6  Conclusion This research asked refugees what would be most helpful to them in meeting their medium- and longterm needs. Their responses indicated some clear goals and aspirations, including safe return to Myanmar with full rights as citizens, access to education and a better future for their children, improved living conditions and the ability and means to support themselves and their families. As outlined here, credible and sustained international pressure on the governments concerned is essential to achieve these conditions in Myanmar, and open up the policy space for medium-term response programming in Bangladesh. This study is intended to support and inform ongoing dialogue, advocacy and interactions of key international stakeholders, including the World Bank, other multilateral banks, UNHCR and NGOs, with the Bangladeshi Government on finding a solution to the Rohingya refugee situation. Durable solutions – in particular safe and voluntary return – are dependent on addressing the root causes of displacement and creating the right conditions for return in Myanmar. However, given the intractable situation there, continued efforts to ensure the right level of funding goes to short- and medium-term responses are required. At present the 2019 JRP requests just under $1 million, but is only 15.8% funded (OCHA, 2019b), and the 2018 appeal, at the acute stage of the crisis, was only ever 69% funded (OCHA, 2018). Evidence from past refugee crises shows that funding tends to decrease after the first few years and as refugees enter protracted displacement (Crawford et al., 2015). With the Rohingya crisis slipping down the political agenda and competing priorities for funding, it seems unlikely it will go against this trend. Rohingya refugees framed their aspirations and priorities in the context of the current challenges they face: feeding their families and having to live in crowded and congested camps. Yet the research found that most – 79% of those surveyed – wanted to remain where they currently were to avoid unsettling themselves and their families, stay close to relatives and near the border with Myanmar and preserve their right to return to Myanmar. Women were not as likely as men to identify returning to Myanmar as a priority, and were consumed by improving their immediate living conditions in Bangladesh, including better WASH, sanitation and hygiene, healthcare and less crowded, more durable shelters. While education and improved shelter were the main priorities for refugees, most of those we interviewed wanted to be able to support themselves and their family through work. The survey we conducted identified that, if refugees had the legal right to work, skills training would be most helpful in improving their livelihoods. However, the majority of refugees we interviewed during our visit to Cox’s Bazar felt that cash loans would be most helpful as it would enable them to start a business. Displacement and the harsh economic situation refugees found themselves in led most men and women to have a positive outlook on women working, albeit inside the home. The study also found that refugees had not systematically been engaged on their views regarding their short-term future, and had never been engaged at all on their medium- to long-term needs. The refugees we spoke to welcomed the individual interviews conducted as part of the study. While some felt that community leaders including majhis could represent their views, many did not trust their leaders and wanted to give their views directly. Gathering the perspectives of refugees on their own situation and their perspectives on their future and what would best help them in displacement must be part of the policy discussion on the future of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Only by doing this can international stakeholders who wish to uphold better rights, dignity and lives for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh identify opportunities to pursue the right priorities for refugees. Voluntary and safe return to Myanmar is an aspiration for many (though not all) of the refugees we talked to, and this is supported by the Bangladeshi Government. The international community needs to continue working with the Government of Bangladesh on advocating and acting to support the creation of the right conditions for return to reduce anxiety and tensions among and between the Rohingya and host communities. However, there also needs to be a recognition of the intractable nature of the situation and the difficulties involved in creating the right conditions for return. Humanitarian Policy Group 27