Figure 39. When remittances are sent Depends on the ability or preference of the sender Most individual transfers (89 percent) were under 12,000 taka (figure 40). Remittances are primarily used to make ends meet. Those who receive them say they are “extremely useful” and help families stay out of abject poverty. They are also sometimes used to pay for emergency healthcare. It is common for one family member to receive a large remittance, then divide it amongst multiple relatives. 60% Sent when the recipient asks Sent regularly explained that their desire to support their family’s financial needs was a major reason. 32% 12% 332 respondents provided information about 430 relatives sending remittances For recipients, remittances provide a basic safety net A man from a family of ten siblings who lives in Kutupalong refugee camp described how many members of his family receive support from a brother in Thailand. “One of my brothers went to Thailand in 2011 along with my uncle’s family, and the rest of us are in the camp. The brother in Thailand sells automobiles and is wealthy. Every month he sends a remittance of 30,000 taka... It’s then divided amongst the siblings.” According to a 22-year-old woman whose husband is imprisoned in Myanmar, remittances sent by an uncle in Australia serve as a critical safety net. “He sends 5,000 to 10,000 taka every two or three months,” she said. “We depend on that money a lot. It would be very difficult if we didn’t get it. We mostly use it for food, for shopping at the market. We buy fish, vegetables, and meat.” A 21-year-old woman explained that her family depends on remittances to pay for her mother’s cancer treatment. The money is sent by her sister, who moved to the U.S. from Malaysia three years ago under a UNHCR resettlement program. But she is only able to send money sporadically, causing their mother to receive irregular treatment. “My mother has been suffering from liver cancer. There is no treatment for it in the camps. We went to the Turkish, Norwegian, and Red Crescent Hospitals. But there are no suitable medications or treatments for cancer here. When we receive a remittance from my sister we go to Cox’s Bazar for the treatment.” Because refugees lack formal banking access, remittances are transferred by other means Remittances are transferred to refugees through a hundi network, a trust-based system that typically consists of two brothers, cousins or friends, one in Bangladesh and one elsewhere. A customer at one location gives money to one hundi, who contacts his counterpart, who in turn makes a payout in the other location (figure 41). Customers are often the friends, relatives, or neighbors of the hundi. Hundis’ fees are percentage-based, often 2 or 3 percent. They wait until there is a large enough amount on the sender side and then make a large transfer to the recipient side through a formal channel, such as a bank wire or bKash [a Bangladeshi money transfer service]. In the case of camp hundis in Bangladesh, they sometimes rely on a Bangladeshi partner for formal banking access. Figure 41. Chain of actors in a hundi transaction Sender Hundi at sender location Hundi at recipient location Hundi = transfer agent 36 Recipient