The Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Influx on Bangladesh

Abstract

The massive influx of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, fleeing a campaign of terror by the Myanmar military, has had a profound impact on the communities of Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban districts in Chattogram division, where an overwhelming majority of the refugees have settled. With less than 0.31 per cent of the world’s population, Bangladesh now hosts 4.7 per cent of its refugees. The two southern Cox’s Bazar sub-districts (upazilas)—Teknaf and Ukhiya—have borne the brunt of this crisis. At present, refugees constitute more than a third of the local population (IOM, 2018). The total refugee population is estimated at 882,676. Children make up more than half; adults and the elderly constitute 42 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.