Joint Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (J-MSNA): Bangladesh Rohingya Refugees - May 2021 [EN/BN]
Format
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Over the last four decades, Rohingya refugees have been fleeing in successive waves to Bangladesh from Rakhine State, Myanmar. Periodic outbreaks of violence led to large exoduses of refugees in particular in 1978, between 1991 and 1992, and in other short waves prior to August 2017.1 Since August 2017, an estimated 745,000 Rohingya refugeeshave fled to Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, where approximately 860,000 refugees are now residing in 34 camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas.2 With limited access to regular income and livelihoods opportunities in the camps, the Rohingya refugee population is highly reliant on humanitarian assistance.3 While the crisis is now in its fourth year, a return of refugees to Myanmar in the near or medium term continues to be unlikely.4 At the same time, structural factors continue to challenge the response, including a lack of formal education in camps, insufficient health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) provisions, and weak shelter infrastructure.5 The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated containment measures put in place in camps on 24 March 2020 further severely restricted humanitarian access and service delivery to the highly aid-dependent refugee communities throughout much of 2020. With only a limited number of essential services having been provided,6 pre-existing levels of need are likely to have been exacerbated. As such, sustained assistance and effective prioritisation for 2021 will be essential to be able to meet likely high levels of need.