Survey on the Coping Strategies of Rohingya Refugees Underway in Bangladesh

The Asia Foundation is supporting a study of Rohingya families in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Twenty-two Rohingya volunteers have been trained to conduct face-to-face interviews with 1500 refugees, working in pairs to capture important information on families and households in the refugee camps. Interviews are currently underway.

Rohingyas are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Over 700,000 people fled Myanmar for Bangladesh in 2017, the majority Rohingya, because of extreme violence in northern Rakhine State. Today, over one million Rohingya refugees are living in Cox’s Bazar, in challenging conditions with limited options for improving their circumstances. The survey captures the ways Rohingya families cope with long-term displacement and separation across borders, while exploring what opportunities people pursue to improve their lives.

This study, Mitigating Hardship with Mobility: The Coping Strategies of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh, is led by the Center for Peace and Justice (CPJ), a multi-disciplinary academic institute with the goal of advancing peace and social justice through education, research, training, and advocacy. CPJ is part of BRAC University and works in three key areas: conflict and fragility, social justice, and promoting open societies.

The study will be released in early 2020, with the research findings aimed towards informing more effective policy and programming in support to Rohingya refugees.

This work is a product of the X-Border Local Research Network, which is building a better understanding of cross-border conflict dynamics and their impacts on livelihoods and security in conflict-affected borderlands. The Asia Foundation partners with Carnegie Middle East Center and Rift Valley Institute for this program, which spans Asia, the Middle East and North Africa and the Horn of Africa. Earlier Asia Foundation publications for the X-Border Local Research Network include: Trade and Livelihoods in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Borderlands and Trade in the Sulu Archipelago: Informal Economies Amidst Maritime Security Challenges. The X-Border Local Research Network is supported by UK aid from the UK government.

The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia. Informed by six decades of experience and deep local expertise, our work across the region addresses five overarching goals—strengthen governance, empower women, expand economic opportunity, increase environmental resilience, and promote regional cooperation.

Read more about the Foundation’s work.

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