been made since the 2017 exodus began, but conditions are not adequate and safe for all families. There are strides being made to improve upon the circumstances and create preventative measures by aid organizations working together to assess the most vulnerable areas of the community and track resource allocation. It may sound weird, but to implement effective distribution services there needs to be a track of what families reside in the community and the resources given to them. Particularly at this time when the amount of aid resources isn’t sufficient to care for everyone in Cox’s Bazar at once. This reminded me of our class discussion last week where I mentioned that questionnaires, which are used to determine who gets help first and how much, make me uncomfortable and sad because it is a way of quantifying people’s pain and who are we to do that? But, when resources are limited and fair distribution cannot be guaranteed, how can we not? I do appreciate that efforts to minimize dependency are being made in Cox’s Bazar by teaching the Rohingya agriculture skills and promoting education. I think this is a great way to work toward self-sufficiency, but I just wish in the meantime we could avoid these parameters that give levels to people’s suffering, however, I think that may be impossible with circumstances like these.

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Works Cited

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JRP For Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis. OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 2018. https://www.unocha.org/sites/unocha/files/JRP%20for%20Rohingya%20Humanitarian%20Crisis%202018.PDF. Accessed 25 Feb 2019.