A shortage of foreign funds has affected the uncertain lives of the Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, with only a little over half the required funds received this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The funds raised in the past three years totalled more than 72 per cent of the expected amounts.
Fund collection got disrupted after the coronavirus pandemic upended the global economy, believes the strategic executive group led by the United Nations, which is in charge of the collection and management of the funds.
“The world is passing through an unprecedented global pandemic. Economies are contracting while domestic commitments for many countries are increasing, including for healthcare, social safety nets and economic stimulus packages,” the strategic executive group, Joint Response Plan, said in a statement.
Bangladesh is likely to face a severe economic pressure if the fund crunch for the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar continues.
The refugees will “become a burden” on Bangladesh if the funds keep shrinking, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said.
The JRP has been raising and managing funds for the Rohingya refugees since 2017. Mia Seppo, the United Nations resident coordinator in Bangladesh, Steven Corliss, the UNHCR representative in Bangladesh, and Giorgi Gigauri, the chief of mission at the International Organisation for Migration, Bangladesh, are the co-chairs in the group.
The JRP initially sought $877 million for this year and later it added $181 million as part of the initiative to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the Rohingya camps.
As on Oct 31, the JRP has received $574.9 million of the $1.0 billion fund in two parts, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. The fund is sufficient to execute only 54.3 per cent of the overall planning with two months of the year left.
The United Nations and other international bodies have urged the international community to continue providing aid to the Rohingyas.
Donors promised around $600 million in assistance to the Rohingya during a virtual conference organised by the UK, the US and other countries along with some international organisations on Oct 22, seeking funds for the Rohingya refugees sheltered in Bangladesh.
"We must ensure that this crisis does not become a forgotten tragedy," said Janez Lenarčič, European Union Commissioner for Crisis Management.
More than 700,000 Rohingya people have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar army launched a crackdown on them in August 2017. The Bangladesh government has been providing them with shelter and emergency humanitarian aid with the help of international organisations, including the UN.
More than 400,000 Rohingya refugees had been already living in Bangladesh. The Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar has turned into the biggest refugee camp in the world.
A lockdown was imposed in Cox's Bazar camp on March 11, after Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases. Only the NGOs working to distribute drinking water and food and ensure sanitation are allowed in the camps. Despite the stringent lockdown, the virus has spread in the camp.
THE FUND
The UN, UNHCR and IOM have been raising and managing the funds for Rohingya refugees since 2017 under the JRP programme. It received $38.2 million from donors in 2017, which was 73 per cent of the amount the JRP sought. An amount of $220 million was donated by others, summing up the total fund to $536.5 million. The total fund received for the Rohingya was $821.7 million in 2018 and $838.4 million in 2019.
The first three JRP received 72 to 75 per cent of the funds sought by the authorities, while this year they received only 54.3 per cent in 10 months. Bangladesh received $149 million from donors outside the JRP programme this year.
bdnews24.com asked Foreign Minister Momen if the international community is gradually shifting their focus from the Rohingya issue three years into the crisis. "Of course, it (the focus) is shifting. The priority they had initially is not there anymore,” the minister said.
The authorities never share with the government information about the fund they receive for Bangladesh, according to Momen.
“We don't know how much they are spending on the Rohingya and how much on themselves. But the fund is released for Bangladesh."
The UN and its partners pledged to ensure a 'truly durable and lasting' solution to the problem.
“We must continue to keep the Rohingya refugees on the agenda globally, even as the international community grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and new crises break out around the world. We owe this to the Rohingya refugees and the Bangladeshis who have hosted them so generously,” the Joint Response Plan said in the statement.
FUTURE CHALLENGE
The Rohingya crisis lingered with the delay in their repatriation. Bangladesh government and development organisations at home and abroad have been providing them with emergency aid including food, drinking water, health, shelter and other needs.
The UN and other organisations stressed the need for ensuring education and other training for building their capacity, so the Rohingya can be mainstreamed on their repatriation to Myanmar.
Rohingya children and youth should have a wider opportunity to receive education and skill training which will keep them on track to a constructive future and enable them to build their own future upon returning to Myanmar, said the strategic executive group.
Bangladesh, however, will be under financial strains if the fund shrinks despite an increase in spending due to new initiatives.
Worse, the Rohingya people may get involved in human trafficking, extremism, drug trafficking and violence, creating unrest in the region. Bangladesh has spoken of these concerns in different international forums.
“Terrorists are not bound by any border. I'm afraid this issue will lead to terrorism if not resolved immediately,” Momen said in the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting of foreign ministers in September.
Bangladesh has to spend a lot on the workforce needed to manage the Rohingya refugees. Installation of a simple barbed-wire fence costs Tk 1.0 billion, said the foreign minister. “We've spent Tk 30 billion to prepare Bhashan Char.”
Bangladesh will be able to ‘manage the situation’ despite a fund crunch, said Imtiaz Ahmed, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University.
“Most of the countries, for example, France, the US and others in Europe, have right-wing governments. They never nurtured an interest in these issues. Moreover, they are not in a position to donate after the coronavirus pandemic hit the world,” he said.
“Now that Bangladesh has handled it for three years, they've realised that with constant [economic] growth, Bangladesh will be able to manage it.”
Bangladesh has dealt with the Rohingya crisis for three years despite not being in receipt of the foreign funds in full, said Prof Imtiaz.
“The world was astonished to see Bangladesh managing such a big group of people so efficiently. I don’t think the country will fail to manage the crisis, but it will become stressful.”
BANGLADESH VOCAL ABOUT REPATRIATION
Under pressure from the international community, Myanmar signed an agreement with Bangladesh in 2017 to take back the Rohingya refugees, but the process never started.
Rohingya living in the camps refused to return to Rakhine fearing persecution there even though two attempts were made to repatriate them last year.
Bangladesh has been focusing more on repatriation of the Rohingya, besides providing them with humanitarian aid, said Momen.
“Our main demand is to repatriate the Rohingya to Myanmar. UNHCR has worked a lot, but how many Rohingya could they repatriate?” he said.
The government is losing hope as no effective initiative has been taken despite the international community supporting the idea of Rohingya repatriation.
“Everyone talks about it, but not a single Rohingya has gone back in three years. Though Myanmar claims some Rohingya have returned on their own,” the foreign minister told reporters recently.
China, a close ally of Myanmar, has promised to have a tripartite meeting on Rohingya repatriation following the Nov 8 election in Myanmar.
Intervention by China may lead to another repatriation initiative, hopes Prof Imtiaz.
