When Bangladesh is hemmed in by its own economic problems amid energy crisis, high inflation and unemployment, international humanitarian support for the 1.3 million Rohingya refugees that the country has been hosting for about a decade has reportedly started to shrink drastically. The development has been made clear by the update of the '2026 Joint Response Plan (JRP)' presented by the UN and its partners that appealed for US$710.5 million to assist 1.56 million individuals including Rohingya refugees and affected Bangladeshi host communities. Notably, the UN JRP is a comprehensive framework developed in coordination with Bangladesh government to raise funds and coordinate humanitarian operations for Rohingya refugees and vulnerable host communities. Notably, the '2026 JRP' amounting to US$710.5 million is less than that of '2025 JRP' by 26 per cent. This amount can hardly meet the basic survival needs of the refugees. In the face of steadily declining financial contributions from the international community, the aid agencies have been forced to prioritise only the most essential services. Now, with dwindling foreign aid, Bangladesh, given its own limitations, cannot be expected to sustain the burden of so many refugees indefinitely. The issues are not just about economics.
Housing more than a million refugees mainly in the congested camps of Cox's Bazar has severely impacted the local ecosystem, not to mention the strain the economy has been put under. Worse, the overcrowded camps and the lack of livelihoods are fuelling social tensions and localised crimes. Also, deteriorating camp infrastructure and extreme weather vulnerabilities leave refugees and the local communities in constant jeopardy. Against this backdrop, when the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated that the Rohingya response has entered a 'fragile phase', it definitely does not bode well for the Rohingya as refugees and Bangladesh as their host. But despite the disheartening reports about the general donor fatigue regarding aid for the Rohingya refugees, Finland, an important donor nation, has made a difference by committing Euro 2.0 million to sustain life-saving assistance and protection for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. This generosity on the part of Finnish government has obviously helped UN and its partners reach 60 per cent of this year's funding target. No doubt, with this increased contribution, Finland has enabled the UNHCR to fill critical gaps, including underfunded areas like skills development and resilience programming.
Meanwhile, as civil war continues to intensify in Myanmar, the prospect of repatriating the Rohingya refugees diminishes further, leaving the refugees in a state of limbo. In the circumstances, Bangladesh needs to adopt a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the tricky Rohingya refugee crisis it has been grappling with so far. To this end, there has to be sustained international engagement and funding so that Bangladesh might continue its support for the Rohingya refugees and that the cause of humanitarian support for the refugees remains a priority before all concerned. Obviously, that is a precondition to meet until the safe, voluntary and dignified return of the Rohingya to their ancestral abodes in Myanmar. Alongside these efforts, the government should keep on exerting diplomatic pressure on the international community to hold the warring parties in Myanmar accountable and accelerate the legal process at International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to this end.
Under the prevailing circumstances, stricter border control measures must be enforced to halt new arrivals of refugees from across the border since persecution of the Rohingya is continuing even amidst the civil war in Myanmar. In the circumstances, Bangladesh needs to adopt a pragmatic policy in the face of declining global aid budgets for refugees. To reduce dependency on external aid, the government may allow refugees to engage in skills building and cash-for-work programmes. That would help lower the risk of camp-based crimes mostly driven by food insecurity.
