Humanitarian Emergencies of Rohingya Older People in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study on Hopes and Reality
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Humanitarian Emergencies of Rohingya Older People in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study on Hopes and Reality Hafiz T. A. Khan 1 & Mohammed Arifur Rahman 2,3 & Morshed H. Molla 2 & Mohammad Shahjahan 4 & Rifah B. Abdullah 5 Accepted: 23 September 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The recent influx of Myanmar Rohingya people are allowed in Bangladesh simply due to humanitarian reason, of which older people are amongst the most vulnerable groups. Utilizing integrated methods, the refugee crisis is being managed jointly by various stakeholders. Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) is an NGO that has been providing support to older Rohingya people in the camps since the crisis began through their Age Friendly Support (AFS) centres. These centres provide basic medical treatment, counselling, education, health and wellbeing services, indoor games, and recreational services/activities. Yet, there have not been any studies to understand the expectations of older Rohingya people living in the camps. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the current YPSA support for older Rohingya people living in the Ukhiya camps and to evaluate their expectations for returning to Myanmar. A pilot survey was conducted on 26th April 2019 in two camp sites and in-depth interviews were also conducted with 4 participants (2 males and 2 females), followed by a focus group discussion. It emerged that older Rohingya people received necessary support services from these YPSA centres and are generally happy with those services. Although they remain grateful to Bangladesh for sheltering them, they are not as happy compared to their lives back in Myanmar. Most of the older people reported that their expectations involved a return to Myanmar as soon as possible as well as seeking justice from the international community so that the Rohingya crisis could soon come to an end. Keywords Rohingya older people . Humanitarian assistance . AFS . Cox’s bazar .
Bangladesh
* Hafiz T. A. Khan [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
Ageing Int
Introduction Extreme violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar has been ongoing since 25 August 2017 and has driven out an estimated 693,000 Rohingya refugees, causing them to flee across the border into Cox’s Bazar District in the southern part of Bangladesh. There are currently around 909,919 Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) in Bangladesh (UNHCR 2019; BBS 2014). Generations of statelessness have imposed vulnerabilities on these people even before the severe traumas of this most recent crisis. On the other hand, the influx of the Myanmar Rohingya people has created huge strains for the host communities in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas in the Cox’s Bazar District. The strains involve socio-economic, cultural, political, and environmental burdens for the Government of Bangladesh. The people and Government of Bangladesh welcomed them with amazing generosity and opened borders for solely on humanitarian reasons. Banglad
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