Paper details
| Paper authors | Youth Congress Rohingya, Andrew Riley, Haley Ritsema, Nikki Stoumen |
| In panel on | Beyond Refugee Camps: Exploring Participatory Responses to Protracted Crises in Bangladesh |
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Abstract
The Rohingya people, a stateless ethnic group from Myanmar, have faced decades of persecution and discrimination by the Myanmar government, which many international bodies deem as genocide. Since 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh where over one million Rohingya now live in the largest refugee camp in the world. The objective of this Rohingya-led research, led by Youth Congress Rohingya (YCR) was to understand how existing camp policies creating restrictions on Rohingya movement present human rights challenges. The report, “This Persecution is the Worst There is: Restrictions on Rohingya Freedom of Movement in Bangladesh”, details the crippling restrictions from the Government of Bangladesh and widespread violence and extortion by the Armed Police Battalion, creating devastating conditions in the camps.
Using rigorous and representative mixed methods, this study initiated an ethical review, conducted a literature review, 241 quantitative surveys and 54 qualitative interviews with Rohingya camp residents, and key informant interviews with police officers. Questions investigated the enforcement of movement restrictions, changes in restrictions over the years, and their impact on daily Rohingya life. A team of Rohingya researchers completed the YCR research, making it truly representative of Rohingya refugee perspectives. Results indicate that restricting one’s right to freedom of movement profoundly impacts the community’s ability to access fundamental human rights and that corruption is rampant among camp authorities. Grounded in evidence and policy analysis, this work highlights the need for participatory and community-led approaches to research, and provides 39 policy recommendations from Rohingya themselves to the Bangladesh government, the international community, and humanitarian organizations.
