Poverty and out-of-school rates in the Cox’s Bazar district, where Bangladesh has limited the movement of Rohingya refugees, are among the highest in the country, and the increased population of refugees led to downward pressure on day-labor wages and to an increase in food and rent prices, leading to concerns that improvements in conditions for the refugees could spark resentment by citizens.*9 Humanitarian donors and agencies are working on the basis ofa Joint Response Plan that aims to support the basic needs, such as protection, food security, education, and health of Rohingya refugees as well as vulnerable Bangladeshi nationals.2° Conditions for the Rohingya in Bangladesh and Myanmar were so poor that many attempted to escape by boat.21 Numbers spiked in 2015, when 25,000 people left by boat, risking exploitation and abuse by traffickers, and drowning.22 Some of those who fled Myanmar said the deprivation of education was among their reasons for fleeing.23 Rohingya have continued to try to escape by boat in lower numbers since. Barriers to Education for Rohingya Children in Myanmar The denial of education to Rohingya in Myanmar, where the government has created barriers including movement restrictions, lack of schools, long-term segregation, and denial of citizenship and related rights and protections, heightens the urgency of fulfilling the right to formal education for refugee children in Bangladesh.74 19 The poverty rate was 23 percent in Cox’s Bazar before refugee influx, while the literacy rate was 60 percent. World Bank, Bangladesh Development Update: Building on Resilience, April 2018, p.28, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/135671531755711230/text/Bangladesh-Development-Update-2018.txt (accessed November 1, 2019); UNDP, Impacts of the Rohingya Refugee Influx on Host Communities, November 2018, p. 49, https://www.undp.org/content/dam/bangladesh/docs/Publications/Pub- 2019/Impacts%200f%2o0the%2oRohingya%2oRefigee%2o0Influx%200n%2o0Host%20Communities.pdf (accessed November 1, 2019). 20 9019 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, January-December, pp. 28, 33, 35, 3921 Bruno Stagno-Ugarte, “The Other Refugee Crisis: The Plight of Bangladesh’s Migrants,” Foreign Affairs, October 21, 2015, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-asia/2015-10-21/other-refugee-crisis (accessed August 25, 2019). 22 “Bay of Bengal people smuggling doubles in 2015: UNHCR,” Reuters, May 8, 2015, https://www.reuters.com/article/us- thailand-rohingya-unhcr/bay-of-bengal-people-smuggling-doubles-in-2015-unhcr-idUSKBNoNT11D20150508 (accessed June 2, 2019); Thomas Fuller and Joe Cochrane, “Rohingya Migrants from Myanmar, Shunned by Malaysia, Are Spotted Adrift in Andaman Sea,” New York Times, May 15, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/world/asia/burmese-rohingya- bangladeshi-migrants-andaman-sea.html (accessed August 25, 2019). 23 “Southeast Asia: Accounts from Rohingya Boat People,” Human Rights Watch, May 27, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/27/southeast-asia-accounts-rohingya-boat-people. 24 UN OCHA, “Myanmar Humanitarian Brief,” September 2018, p. 2, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/OCHA%20Myanmar%2oHumanitarian%20Brief%20- %20September%202018.pdf (accessed July 2, 2019) 21 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | DECEMBER 2019