Tensions and potential conflict between host communities and Rohingya refugees

Local people have the feeling of being neglected by aid agencies as very little humanitarian aid has been given to them over the past one year

Since 1978, Bangladesh has been generously hosting Rohingya refugees in its coastal district of Cox’s Bazar. It happened to the Rohingya minority several times that they were forced to flee their home in Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh because of violence, persecution and killings. The recent influx of Rohingya refugees fleeing mass atrocities in Myanmar since late August 2017 broke all previous records, leading to a tripling of the refugee population in Bangladesh. There are currently over a million Rohingya population living in the 23 refugee camps of Cox's Bazar. It is almost double that of the locals, the country’s poorest people. This has put an immense pressure on the entire local community in terms of resource degradation, employment falling and social strains. Consequently, tensions between host communities and Rohingya refugees have started to arise as multiple demonstrations have recently been staged in Cox’s Bazar by the locals demanding repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar and also their fair share of humanitarian aid. It is important to identify the areas of potential conflict so aid agencies and government authorities can pay more attention to underlying factors, set their priorities to cope with the brewing tensions and develop conflict-sensitive and peace-building approaches to humanitarian assistance.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that local people were at the forefront of the reception of persecuted Rohingya refugees at the initial stages. To settle some 900,000 refugees, people in the host communities near Rohingya camps have lost their productive agricultural lands. Those who relied on agricultural work to sell their labour and their products in the local markets now struggle to do so. Their wages have gone down because of oversupply of labour from the refugees. They are suffering extremely from price hikes of essential commodities caused by the demand of aid supplies to the refugee camps and by the presence of over 7,000 international and national aid workers that has sharply increased the cost of living.

After the beginning of the refugee crisis, international and national NGOs hired local youths in helping them with emergency relief work as translators, field facilitators, drivers and laborers. However, many of them have recently lost their jobs. They claim that NGOs now tend to recruit incentive workers more from the refugee community and from outside of Cox’s Bazar. That is fueling discontent among local youth as evident by a number of demonstrations lately held in the town of Cox’s Bazar where protesters seek administrative initiatives for securing their jobs.

Local people have the feeling of being neglected by aid agencies as very little humanitarian aid has been given to them over the past one year. Although the government of Bangladesh requested all national and international NGOs to provide at least 20 to 25 percent of aid and humanitarian assistance to the host communities, distribution of aid still remains significantly uneven.

Local people who are already outnumbered by the refugees now feel that days are not far off until Rohingyas would take over the entire area. In fact, the birth rate among the refugees is three to four times higher than that of the locals. A report by Save the Children finds that more than 60 Rohingya babies a day are being born in refugee camps. This will bring a demographic change in the area where the locals already constitute a minority group, aggravating the fear and worry in the host communities.

Local people also expressed their concerns over the rumors of local young women aid workers offering sex to foreign NGO workers for their promotion, incentives and salary increment. Such rumors have made the conservative sections of the society to look down upon young women who work for aid agencies in the refugee camps.

Locals are unhappy with check-points around the refugee camps on the roads of Cox’s Bazar, restricting their freedom of movement. At the checkpoints, they have to prove that they are not “Rohingya” which is in fact embarrassing for them. After the arrival of aid agencies, the number of vehicles and movement of people to give emergency aid have sharply increased. This has caused the road traffic to be slowed down. It now takes two-three hours where it earlier used to take one hour to move from one place to another. There are cases that babies of pregnant women have died due to being stuck in traffic on the way to hospital.

As the number of vehicles increased on narrow and twisting roads, accidents now often take place. So, road traffic and road safety have become concerns for local inhabitants. In the case of taking critically ill and injured patients to the general hospital in Cox’s Bazar, locals get no or minimal response for ambulance service from the medical organizations that provide much needed emergency medical care to the Rohingya refugees.

The refugee crisis has influenced girls dropping out in secondary schools. It came up during conversation with a local high school teacher that one out of every ten girls in class IX and X dropped out of his school due to being hired by the aid organizations. In order to work for them, the school girls produced fake documents and used false birth certificates. Many private and kindergarten school teachers in the area left jobs in favour of highly-paid NGO employment. As a result, nursery schools and kindergartens in the host community are now facing a severe shortage of teachers.

These have created the conditions where discontent and frustration among the locals are starting to rise which may lead to outbursts not only hindering the delivery of aid to the refugees but also turning the area into a conflict zone. Finding solutions to address these factors for potential conflict is therefore crucial and urgent.

Ishak Mia Sohel currently works as Regional Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief at the Asian Resource Foundation, Thailand. Pervez Siddiqui is the Founder and Executive Director of Films4Peace Foundation. Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]

 

Tensions and potential conflict between host communities and Rohingya refugees

Local people have the feeling of being neglected by aid agencies as very little humanitarian aid has been given to them over the past one year

Since 1978, Bangladesh has been generously hosting Rohingya refugees in its coastal district of Coxs Bazar. It happened to the Rohingya minority several times that they were forced to flee their home in Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh because of violence, persecution and killings. The recent influx of Rohingya refugees fleeing mass atrocities in Myanmar since late August 2017 broke all previous records, leading to a tripling of the refugee population in Bangladesh. There are currently over a million Rohingya population living in the 23 refugee camps of Coxs Bazar. It is almost double that of the locals, the countrys poorest people. This has put an immense pressure on the entire local community in terms of resource degradation, employment falling and social strains. Consequently, tensions between host communities and Rohingya refugees have started to arise as multiple demonstrations have recently been staged in Coxs Bazar by the locals demanding repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar and also their fair share of humanitarian aid. It is important to identify the areas of potential conflict so aid agencies and government authorities can pay more attention to underlying factors, set their priorities to cope with the brewing tensions and develop conflict-sensitive and peace-building approaches to humanitarian assistance. It shouldnt be forgotten that local people were at the forefront of the reception of persecuted Rohingya refugees at the initial stages. To settle some 900,000 refugees, people in the host communities near Rohingya camps have lost their productive agricultural lands. Those who relied on agricultural work to sell their labour and their products in the local markets now struggle to do so. Their wages have gone down because of oversupply of labour from the refugees. They are suffering extremely from price hikes of essential commodities caused by the demand of aid supplies to the refugee camps and by the presence of over 7,000 international and national aid workers that has sharply increased the cost of living. After the beginning of the refugee crisis, international and national NGOs hired local youths in helping them with emergency relief work as translators, field facilitators, drivers and laborers. However, many of them have recently lost their jobs. They claim that NGOs now tend to recruit incentive workers more from the refugee community and from outside of Coxs Bazar. That is fueling discontent among local youth as evident by a number of demonstrations lately held in the town of Coxs Bazar where protesters seek administrative initiatives for securing their jobs. Local people have the feeling of being neglected by aid agencies as very little humanitarian aid has been given to them over the past one year. Although the government of Bangladesh requested all national and international NGOs to provide at least 20 to 25 percent of aid and humanitarian assistance to the host communities, distribution of aid still remains significantly uneven. Local people who are already outnumbered by the refugees now feel that days are not far off until Rohingyas would take over the entire area. In fact, the birth rate among the refugees is three to four times higher than that of the locals. A report by Save the Children finds that more than 60 Rohingya babies a day are being born in refugee camps. This will bring a demographic change in the area where the locals already constitute a minority group, aggravating the fear and worry in the host communities. Local people also expressed their concerns over the rumors of local young women aid workers offering sex to foreign NGO workers for their promotion, incentives and salary increment. Such rumors have made the conservative sections of the society to look down upon young women who work for aid agencies in the refugee camps. Locals are unhappy with check-points around the refugee camps on the roads of Coxs Bazar, restricting their freedom of movement. At the checkpoints, they have to prove that they are not Rohingya which is in fact embarrassing for them. After the arrival of aid agencies, the number of vehicles and movement of people to give emergency aid have sharply increased. This has caused the road traffic to be slowed down. It now takes two-three hours where it earlier used to take one hour to move from one place to another. There are cases that babies of pregnant women have died due to being stuck in traffic on the way to hospital. As the number of vehicles increased on narrow and twisting roads, accidents now often take place. So, road traffic and road safety have become concerns for local inhabitants. In the case of taking critically ill and injured patients to the general hospital in Coxs Bazar, locals get no or minimal response for ambulance service from the medical organizations that provide much needed emergency medical care to the Rohingya refugees. The refugee crisis has influenced girls dropping out in secondary schools. It came up during conversation with a local high school teacher that one out of every ten girls in class IX and X dropped out of his school due to being hired by the aid organizations. In order to work for them, the school girls produced fake documents and used false birth certificates. Many private and kindergarten school teachers in the area left jobs in favour of highly-paid NGO employment. As a result, nursery schools and kindergartens in the host community are now facing a severe shortage of teachers. These have created the conditions where discontent and frustration among the locals are starting to rise which may lead to outbursts not only hindering the delivery of aid to the refugees but also turning the area into a conflict zone. Finding solutions to address these factors for potential conflict is therefore crucial and urgent. Ishak Mia Sohel currently works as Regional Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief at the Asian Resource Foundation, Thailand. Pervez Siddiqui is the Founder and Executive Director of Films4Peace Foundation. Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]