Loss, liminality, and the right to learn: A conflict analysis of the Rohingya refugee crisis
With the renewed outbreak of inter-communal violence and alleged ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State, Myanmar, in 2017 the region of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, experienced an influx of 889,753 Rohingya refugees (UNHCR 2018). Bangladesh has hosted communities of Rohingya refugees since 1962, when the Myanmar (then Burma) military junta revoked Rohingya citizenship. With intermittent refugee surges every time tensions flared, Bangladesh has long been a safe haven for Rohingya fleeing inter-communal conflict and, more recently, state sanctioned military violence (Phiri, 2008; Milton et al. 2017). Representative of the most recent conflict’s scale and depravity, never before has a number this large crossed the border in such a short space of time. As such, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and host communities, as well as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), were inadequately prepared. Seventy four percent of those arriving in Cox’s Bazar were women and children, as men and adolescent boys were the Myanmar military’s primary target, including a large number of the Rohingya teaching cadre (Prodip and Garnett, 2019; International Rescue Committee, 2020). On top of the social and economic marginalizaton experienced by Rohingya in Myanmar, the residual trauma experienced by women and children and the loss of a teaching force has resulted in long term complexities and a woeful skills shortage, rendering the Rohingya community largely dependent on outside assistance for development support and survival (Prodip and Garnett, 2019; Uddin, 2020).
It is important to note that while the United Nations (UN) system refers to the population as Rohingya refugees, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), which leads and coordinates the refugee response, refers to the Rohingya as ‘forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals’ (Milton et al 2017). Further complicating matters, the Myanmar government refers to the Rohingya as illegal Bengali migrants, in part due to the multiple waves of exodus and repatriation that the Rohingya have experienced over nearly 50 years of violence. Yet, as detailed in Nassir Uddin’s (2020) ethnographic study of contemporary Rohingya, there is evidence of a linguistically and culturally discernible ethnic group living in what is now Rakhine state for the past thousand years, who were converted to Islam by Arab traders over four hundred years ago (Uddin, 2020). Further muddying the matter, the British East India Company introduced Bengali labourers to the region in the 19th century; a fact that gives Myanmar’s government and Buddhist extremists further ammunition for Rohingya discrimination and expulsion; through acts that the International Criminal Court determines as genocidal (Haar et al. 2019). Multiple labels, contradicting histories, and a legacy of xenophobia on the part of the Myanmar military has left the Rohingya stateless and experiencing protracted liminality (Milton et al., 2017).
Bangladesh is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol. Consequently, there is no specific provision for refugees in national legislation, although a number of national laws and provisions in the Constitution provide protections to all people – citizens and non-citizens alike – within Bangladesh’s territory (Magee et al. 2020). Based in part on their signatory status, the GoB’s refusal to recognise a vast majority of Rohingya as refugees means that the UNHCR had a minimal role in the initial stages of the response. The government’s current position is focused more on providing transitory humanitarian relief rather than long-term integration into Bangladeshi society (Hilton et al. 2017). The UNHCR currently operates in Bangladesh under a Memorandum of Understanding, signed in 1993, which has the voluntary repatriation of Rohingya to Myanmar as its main focus. This, combined with the lack of a legal framework to deal with refugees, provides for an ad hoc environment of cooperation with Government institutions, which in turn results in an insecure and unpredictable environment for refugees (Magee et al, 2020).
In terms of finding a future free from persecution and attack, few workable or permanent solutions are on the table for the Rohingya. In 2019, over a year after the attacks, with UNHCR brokerage Myanmar was willing to engage in a repatriation process; however, despite resettlement provisions being made by the Myanmar government the situation reached a stalemate due a lack of guarantees for Rohingya safety, return of land with titles, or recognition of their citizenship (Prodip and Garnett, 2019). Unsurprisingly, Rohingya refused to accept this solution; all the while experiencing a deterioration of conditions in refugee camps and worsening relations with host communities (Uddin, 2020). Even if Rohingya were to accept this solution, the International Rescue Committee estimates that it would take over 13 years for all refugees to be repatriated (2020). In the meantime, the situation in the camps for Rohingya refugees is precarious due to overcrowding, disease, a lack of suitable shelter, and worsening weather events (e.g. monsoons and cyclones resulting in floods and landslides) due to climate change and the denuding of forests surrounding the camps (Uddin, 2020).
Available studies indicate high prevalence mental health concerns among Rohingya refugees, particularly women and children. Mental ill health conditions include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression (UNHCR, 2018). Among Rohingya men, mental health concerns such as explosive anger, psychotic-like symptoms, psycho-somatic afflictions, impaired functioning, and suicidal ideation are reported (UNHCR, 2018). Additionally, Rohingya women and girls are frequently subjected to gender-based discrimination and abuse, including harassment, economic deprivations and psychological harm (Plan International, 2018; UNHCR, 2018; Riley et al. 2020). High rates of school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) have also been reported by a range of humanitarian agencies amongst Rohingya communities (UNHCR, 2018). Since the outbreak of COVID19, an increased incidence of child marriage and child trafficking has also been reported, in large part due to economic uncertainty associated with the protracted nature of the crisis (UNICEF, 2020; International Rescue Committee, 2020).
Due to Bangladesh’s refusal to admit Rohingya children into state schooling outside the refugee camps, and its until recently 30 year ban on formal education within camps, education has been provided through madrassas (Islamic schools), private tuition centers, and refugee-led general education networks, which are wings of camp-based civil society organizations that undertake various activities (Olney, Haque, & Muburak, 2019). Recent data shows that over 39% of Rohingya children aged 3–14 years and 97% of adolescents and youths aged 15–24 were not attending any type of education facility (Magee et al, 2020). Recent data highlights that Rohingya parents perceive NGO-run learning centres offer little more than recreational opportunities and snacks for children, whereas they believe quality learning takes place either through private tutors or madrassas (Gugliemi et al. 2020). Parents in particular place a strong value on the community’s ability to educate its own children and locate a sense of dignity in contributing to camp education (Olney, 2019).
As the international non-governmental organisation coordinating education provisions in the camps, UNICEF has struggled to implement an approach that reaches all children and provides key elements of an education in emergencies approach, such as psychosocial and social and emotional learning, health literacy, and nutrition (Coombes, 2019). UNICEF’s Guidelines for Informal Education Programming (GIEP) have been used to inform informal learning centers activities, and the accompanying Learning Competency Framework and Approach (LCFA) is being implemented following teacher training for host community teachers and Rohingya paraprofessionals alike. Due to low enrolment rates for adolescents, a network of youth clubs that offer psychosocial support and classes in literacy, numeracy, life skills and vocational skills have also been established (UNICEF, 2018).
Research shows that international agencies navigate a highly politicized and complex context throughout each step of camp education planning, whereas community-led education networks operate informally within a comparatively relaxed environment at camp level (Olney et al. 2019; Magee et al, 2020). Until early 2020, many learning centers utilized the Myanmar government curriculum in an ad hoc manner, viewing adherence to the Myanmar education system as a way to prepare for future repatriation (Olney et al, 2019). Bangladesh has since has lifted restrictions on formal education for Rohingya refugees and as a result, the Cox’s Bazar Education Sector Cluster planned to formally pilot the curriculum at grades six to nine, initially targeting 10,000 Rohingya students, with other grade levels being reached in a phased manner (The Guardian, 2020). However, this was placed on hold due to COVID19. In March 2020 education was classified by the Bangladesh government as non-life saving and as a result, more than 6,000 learning centers were shut down and over 325,000 children have lost access to learning opportunities (International Rescue Committee, 2020).
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