A father carries his son across a broken bamboo bridge on the edge of Balhukali camp, Bangladesh. Three days of heavy rains flooded many of the areas where people had set up temporary shelters, forcing them to move to higher ground. (Aurélie Marrier d'Unienville/Oxfam)

Updated on 12 July 2019

Oxfam’s position

Oxfam is pleased that the Government of Bangladesh has committed not to return refugees to Myanmar against their will. We are continuing to monitor the situation.

Oxfam urges that any return of refugees must be in line with international standards and monitored by UNHCR. The UN refugee agency is saying that conditions in Myanmar are not conducive for return and any decisions about return must be made by the refugees themselves when they feel the time and circumstances are right.

Oxfam is urging the Government of Myanmar to allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need and grant equal rights to Rohingya people – including citizenship and lifting movement restrictions that prevent people from seeing a doctor or finding work.

Oxfam is supporting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and providing life-saving aid to more than 266,000 who are staying in Cox’s Bazaar.

The situation  

Close to a million Rohingya people have fled unimaginable atrocities in Myanmar to seek refuge in Bangladesh. They are now squashed into an area far too small to safely accommodate them, living in makeshift tents in hugely overcrowded settlements, on unsuitable steep land.  

Conditions are dire, with overflowing latrines and contaminated water, and bad weather will make matters worse. Rains and storms may cause major damage to the camps, further displacements, deaths and cut of access to large parts of the camps. A large-scale disease outbreak is almost inevitable. 

200,000 People Threatened  

• During the monsoon season, around 2.5 meters of rain will fall in three months, turning camps built on dusty soil into unhealthy swamps, and making it very difficult to get aid to people.
• Hundreds of thousands of refugees are living in flimsy shelters that can be washed away by floods or landslides; most are made of tarpaulin and bamboo and unable to withstand major storms.
• Heavy rains make footpaths, which refugees rely on to collect water and food, and go to the toilet, totally unusable. It is estimated that half a million people could struggle to get vital aid and services during the monsoon, with women most at risk.
• Urgent action is needed to ensure Rohingya refugees’ safety when monsoon rains hit between June and October every year in camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. So far, adverse weather during monsoon season has caused over 130 landslides, damaged 3,300 shelters and affected 28,000 people.

Findings of a survey of Rohingya refugees:

Oxfam carried out a survey of Rohingya refugees before the monsoon season and found that more than half were almost completely unprepared for the floods, landslides and disease that accompany the monsoon weather, with women most at risk. (Press release: Rohingya refugees unprepared as monsoon rains, flooding and landslides continue )

Oxfam is Responding  

We are currently focusing on providing water and sanitation, and adapting our plans to better deal with the crowded conditions and sheer number of people in the camps in Cox’s Bazar.  

• We are installing a sewage facility which will initially serve 50,000 people; this will eventually rise to 100,000.
• We are drilling wells and installing water points, toilets and showers. To help local communities cope with water shortages, we are providing an average of 350,000 litres of chlorinated water daily in the Teknaf area.
• We have desludged and repaired hundreds of latrines. In Balukhali and Unchiprang camps, we have installed 80 women bathing cubicles. In Kutupalong camp, we are testing out eight twin-pit latrines specially designed for flood-prone areas.
• We have distributed nearly 10,000 hygiene kits so far and have recruited more than 300 Rohingya volunteers to conduct hygiene sessions on safe water, latrine cleanliness, food hygiene, handwashing, and diphtheria awareness.
• We are also providing 23,000 households with vouchers that can be exchanged at local markets for nutritious vegetables and ingredients to supplement their basic rations.

Oxfam has opened the largest, ecological waste treatment plant ever built in a refugee camp in early 2019, which is able to process the waste of 150,000 people – 40 cubic metres per day. (Oxfam: Salahuddin Ahmed / Oxfam)

Oxfam’s staff are trucking waste from camp latrines to the treatment plant for safe disposal. (Photo: Dorothy Sang / Oxfam)

This waste treatment plant was built by Rohingya refugees and Oxfam’s engineers. (Photo: Salahuddin Ahmed / Oxfam)

This waste treatment plant was built by Rohingya refugees and Oxfam’s engineers. (Photo: Salahuddin Ahmed / Oxfam)

Kate Lee, Humanitarian Programme Officer at Oxfam Hong Kong, inspected the water tanks we built together with our partner organisations, as well as the water purification system in several refugee camps. (Photo: Ko Chung Ming/Oxfam)

Together with a volunteer photographer, we visited a refugee camp in Bangladesh in November 2017; we saw large groups of refugees entering the camp. (Photo: Ko Chung Ming/Oxfam)

Countless Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh and settled in makeshift camps like this one in Cox’s Bazar. (Photo: Ko Chung Ming/Oxfam)

At Unchiprang refugee camp, Oxfam is installing water tanks and pipes to supply 45,000 litres of water to 15,000 people every day. (Photo: Ko Chung Ming/Oxfam)

In November 2017, we met Abir who was flying a kite on a hill. He made the kite with his friend using a tin can as the spool, bamboo kite sticks, and string. They also cut a plastic bag that had a celebrity on it to make the kite, which made it rather eye catching in the sky. (Photo: Ko Chung Ming/Oxfam)

Sumania lives in Moinnarghona Camp in Bangladesh with her seven children. Oxfam recently installed latrines and water pumps in the camp making life more convenient for people like Sumania as she now lives just a short distance away from a latrine and a water pump. (Photo: Bekki Frost/Oxfam)

In Kutupalong refugee camp, many children collect water from Oxfam’s water pump for their family members. (Photo: Tommy Trenchard/Oxfam)

We have distributed nearly 10,000 hygiene kits so far and are currently providing an average of 300,000 litres of chlorinated water daily in the refugee camps. (Photo: Maruf Hasan/Oxfam)

Oxfam distributed food parcels, which included three kilograms of flattened rice and one kilogram of sugar. This can last us two days. Today we will cook potatoes with rice for dinner,’ said Mohammad. (Photo: Tommy Trenchard/Oxfam)

In Thengkhali refugee camp, Oxfam has distributed food parcels and relief items to refugees to prevent the outbreak of cholera. (Photo: Bekki Frost/Oxfam)