An early morning view shows the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar
An early morning view shows the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, December 5, 2019. For the past 40 years, Bangladesh has provided shelter to Rohingya refugees from Myanmar following five separate outbreaks of violence and persecution. Prior to the most recent outbreak of violence in 2017, close to 200,000 Rohingya refugees already lived in Cox’s Bazar District. This placed additional pressure on the already fragile social and economic structure of Cox’s Bazar, one of the worst performing districts in Bangladesh in almost all child-related indicators and one of the most vulnerable to disasters and climate change. The latest violence and persecution against Rohingya erupted on 25 August 2017, prompting 740,000 Rohingya refugees to flee their homes in Myanmar and seek safety in Bangladesh. There are now close to one million Rohingya refugees living in crowded congested camps in Cox’s Bazar. Women and children comprise 80 per cent of the population, over 500,000 are children under the age of 18.
