Creating Opportunities for Rohingya Refugees and Hosts through Forest Landscape Restoration
Publisher: Center for Global Development
Author(s): Heather Tallis, Cindy Huang, John Herbohn, Karen Holl, Sharif A. Mukul, and K.A.M. Morshed
Date: 2019
Topics: Climate Change, Governance, Land, Livelihoods, Renewable Resources
Countries: Bangladesh, Myanmar
Rohingya refugees began arriving in Bangladesh in August 2017, fleeing atrocities deemed serious crimes under international law by United Nations investigators. Over 740,000 new refugees have settled in two camps in Cox’s Bazar district of Chittagong: Kutupalong-Bulukhali and Naypara-Leda. The number of Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar now stands at around one million, comprising about 30 percent of the population. Kutupalong-Bulukhali is now the largest refugee camp in the world. The influx of Rohingya into Cox’s Bazar has exacerbated deforestation, underdevelopment, and climate vulnerability. Combined, these factors create an urgent need for new strategies and resources to address the increasing stress placed on the environment, and the consequences of this stress for refugee and host communities.