•
•
The election of camp-level representatives can
play a positive role in improving representation,
but such efforts must be combined with training
of camp leaders in the principles and practices of
community representation; supporting refugees
and their representatives with legal training so
they understand their rights and national legal
frameworks; efforts to elevate the leadership
role played by women; and steps to reduce
the risks faced by women in leadership roles
through complementary efforts to support
communities to accept the new role women play
in community leadership.
Providing support to the Rohingya to develop
community groups and leadership structures that
are more representative and legitimate. This would
require donors being less risk-averse in their
engagement with the Rohingya population, as well
as recognising the risk of non-engagement with
groups considered more politically risky. There is a
supportive, capacity-strengthening role that donors
and implementing agencies can play to make
engagement with the Rohingya population easier.
The environment in Bangladesh is much more
permissive than in Myanmar and there is a critical
opportunity to engage with civil society groups
that could have positive long-term effects on the
future of the Rohingya population in Myanmar
– as well as a medium-term impact on their lives
in displacement.
•
Recommendation 6: Focus international dialogue
on the priorities articulated by refugees
Refugees were clear about what would make the
most difference to their lives in the medium term
and improve their futures. As a result, actors
involved in discussing a medium-term solution to
the refugee situation in Bangladesh, including with
the Government of Bangladesh, should focus their
efforts on improving access to quality education for
Rohingya children, improve living conditions and
shelter and support the right to work, including the
right to own a business outside or within the home,
and the right to freedom of movement.
•
Recommendation 5: Adopt strategies to contribute
to the self-reliance of refugees
The Government of Bangladesh and donors must
make removing the barriers to education and
livelihoods, and the provision of multi-year funding
for these sectors, a priority to reduce refugees’
dependence on aid and their vulnerability to
exploitation and negative coping strategies.
•
Livelihoods: recognising the likely duration
of Rohingya displacement, multi-year
funding should prioritise the delivery of cash
programming as well as longer-term livelihood
and vocational training opportunities for
refugees, including opportunities for women.
Critically, livelihoods actions must also seek to
play a gender transformative role by addressing
the risks of gender-based violence faced by
women seeking work and take steps to change
laws, policies and social norms that reinforce and
exacerbate gender inequalities and limit women’s
economic empowerment.
Education: provision of education for child
refugees is critical to avoid a ‘lost generation’
unable to meet their own needs. Priority must
be placed on securing government agreement on
the official language for refugee education, the
Learning Competency Framework and Approach,
and with multi-year donor funding, expand
investment in teacher training and the provision of
formal inclusive primary and secondary education
and technical and vocation education and training.
•
Relevant stakeholders including UNHCR, IOM
and refugee-focused NGOs could play a larger
role in ensuring that refugee voices are represented
in high-level political and policy discussions in
ways that are not tokenistic or a misrepresentation
through diaspora or community groups that may
or may not reflect the perspectives of refugees.
This may be through committing to supporting
the recommendations outlined above.
The same stakeholders should identify
opportunities for Rohingya to present these issues
and concerns directly to relevant policy-makers.
Recommendation 7: Develop, fund and deliver a
medium-term development plan for Cox’s Bazar
that addresses priority needs as articulated by
refugee and host populations
In the longer term, continued efforts are needed to agree
an ambitious commitment to a local development plan
for Cox’s Bazar. Such efforts will require coordinated
multi-year donor and private sector funding for local
community and infrastructural investments and the
identification of policy reforms (such as the right to
work and freedom of movement) that can contribute
to mitigating the impact of refugee hosting and support
refugees to make a positive impact towards local growth
and development and to efforts to increase social
cohesion between affected communities.
Humanitarian Policy Group
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