An Agenda for a Dignified and Sustainable Rohingya Refugee Response in Bangladesh
based camp representation structures in line with UNHCR’s efforts in the registered camps, which are
yet to be endorsed by the RRRC. At present, community representative structures have only been
established in a few camps.220 Some reports221 point out that majhis themselves are opposed to the
shift to the new system and have allegedly made attempts to disrupt the process through harassment
and threats to community members. Yet, where the new process was piloted, only very few of the
existing majhis who stood for the committee elections were elected.222
In Teknaf, where refugees and host communities are living in close proximity in ‘para’
(neighbourhoods), Para Development Committees (PDCs)223 have been constituted to facilitate
interactions between both communities, identify common needs and resolve disputes in collaboration
with Bangladeshi authorities and the humanitarian community. The PDCs were set up by the Site
Management and Site Development (SMSD) sector and partners. As of 2019, there were 10 PDCs with
11 members each (6 host community members and 5 Rohingya refugee members). There are 3
women representatives in each PDC.224 This particular model warrants further exploration to better
understand the impact on social cohesion and extent of meaningful community participation in
decision-making processes.
There are several community-based groups operational in the camps but due to increased
Government scrutiny, shrinking funding and telecommunications restrictions, the scope of their
activities and engagement with humanitarian actors remains limited. Expansion of community
representative structures is urgently required to build and support Rohingya leadership and ensure
their meaningful participation in decision-making processes.
There is a need to explore Rohingya community structures and dynamics in the camps in greater depth
to better understand how they identify and organise themselves in a displacement context. A study
by IOM (2020) shows that Rohingya in the camps identify and organise themselves along three linesgusshi (clan), shomaz (community) and koum (ethnic group or nation).225 These factors have informed
the formation of Rohingya civil society groups and claims of community leadership. Closer interactions
with these structures will deepen understanding of the differences and divisions within the Rohingya
community as well as help identify cultural similarities between Rohingya and host communities and
how humanitarian programming can help re-establish social ties and community engagement
mechanisms without perpetuating harmful social norms like exclusion of women representatives and
other marginalised groups.226
220
JRP 2020, supra n. 64, p. 53.
IRC, supra n. 118.
222 Ibid.
223 ACAPS-NPM, supra n. 206.
224 MD Smith and L. Tejeda Frem, Women’s Participation and Leadership in the Rohingya Refugee Response: Lessons from
the Women’s Committee, IOM (2020), p.15, available at https://womenindisplacement.org/sites/default/files/202010/WPP%20Learning%20Report%20-%20Rohingya%20Response.pdf
225 Daniel Coyle, Abdul-Kadar Rahim, Mohammed Abdullah Jainul, Clan, Community, Nation: Belonging Among Rohingya Living
in Makeshift Camps, IOM (2020), available at
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338645066_CLAN_COMMUNITY_NATION_Belonging_among_Rohingya_living_in_
makeshift_camps
226 Ibid.
221
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