An Agenda for a Dignified and Sustainable Rohingya Refugee Response in Bangladesh coordination system. During this time, the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) led by IOM was established in Cox’s Bazar to lead operational humanitarian coordination.60 3.1.3 Refugee protection considerations after the 2017 influx In August 2017, the people and Government of Bangladesh displayed openness and generosity of spirit in welcoming large numbers of Rohingya refugees in the face of a fast-growing humanitarian crisis although some cases of pushbacks were reported in the initial days.61 No substantial review of the 2013 National Strategy was undertaken at this time despite the dramatic change in the humanitarian context. Rohingya were identified as Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) (a slight shift from the categorisation as ‘Undocumented Myanmar Nationals under the 2013 National Strategy) and not as refugees by the Government of Bangladesh. By September 2017, a new humanitarian coordination model under the ISCG was put in place by the UN which has gradually created space for UNHCR to exercise its refugee protection mandate.62 In early 2018, an inclusive policy level decision-making body called the Strategic Executive Group (SEG) was established at the national (Dhaka) level with a tripartite leadership by the UN Resident Coordinator and the country representatives of IOM and UNHCR and membership of UN agencies, donor groups and NGOs. Since 2018, refugee protection has been increasingly prioritised by the humanitarian community in the key humanitarian planning and fundraising tools i.e., Joint Response Plans (JRP)63, with significant resource allocations to UNHCR and delivery of protection services. Despite such in-principle progress, the absence of a clear and consistent legal framework for refugee protection widens the scope for adhoc and discretionary policies which has restricted Rohingya’s access to basic rights and services and created protection risks, increasing their vulnerability to discriminatory treatment, detention and/or expulsion. 3.1.4 Current legal status in Bangladesh The Rohingya are refugees, by definition, under international law, and the labeling of them as FDMNs, should not have any legal effect on Bangladesh’s international obligations. Yet, as a practical matter, the failure of State authorities to recognise their identity as refugees adversely affects their treatment under domestic law and influences public perceptions about them. In 2019, the Government of Bangladesh and UNHCR completed the joint registration of all Rohingya refugees. This process provided Rohingya refugees with identity documents. These do not, however, give them legal status as refugees or access to work opportunities in Bangladesh. As a result, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh remain highly dependent on humanitarian aid. The lack of legal status heightens protection risks for many Rohingya refugees and promotes negative coping mechanisms such as taking large debts due to restrictions on livelihoods activities and cash-based programmes, 60 Sida et.al, supra n. 57, p.9 Myanmar: What sparked latest violence in Rakhine?, BBC News, 19 September 2017, available at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41082689 62 Sebastien Moretti, Between refugee protection and migration management: the quest for coordination between UNHCR and IOM in the Asia-Pacific region, Third World Quarterly, 42:1 (2021), 34-51, p. available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2020.1780910?scroll=top&needAccess=true 63 The humanitarian community, led by the Inter-Sector Coordination Group in Cox’s Bazar and the Strategic Executive Group in Dhaka, has worked closely with the Government to draw up this Joint Response Plan (JRP) for 2018. The JRP lays out a vision for a coordinated response to address the critical needs of the refugees and mitigate the impacts on affected host communities. This support will be essential to ensuring Rohingya refugees and the communities generously hosting them can continue living safe, dignified, and productive lives, until solutions can be found. 61 20 Act for Peace / May 2021