PHOTO: UMMAY HABIBA/SAVE THE CHILDREN 3 COUNTRY BY COUNTRY SNAPSHOT The aftermath of the blaze that swept through the Rohyingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on 22nd March 2021. There were 84 fires in the camps during just the first four months on 2021. countries in search of asylum or livelihood opportunities. Without parents or guardians, unaccompanied and separated children face multiple protection risks. Family separation can also have devastating impacts on children’s emotional and psychological wellbeing. In order to reduce these risks, efforts to trace family members and support family reunification are critical. From the early days of the 2017 crisis, Bangladesh kept its border open, allowing refugees to seek safety and shelter in the country. This has continued, even after the most violent period of military atrocities had passed, offering a vital refuge for fleeing Rohingya. At the same time, Bangladesh has asserted that Rohingya people’s right to return to Myanmar and has pushed for repatriation at the earliest opportunity. In November 2017, Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to begin the process of repatriation of refugees who fled Myanmar since October 2016.104 Despite attempts to begin the process in November 2018 and August 2019, to date there have been no official returns, with refugees maintaining that the situation is Myanmar is not yet safe.105 The poor situation in the camps in Bangladesh, combined with the unlikely short- to mid-term prospects of return to Myanmar, have prompted some Rohingya to attempt to leave the camps, boarding boats often in an attempt to get to Malaysia. As previously noted, these journeys are extremely dangerous and expose Rohingya, including children, to serious risk to their lives and physical security. At the same time, Bangladesh is pushing forward with efforts to relocate up to 100,000 refugees to the remote island of Bhasan Char. There remain questions about the suitability of the island to host a refugee population, in particular questions around Rohingya’s freedom of movement, access to healthcare, education, and livelihood opportunities. There have also been concerns about the lack of consultation with the refugees themselves prior to relocation. In December 2020, Bangladeshi authorities began relocating refugees to the area, and to date more than 14,000 people – including children – have been transferred there from Cox’s Bazar.106 In March 2021, the government of Bangladesh allowed a UN delegation to assess the conditions on the island, followed by a visit of diplomatic representatives from the European Union (EU), the United States of America (USA) and other states. However, the UN asserts that further visits will be needed to determine how best to support refugees relocated to the island. 17