UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Bangladesh from 13-16 March to address the ongoing Rohingya crisis. The Secretary-General shares Dhaka’s concerns about the severity of the issue and its far-reaching implications for the refugees and for Bangladesh. The visit aimed to refocus global attention on the plight of the Rohingya, with the Secretary-General offering assurances of support to ensure adequate funding for crisis response.

In 2017, following state-sanctioned genocidal attacks in Myanmar, over 700,000 Rohingya sought refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. While this was the largest Rohingya exodus into Bangladesh, it wasn’t the first. Myanmar’s persecution of the Rohingya has long been an issue of concern, with significant refugee flows into Bangladesh in 1978 and 1991-92. Since the civil war erupted in 2021, this influx has continued unabated. As of today, over one million Rohingya live in Bangladesh. Most of them are hosted in 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar District and over 36,000 have been relocated to Bhasan Char, an island in Noakhali District.

Bangladesh is home to the largest number of Rohingya refugees in the world. Understanding the country’s role is therefore essential to understand the complexities of the Rohingya condition.

What does hosting the Rohingya entail for Bangladesh in material terms?

Bangladesh deals with refugees on a largely ad-hoc basis, relying on administrative instruments and directives. It is not a signatory to the international refugee instruments of 1951 and 1967 and also doesn’t have a national refugee policy. Consequently, the Rohingya aren’t legally recognised as refugees, though Chief Adviser to the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, recently indicated that the Rohingya in Bangladesh are considered refugees for all practical purposes. Although refugees don’t get the same rights as citizens, Article 31 of Bangladesh’s Constitution protects every person within Bangladesh against any action detrimental to their life, liberty, and property except when in accordance with law. A High Court ruling clarified that refugees had an unalienable right to the application of rights under Article 31.

Bangladesh works with UN agencies and a vast network of domestic and foreign non-profit organisations to provide shelter, food, water, healthcare, and basic assistance to the Rohingya. Community engagement efforts include adult education, vocational training, and social awareness campaigns. Immunisation programmes have been successful in reducing cases of cholera and curbing the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic. Although there is no access to formal education, the Rohingya are taught in over 3,000 community learning centres that are mostly supported by UNICEF. Though legally forbidden from working in Bangladesh, over half of the Rohingya residents in the country claim to be engaged in the informal sector. The camps are active sites of economic activity, like trade, services, and small manufacturing.

Bangladesh’s role goes beyond humanitarian assistance—they are the loudest voice advocating for the Rohingya on official platforms, globally. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina repeatedly raised this matter in the UN General Assembly. She proposed a five-point peace plan in 2017, followed by a four-point proposal in 2019. These initiatives were intended to draw global attention to the issue and mount international pressure on Myanmar, given the Rohingya’s statelessness and Myanmar’s consistent refusal to recognise the community.

What challenges does Bangladesh face in its approach to hosting the Rohingya?

The challenges Bangladesh faces in hosting the Rohingya merit discussion because they have serious implications for the Rohingya’s survival and existence.

Dhaka’s widely-praised efforts to address the Rohingya crisis are shaped by a range of factors that include both practicality and altruism. Its appeal for a ‘sustainable’ repatriation of the Rohingya is a demonstration of the intermingling of these factors. This emphasis puts the onus on Myanmar to find a durable solution for the Rohingya and assure long-term rights. As evident from Bangladesh’s experience, without an enduring political solution that emerges from within Myanmar, this cyclical influx will be perpetual. Other practical considerations shaping Bangladesh’s approach are significant challenges related to funding, overcrowding, and security.

Bangladesh has been in an economic slump for years and relies on external assistance to support the Rohingya it hosts. This assistance is indispensable: 95 per cent of Rohingya families depend on it for their survival given the restrictions on their participation in Bangladesh’s labour market. To streamline and ensure transparent fundraising, the Bangladesh government, in partnership with over 100 national and international organisations, annually proposes a Joint Response Plan (JRP). The JRP conveys the needs of the refugee community and the affected host population and presents a vision to address these needs. This support has unfortunately been shrinking, with global aid being redistributed towards ongoing conflict elsewhere in the world, leading to the JRP being consistently underfunded. In fact, the 2024 JRP received only 56 per cent of its required funding. In February 2025, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced reductions in monthly food vouchers, from US$ 12.50 to US$ 6 per person, due to funding shortfalls. In 2023, when vouchers were cut to US$ 8, 90 per cent of the camp population couldn’t access sufficient food. A 27 per cent increase in children requiring treatment for acute malnutrition intensifies this food insecurity. If unresolved, these constraints could culminate in a humanitarian disaster.

Overcrowding is another serious issue. As of 2022, the population density in these camps was 60,000 people per sq km, making healthy living conditions impossible to ensure. Diseases like cholera, malaria, and diphtheria are rife owing to insufficient clean water and poor sanitation, with children under the age of five being most vulnerable. While successful vaccination drives have prevented epidemics, the underlying causes of these health risks remain unresolved. To alleviate overcrowding, over 35,000 refugees have been relocated to Bhasan Char since December 2020. Bhasan Char is a remote silt island which is prone to shifting shorelines and the threat of sinking. Accessible only by military-controlled water shuttles, it is difficult for personnel and resources to reach the refugees. During cyclones or rough weather, the island gets cut off from the mainland, thus hampering rescue efforts. Bangladesh has been criticised for promoting Bhasan Char as a solution despite being aware of its dangers. Instead of decongesting, this relocation has endangered lives and brought Bangladesh's refugee response into question.

Security within the camps is a serious concern as well. According to Bangladesh’s Ministry of Defence, 11 armed groups are known to operate in and around the camps, creating an atmosphere of fear and instability. Rohingya refugees are victims of extortion, abductions, and killings, with violence sometimes escalating into gang-wars. Between January-July 2023, at least 48 Rohingya died due to such violence in Cox’s Bazar. The Bangladesh Armed Police Battalion is reportedly complicit in such violence and has failed to take action. The lack of law-and-order allows armed groups fighting in Myanmar to recruit from these camps. Rohingya are lured by false promises of money and citizenship or coerced into joining the armed conflict, sometimes even fighting for their prime persecutors, the junta. Supporters of such recruitment claim that it positions the Rohingya as active stakeholders in Myanmar, allowing them to leverage repatriation negotiations. This however is wishful thinking: the Rohingya have long been used to further nation-building endeavours in Myanmar but denied participation as citizens.

Conclusion

The Rohingya crisis continues to be a significant challenge not only for the refugees but also Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s capacity is stretched thin, with resource scarcity and security challenges exacerbating the situation. The UN Secretary-General’s visit underscores the need to keep this crisis at the forefront of global priorities. As a host state, Bangladesh’s efforts are critical to managing the crisis, but durable solutions require greater and more concerted international cooperation.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has noted that the global community is largely paralysed by indifference. This apathy risks entrenching the crisis further, prolonging the Rohingya’s suffering and placing an unfair burden on Bangladesh. Despite EU boosting funding this year and the US continuing its assistance to the Rohingya despite instituting a general cut back on foreign aid, overall international support remains insufficient. A real, sustainable solution can only be found through coordinated international cooperation and long-term strategic planning that goes beyond emergency aid. It requires a commitment to address the root causes of Rohingya displacement through persistent advocacy on global platforms and pressure on Myanmar to ensure safe and voluntary repatriation.

Fiona Raval is Researcher with IPCS’ Southeast Asia Research Programme (SEARP).