Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Cox's Bazar: A Great Humanitarian Challenge

Introduction

Bangladesh, situated between 20'34 North to 26'38 North latitude and from 88'01 East to 92'41 East longitude, is a densely populated country with a population of 170 million in 147,570 square kilometers. It is mainly an agricultural country. Although the economy primarily depends on agriculture, small industries, for example garments, shrimp industry, leather are developing and contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. Bangladesh is fighting with natural disasters such as cyclones, tornados, floods, monsoons and heavy rain, and is also vulnerable to climate change. The cultivable land is decreasing day by day due to these natural disasters and urbanization. In order to meet the excess requirements of food supply for a huge population, a large amount of pesticides and fertilizers are being used in crop cultivation. Because of the climatic condition of Bangladesh, there is no other alternative than the use of pesticides. Rice, pulses, lentils, grains and vegetables grow naturally and meet the supply of local needs. Fish and chicken are the main protein supply of the country. But a large number of chemicals including antibiotics are also used in fish culture, chicken and beef farming. Pesticides and fertilizers are usually discharged in the water body from the agricultural fields. Discharge of industrial effluents, tannery waste, fuels and surfactants in the river, lakes and canals also contaminate water bodies. Heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and their ions (phosphate, nitrate) reduce the water quality and, hence freshwater fishes and aquatic organisms are in danger.

Principal Administrative units in Bangladesh are known as divisions and there are eight divisions namely Barishal, Chattogram, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh and Sylhet and 64 districts (known as Zilas) are under these divisions. Cox’s Bazar is one of the largest districts belonging to Chittagong and is situated between 21.43° North latitude and 92.00° East longitude with an area of about 2,492 square kilometers (Figure 1). There are eight Upazila in Cox’s Bazar district and their names are Chakaria, Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Kutubdia, Maheshkhali, Pekua, Ramu, Teknaf and Ukhiya (Banglapedia, 2021). Cox’s Bazar is famous for its natural beauty with the World’s largest sea beach, Himchari Water Fall, Inani Sea Beach etc. and attracted tourists from home and abroad. However, the recent Rohingya Refugee influx has posed a threat to the biodiversity of the Cox’s Bazar district as it hosts the world’s largest number of refugees in a crowded area.

Figure 1.

Cox’s Bazar district

Rohingya Influx

Rohingya people are an ethnic Muslim minority group who used to live in the Rakhine state formerly known as Arakan. The word “Rohingya” is derived from the Rohang which is one of the old names of the Rakhine state. The Rakhine State is a state in Myanmar with an area of 36,762 square kilometres (Rakhine State, 2021). Bangladesh is a neighboring country of the state along the Naf river which is around 64 km long. About 135 ethnic groups were officially recognized by the Myanmar Government except Rohingya Muslims who have been treated stateless and stripped of their citizenship in 1982 (Monwaza, 2020; Parmar et al., 2019). This led to failing their right to education and other basic rights which are usually a citizen can possess (Nare, 2021). Historically, the Rohingya Muslim minority have been deprived of basic rights for many years and fled to many neighboring countries for shelter and better lives.

Figure 2.

Rohingya influx