An Agenda for a Dignified and Sustainable Rohingya Refugee Response in Bangladesh 3.2.2 Physical safety and security Refugees have expressed serious concerns about the security situation in the camps. Since the COVID19 service restrictions were put in place in March 2020, tensions between refugees and host communities have increased over access to limited resources and services.94 There were reports of rising distrust and stigmatisation of Rohingya refugees as ‘carriers of the virus’ as well as a growing anti-Rohingya sentiment.95 An increase in criminal activities in the camps has been reported culminating in violent clashes between rival Rohingya gangs in October 2020 resulting in eight deaths and forcibly displacing more than 2,000 refugees to other camps.96 Some reports point towards the proliferation of groups like ARSA97 in the camps which operate with impunity and seek to vie for control of the camps through illicit means such as kidnappings, extortions, extra-judicial killings, drug and human trafficking etc. 98 Bangladeshi authorities, however, have denied the existence of ARSA or similar outfits in the camps.99 Some human rights reports indicate that between August 2017 and July 2020 more than 100 Rohingya refugees were victims of extrajudicial killings who died in ‘crossfire’/’gun fights’,100 most of whom were allegedly involved in the drug trade.101 There is a great need for community-based safety and security programmes through increased community participation in decision-making processes in the camps. In 2020, a community safety programme102 was piloted jointly by UNDP, UNHCR and IOM, to promote closer engagement between Rohingya refugees and the police. This project is planned for expansion across 10 camps in 2021. Fire safety103 in the camps has emerged as a key security concern over the past few years and fire incidents have become more common. Between January and March 2021, an average of three fire 94 ACAPS, 4 Months of COVID-19 programming restrictions, COVID-19 Explained, Edition 8, 25 August 2020, available at https://www.acaps.org/sites/acaps/files/products/files/20200825_covid_19_explained_edition_8.pdf 95 AZM Anas, COVID-19 fuels tensions between Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi hosts , 27 July 2020, available at https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2020/07/27/Bangladesh-Rohingya-refugee-host-coronavirus-aid 96 Amnesty International, Bangladesh: authorities must protect Rohingya refugees from gang violence, 9 October 2020, available at https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/bangladesh-authorities-must-protect-rohingya-refugees-gangviolence 97Veronica Pedrosa, Reign of Terror, Philstar Global, 17 October 2020, available at https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2020/10/17/2050158/reign-terror 98 Amnesty International, Bangladesh: Rohingya refugees’ safety must be ensured amid violent clashes in Cox’s Bazaar, 9 October 2020, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/10/bangladesh-rohingya-refugees-safety-mustbe-ensured-amid-violent-clashes-in-coxs-bazaar/ 99 Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, Govt officials: No existence of ARSA in Rohingya camps, Dhaka Tribune, 18 August 2020, available at https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/rohingya-crisis/2020/08/18/govt-officials-no-existence-of-arsa-in-rohingyacamps 100 “Different terminologies have been used by (Bangladeshi) law enforcement agencies to distract from extrajudicial killings; such as, deaths during ‘cross-fire’, ‘encounter ‘, ‘gunfight’ etc.” See, Odhikar, Extrajudicial killings, available at http://odhikar.org/extrajudicial-killings/ 101 Scores of Rohingya Refugees Victimized by Extrajudicial Killings in Bangladesh, Amnesty Alleges, Radio Free Asia, 17 September 2020, available at https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/killings-09172020212128.html. See also, Amnesty International, Stop Extrajudicial Executions of Rohingya Refugees and End Restrictions to their Freedom of Movement, 4 November 2019, available at https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/ASA1313172019ENGLISH.pdf 102 UNHCR, supra n. 16. 103 For details, see, ACAPS-NPM, Bangladesh: Rohingya refugee response – fire in camps 8E, 8W and 9, Briefing Note 25 March 2021, available at https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/20210324_acaps_npm_rohingya_refugee_response_fire_in_camp s_0.pdf Act for Peace / May 2021 27