Social Challenges of Protracted Rohingya Refugee Presence on the Host Community of Bangladesh

The Rohingya ethnic Muslim minority group in Myanmar has been subjected to various forms of persecution and state-led violence since 1978. Myanmar authority forced Rohingya people several times to flee from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Consequently, Bangladesh authority has had to provide shelter to these oppressed people at different times. However, the pressure on local host community of Bangladesh for sheltering Rohingya refugees tends to be apparent, particularly since the massive influx of August 2017. Local communities are confronting different socio-economic, environmental and security challenges due to the protracted Rohingya refugee presence in Bangladesh. Therefore, the relations between the host community people and Rohingya refugees have been changing over the years. Thus, this chapter aims to explore the dynamics of the social challenges and problems that host community people face due to the presence of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. It also explores the perceptions of local community people toward Rohingyas while facing different kinds of social problems and challenges. The chapter is based on empirical research using primary and secondary data. Findings and discussion have based on interpretative thematic analysis of in-depth interviews of different categories of participants in the refugee-hosting Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh. This chapter argues that the relations between locals and Rohingyas are deteriorating, and the host community people’s perceptions toward Rohingyas are getting worse day by day due to facing different kinds of challenges like social assimilation, degradation of societal values, breakdown of social relationships, unemployment and livelihood challenges, and education and health-related challenges. The chapter will contribute to the literature by adding a new understanding of the relations between host community people and Rohingya refugees and policy suggestions in this regard.