Rohingya crisis

Hajira and three-month-old Sadeka fled horrific violence in Myanmar.

Like so many other Rohingya families, they crossed the border into Bangladesh and now find themselves in the sprawling, overcrowded refugee camps near Cox’s Bazar.
Photo: ©UNHCR/Roger Arnold

Families like Hajira’s have been through so much. Please help them to survive and rebuild their lives.

Shelter

including extra protection against monsoons.

Clean water

to keep families safe from waterborne diseases.

Essential items

like mattresses, blankets and kitchenware.

What’s happening to the Rohingya people?

Violence and persecution in Myanmar have driven over a million Rohingya from their homes, and left a further 810,000 people internally displaced. These families have often trekked miles through the jungle, or braved dangerous sea voyages to reach safety.

Many Rohingya families live in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh in overcrowded refugee camps with basic facilities, where they are highly exposed to weather-related disasters, such as cyclones, flooding and landslides. This situation was further exacerbated by a fire that swept through Kutupalong Balukhali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar on 5th March 2023, destroying buildings and leaving some 12,000 people homeless.

Who are the Rohingya?

The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar. Over a million Rohingya refugees have fled violence in successive waves of displacement since the early 1990s. The latest exodus began on 25 August 2017, when violence broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, driving more than 723,000 to seek refuge in Bangladesh. The vast majority reaching Bangladesh are women and children, and more than 40 per cent are under the age of 12. Many others are elderly people, requiring additional aid and protection.

Where are Rohingya families fleeing to?

Most Rohingyan families cross the border into Bangladesh and end up in the refugee settlements of Kutupalong and Nayapara in the Cox’s Bazar district. But conditions there are tough and the scale of the influx is putting immense pressure on local facilities and services.

What are conditions like in the Rohingya refugee camps?

The camps are vast, overcrowded and basic. Kutupalong is now the largest camp of its kind in the world, with more than 600,000 people living in just 13 km². Infrastructure and services there are stretched to their limits, with many families lacking adequate shelter, clean water and proper sanitation.

How is UNHCR helping?

UNHCR teams lead the protection response and are hard at work in all the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar – providing life-saving essentials to families. We also support education and healthcare initiatives, such as immunisation programmes to protect against disease. UNHCR also helps refugees fortify their shelters and prepare for the monsoon season.

What about the fire in Kutupalong Balukhali refugee camp?

On 5th March a fire swept through Kutupalong Balukhali refugee (Camp 11) in Cox’s Bazar, destroying community buildings such as learning centres and hospitals, and damaging sanitation facilities such as toilets and water points– making clean water an urgent priority. Of the 32,000 people living in Camp 11, some 12,000 people have been left homeless due to the fire.

In the aftermath of the fire, UNHCR, refugee community leaders and partners assessed the full extent of the damage done. UNHCR and partners began distributing emergency relief items such as kitchen sets, and have been assisting families find each other after the fire, but more support is desperately needed.

UNHCR is also expanding the training of refugee safety volunteers who have basic disaster response training, and who can identify potential hazards in buildings and the landscape, which camp managers can then address. Through these prevention and response measures, UNHCR hopes to greatly improve the lives of people who have already endured so much hardship.

Where can I access the latest data and reports?

Rohingya Emergency Response – UNHCR’s relief work to protect displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Operation – latest reports on UNHCR relief work in Bangladesh overall.

Myanmar Situation Portal – for latest updates on the crisis overall, including UNHCR situation reports and funding requirements.

Did you know that 16 million litres of clean water are needed every day to supply Rohingya refugee camps?

16-year-old Jubaida is a Rohingya refugee living with a disability in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, and needs special care in her every day life.

Alongside health partners, UNHCR is providing support such as rehabilitation services, wheelchairs and walking aids to Jubaida and other refugees living with disabilities in the camp. 

Photo: ©UNHCR/Saikat Mojumder

16-year-old Jubaida is a Rohingya refugee living with a disability in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, and needs special care in her every day life.

Alongside health partners, UNHCR is providing support such as rehabilitation services, wheelchairs and walking aids to Jubaida and other refugees living with disabilities in the camp. 

Photo: ©UNHCR/Saikat Mojumder

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