My name is Geoffrey Macdonald. I'm
a visiting expert in the South Asia program at the U.S. Institute of
Peace and a senior advisor for the Asia division at the International
Republican Institute. And I'm here to talk about our research paper on conflict
dynamics around the Rohingya refugee camps. In August of 2017 what we saw with the military
action in Burma drove somewhere around 750,000 Rohingya Muslims out of Myanmar into Bangladesh. The initial reaction from
the Bangladesh government
from citizens was really overwhelmingly generous. They provided food, shelter, housing
and other forms of assistance. What our research was trying to see was where
are we are now with public opinion in the host community. So we conducted a survey in
focus groups with Bangladeshis that live around the camps. And what we found was a much
darker picture. So 70 percent in our survey of Bangladeshis now say that their lives have
worsened since the refugees have emerged. They very much soured on
continued assistance for the
refugees. And what we see now is support for more harsh policies toward the refugees. So nearly 70
percent support the removal of the refugees back to Myanmar. And there are significant portions
who support the movement or shift of these refugees to Bhasan Char, which is an island that
many critics say is quite dangerous for them. Inside the camps we're seeing growing
organized crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking, right, that you see
the refugees have be
en kind of compelled into a lot of this either directly by these
organized groups or indirectly just through economic desperation. And many ordinary
refugees have been caught up in this, right, they've been injured or killed outside
of the camps. You see growing fear, frustration, animosity among Bangladeshis toward the
camps, which they view as a kind of fount of violence and criminality that's increasingly
causing instability in their communities. One is making sure that there is plenty o
f aid going into the camps themselves
as well as into the host communities, right. So we want to make sure
that Bangladeshis are aware, right particularly those living around the camps that
they are supported by the international community. Second we think we should be supporting
conflict resolution mechanisms in the camps and in the host community. So empowering
local actors to do things like peace messaging or community dialogues or cultural
exchanges to build community relations between
both communities that we're seeing. Third we
think improving government responsiveness is key, right. So Bangladeshis are frustrated that
the government is just simply not responding to their needs. So improving government
responsiveness is key. And then finally creating a camp policy that provides
for the needs of the Rohingya, right, because these two things are interconnected. If
the refugees do not have adequate health care, an income, food safety, they're going to go out of
the camps
, right, in order to get those things. When they go out of the camps, they drive
up frustration in the host community. So if you can improve conditions inside the camps,
you can reduce frustration outside of them.
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