3.1. The ULA-AA Parallel State: Double Trouble? “ People are facing challenges to access livelihoods and problems with movement restrictions...I do not receive any humanitarian assistance as we are not Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). But we all are facing the same challenges and difficulties like IDPs. ” ROHINGYA WOMAN, BUTHIDAUNG TOWNSHIP Movement restrictions impacting livelihoods, restricted access for aid agencies to IDP and other areas, and the increased economic burden of taxation and bureaucratic costs, are amongst the factors which have negatively impacted Rohingya household income and food security in post-coup Rakhine State. Interviewees in different areas of Rakhine reported food shortages. In many international contexts, women often suffer disproportionately from food shortages within households, often forgoing meals in order to feed working members of the household and children. This is also true within Rohingya communities. In poor households, people skip meals with increasing frequency. Interviewees from Thet Kae Pyin IDP camp, Sittwe Township, reported that mothers or elderly women are most likely to forgo food within the household. Additionally due to a lack of decent housing, and the restrictions and costs associated with extending and renovating housing, many Rohingya households are overcrowded and include extended families. Women expressed concern about the lack of privacy and resultant insecurities. As one woman in Sin Thet Maw camp explained, Women feel they are unsafe due to the current situation - and we have to live with eight households in one building and there is no privacy for women. Women also reported that poverty and food shortages can produce additional pressures on households, which in turn increases the likelihood of domestic violence and reduces the status of women and girls within the home. For example, one gender-based violence (GBV) coordinator said, Because of household poverty, many face domestic violence as their husbands become very aggressive. Further, the informal safety nets for victims of domestic violence and exit strategies become more limited in times of scarcity. For example, another interviewee explained, Women are afraid to speak out about their experiences and most do not want to share their experiences with others or seek help. Sometimes the parents of those facing domestic violence by their husbands, advise their daughters not to separate or leave the family home. They are concerned that separation will leave them as grandparents with responsibility for more mouths to feed. It might fall to them to provide food and support for their grandchildren – something they simply cannot afford. Food shortages and the impact of other poverty related factors can feed into household-level decisions for women and girls to migrate. Women and girls often have little access to income-earning opportunities, and households sometimes try to reduce the number of household members requiring food. In such circumstances single women and girls who do not contribute significantly to the household income, are sometimes being construed as a burden. This, therefore, creates incentives to arrange earlier marriages for girls, or to send women and girls overseas in the hope of them contributing to household incomes through remittances, or assisting siblings to make the journey at a later stage. 3.1.1. Restrictions on Livelihoods Before the coup, some of the earlier restrictions on travel within Rakhine State for Rohingyas had been moderately eased. Rohingya men and women could travel through checkpoints between townships in Rakhine State by showing ‘receipt cards’ which are not forms of identification in themselves, but show that the holder used to have a Temporary Registration Card. They could also use recommendation letters from village administrators. This enabled household members – mostly men - to access a limited range of livelihood options, for example trading goods in local markets, fishing and agriculture. After the coup, new rules were implemented, and security checkpoints no longer accepted such documents. Instead, at the time of writing, everyone needed to apply for travel permits (known as ‘Form 4s’), which were valid for 14 days. To apply for the travel permit, the applicant must show an ID card and a recommendation letter from the village administrators at the immigration office to proceed with the application for the travel permit. These extra layers of bureaucracy add to the costs as different officials must be bribed. Interviewees and other Rohingyas have reported skyrocketing costs for travel permissions40 which, when combined with the rising costs of commodities, can have a devastating impact on household finances. Women and girls can be disproportionately impacted by these financial pressures. Further restrictions to financial and other services since 9