Daily Realities of Rohingya Refugees: Challenges, Coping Strategies, and Hopes for the Future
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the daily realities faced by Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. It draws upon survey responses, field observations, and teacher narratives from camps in Bangladesh and beyond, highlighting their struggles, coping mechanisms, and aspirations.
1. Key Topics and Descriptions
| Topic & Subtopic | Description |
| Daily Life in Camps | Refugees start their day with early prayers, perform household chores, and send children to limited schooling facilities. Overcrowding and restricted movement remain major challenges. |
| Food & Water Access | Monthly rations mainly include rice, lentils, and oil, but remain insufficient. Long queues for water are common, with scarcity during the dry season. |
| Education & Learning | Educational opportunities are limited to basic levels; higher education remains inaccessible. Community teachers and NGOs facilitate informal training and learning centers. |
| Household Responsibilities | Family members share tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and caring for younger siblings. Women and older children often carry heavier responsibilities. |
| Health & Sanitation | Basic health clinics operate but are overcrowded. There are frequent shortages of essential medicines, hygiene kits, and safe toilets. |
| Emotional & Mental Well-being | Refugees experience stress, trauma, and uncertainty about their future. Coping mechanisms include prayer, community support, and small income-generating activities. |
| Hopes and Future Goals | Refugees aspire to access formal education, vocational training, and secure livelihoods. Many hope for voluntary, dignified return to Myanmar or safe resettlement abroad. |
2. Key Challenges
| Challenge Area | Impact on Refugees |
| Overcrowding | Poor sanitation, increased disease risk, and reduced privacy. |
| Food Insecurity | Malnutrition risk due to insufficient rations and funding cuts. |
| Education Barriers | Limited formal education; adolescents at risk of early marriage and labor. |
| Gender-based Risks | Women face mobility restrictions, harassment, and unequal access to resources. |
| Legal Invisibility | Host communities often deny formal refugee status, limiting livelihoods. |
| Psychological Trauma | Prolonged displacement, past persecution, and uncertain future affect mental health. |
3. Recommendations
| Recommendation | Action Plan |
| Restore Humanitarian Funding | Ensure full food rations, health services, and education support through WFP, UNHCR, and JRP funding. |
| Enhance Education Programs | Expand the Myanmar Curriculum, open higher education pathways, and train more refugee teachers. |
| Strengthen Legal Protection | Urge host countries to adopt harmonized refugee policies and stop forced returns. |
| Promote Livelihood Opportunities | Provide skill development, vocational training, and safe job schemes within camps. |
| Support Psychosocial Services | Offer trauma counseling, mental health support, and community-based healing activities. |
| Facilitate Voluntary Repatriation | Work with Myanmar and international monitors to guarantee safe, dignified, and voluntary return. |
4. Conclusion
The Rohingya refugees continue to endure decades-long displacement marked by systemic persecution, discrimination, war crimes, genocide and humanitarian neglect. Their resilience is seen in community-led education, informal livelihoods, and mutual support networks. Sustained international action is critical to restore dignity, enhance protection, and achieve long-term solutions.
About Author
Mr Kaisayr Husein, both his Ph.D. in Education and International Relations and MA in Political Science and Public Administration research focused on the Rohingya identity, refugee crises, migration, legal rights, and citizenship issues. His research explores the longtime process of democracy development in Myanmar, conflict analysis, genocide studies, ethnic minority rights, religious discrimination, statelessness, and forced displacement, with particular case studies on the Rohingya crises in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Mr Kaisayr’s academic contributions extend to international refugee law (IRL), migration policy, legal status, and the historical context of Arakan
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