Tomal Samad
Humanitarian Aid in Bangladesh
Situation of the Rohingya
In Myanmar, the Rohingya are systematically oppressed and discriminated against. Triggered by violence in August 2017, 740’000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar District, adding to some 200’000 that have arrived in the previous decades. There are dependent on support, as Bangladesh neither grants them access to the labor market, nor the right of free movement within the country. The Rohingya will only return to Myanmar voluntarily if their safety and the legal situation have been improved significantly.
To host the Rohingya, the Bangladesh Government provided each family a tiny plot on previously forest-covered hills and created extremely congested settlements in an environment subject to extreme natural calamities including cyclones forming in the Bay of Bengal and heavy monsoon rains. Shelters get regularly damaged by heavy winds, flooding, and landslides. Since 2017, we contributes to the coordinated efforts of the humanitarian community in Bangladesh to ensure the survival of the Rohingya and to improve their living conditions, while addressing the impact of the large camps on the Bangladeshi Host Community.
HEKS/EPER Strategy
- Our shelter projects increase the safety and comfort of more than 100’000 Rohingya. Shelters are regularly maintained and constantly improved. In case a shelter is damaged for example by wind, we immediately provide support.
- Our settlement projects make the living environment of Rohingya safer by improved pathways, stairs, bridges, land stabilization and drainage infrastructure.
- We improve dietary diversity and thermal comfort in the shelters by promoting the cultivation of vegetables on the roofs of the shelters.
- We give people access to information and a voice by producing with local Rohingya and Bangladeshi teams radio programmes in the camps and the host community.
- We empower the host community to improve and manage their access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene.
- We strengthen hygiene and infection prevention and control in health facilities in the camps and the host community by capacity building, technical counselling, and construction. After the outbreak of COVID-19, this project has strongly been scaled and covers now more than 400 health facilities in the entire Cox’s Bazar district.
- We flexibly respond to the COVID-19 crisis in the community improving hygiene practices and addressing economic impacts on the poorest segments of the host community.
