Figure 12. Financing of journeys to third countries A family’s income and education are correlated with having a relative in a third country. Among households in which at least one member has a high school education, 53 percent have a relative outside of Myanmar and Bangladesh, in comparison to only 25 percent of households in which no member has attended school. Income is also correlated with the likelihood of having a relative in a third country. On average, households that have family members living outside Myanmar and Bangladesh report 42 percent higher monthly incomes than households that do not, with higher income households more like to have a relative abroad than those with less income (figure 13). This relationship points to the fact that the better educated may be more likely to find employment abroad, and the relatively better-off households might be more able to pay the costs of travel. It might also reflect the contribution of remittances to the income of camp households (see “the role of remittances from abroad,” page 35). Sold assets or property 26% Incurred debt 22% A relative abroad paid 21% Don’t know 15% Already had the money Dowry 14% 1% 633 respondents provided details for 1,072 relatives in third countries REMAINING TIES TO MYANMAR Figure 13. Income earned in the prev ious month among households w ith a relative in a third country Twenty-nine percent of camp households have an immediate family member remaining in Myanmar. Families from Buthidaung are far more likely to have a member remaining in Myanmar than those from Maungdaw or Rathedaung (figure 14). Only 13 percent of camp households know someone living in an IDP camp or elsewhere in Rakhine State. Social connections between Rohingya from northern Rakhine State and those in central Rakhine State are limited. Less than 1 percent of camp households have a family member in Yangon or Mandalay. BDT 0–849 BDT 850–8,500 32% 28% > BDT 8,500 44% n = 652 Reaching Malaysia is seen as a hopeful alternative for those overwhelmed by financial hardship in the camps A registered refugee who has lived in Bangladesh since the early 1990s explained his view that traveling to Malaysia could be a way to improve his family’s financial well-being. “If I could go to another country and earn money, it would be helpful for my family. I paid a person to [help me] go to Malaysia once, but he disappeared with my money. That was eight years ago. I gave the trafficker 22,000 taka the first time.25 I tried a second time and paid 10,000 taka. That time also failed. Now I want to try again.” One woman, whose husband left her for another woman after arriving at the camp, described her failed attempt to reach Malaysia, where she hoped to reunite with her mother. “My husband left me for his other wife and gives me nothing. So, I decided that I would try to go to Malaysia by boat with my kids. My mother went there, also by boat, eight or nine years ago. She is in a difficult situation there—she works hard as a day laborer. I have no family here in the camps, so my mother told me to come there. She warned me that there wouldn’t be any way for me to earn a living in the camp now that I had been abandoned by my husband.” When asked if she had considered speaking with an NGO about getting additional support, the woman said she was unclear about how to do this. “I am alone, how could I find an NGO to help me? I don’t usually go out anywhere. I just stay home, feeling upset about my situation. I don’t know about NGO services…But someone I know was going to go to Malaysia, and he called the broker for me. The broker agreed to let me come, but he was arrested when we were on the beach waiting for the boat.” 17