Rohingya boy helping to repair shelter in Kutupalong Makeshift Settlement. and acute watery diarrhea. The number of patients seen monthly in established health centers rose from around 15,000 pre-crisis to around 21,000 today. monsoon season. The lack of developed water and sanitation systems in the new sites added further to increased health risks. Tens of thousands of other new arrivals began constructing new shelters in unoccupied public lands, using mud and basic materials like bamboo, string, and plastic sheets bought or donated by the local host population. The Ministry of Environment and Forests dismantled several of these shelters and eventually restricted new construction to the outskirts of existing makeshift sites or one new site. The Balukhali makeshift settlement in Cox’s Bazar district sprang up from a previously unoccupied and recently deforested hill, at times doubling in size in the space of a week. It now houses an estimated 15,000 people. The Government of Bangladesh restricts the use of materials considered permanent for new constructions, meaning that shelters are made mostly of mud, sticks, and plastic. The materials that are allowed are either given or sold by IOM or the local host community. These structures are often fragile, unbearably hot in the summer, and vulnerable to the high winds and heavy rains of the Ongoing Needs 8 Following the initial border closures and the chaotic initial responses, the Government of Bangladesh, in cooperation with international humanitarian agencies, took a number of steps to address the crisis. By late November 2016, border restrictions were unofficially loosened, and by January 2017, the borders had been effectively, if not officially, opened. Emergency food access was unofficially granted starting in early December 2016, shelter materials were distributed, and the health response supplemented. RI’s conversations with humanitarian actors and both newly-arrived refugees and long displaced Rohingya revealed the greatest remaining gaps that require attention. www.refugeesinternational.org