INTRODUCTION Bangladesh has become home to over one million Rohingya refugees fleeing genocide and systemic persecution in Myanmar. Following the 2017 surge of violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, local communities, government, and civil society in Bangladesh have sought to provide aid, food, shelter, medical treatment, and other life-sustaining necessities to Rohingya arrivals. Beyond the immediate humanitarian response, as the duration of displacement draws out and develops into a protracted crisis, rights-based approaches are becoming increasingly essential in protecting and supporting Rohingya in Bangladesh. A deeper understanding of the legal protections available to Rohingya refugees under domestic laws and policies is needed for legal service providers and legal aid practitioners to improve the situation of Rohingya and ensure the full realization of their rights. The Term “Refugee” Despite Bangladesh’s long tradition of sheltering and hosting refugee communities, it has no cohesive legal framework for protection-seekers. Bangladesh has not acceded to the Refugee Conventions, nor enacted national legislation on asylum or refugee rights matters. There is no determination process or formal mechanism that recognizes refugee status. However, Bangladesh has signed and ratified several other international law treaties and instruments that provide frameworks for refugee protection, supported further by judicial recognition that aspects of the Refugee Convention have become customary international law and are therefore binding upon Bangladesh.9 Although Rohingya are not officially recognized as “refugees” in Bangladesh, the term “refugee” is used throughout this document, in line with the international law recognition of refugee status, to indicate they fled persecution in Myanmar and have reason to fear persecution should they return. This accepted interpretation follows the understanding of “refugee” under international law, which defines as a “refugee” any person who: [O]wing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. (Article 1(a)(2), 1951 Refugee Convention) Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh Inside Bangladesh, refugees, including Rohingya refugees, are subject to a patchwork of laws and ad hoc administrative policies that govern various elements of their treatment in Bangladesh. These existing laws and policies are shaping the Government’s refugee response, but the degree to which relevant stakeholders are aware of these frameworks remains unclear. This document seeks to 7 BE YOND REFU GE: ADVANCING LEG AL PROTECTIONS FOR ROHINGYA C OMMUNITIES IN BANGL ADESH