A conceptual analysis of the Rohingya–host community conflict over scarce resources in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Bangladesh hosts over a million Rohingya on humanitarian grounds and offers them food and shelter. The Rohingya compete with the local community for access to economic and environmental resources and public services. I analyse this competition and conflict using conflict theory, which is a sociological perspective on social conflict. I argue that while the Rohingya are unquestionably marginalized, so is the local community, who are citizens and have the right to life and livelihood. I find that the presence of the Rohingya constrains the poor local community’s already limited access and that leads to conflicts on various issues such as access to inadequate public services, local and economic activities such as labour markets and environmental resources, and there is an emerging problem of safety and security that they are facing. We can understand this as a type of resource conflict which emerges within the south-south forced migration, statelessness, and refugee-hood context between the citizens and the refugees, as countries in the Global South, such as Bangladesh, generally lack the resources and capacity to govern people.

KEYWORDS:

• Rohingya
• local community
• conflict
• resources
• Bangladesh
• Cox's Bazar

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Only Rohingya refugees live in these ‘collective sites’, which are similar to camps. This category includes old formal refugee camps, makeshift settlements, and areas of spontaneous settlements in which there are no Bangladeshi communities.

2 Villages and isolated areas where Rohingya refugees live among Bangladeshi host people are referred to as dispersed sites.

3 A Teacher interviewed at Teknaf on 20 July 2021.

4 A Health officer interviewed at Ukhiya on 8 August 2021.

5 An NGO official interviewed at Cox’s Bazar on 15 October 2021.

6 A female resident interviewed at Teknaf on 14 July 2021.

7 A businessman interviewed at Teknaf on 12 September 2021.

8 A new policy on emergency preparedness and response has been introduced by UNHCR in 2017. The policy sets out the steps that usually take place before an emergency. The policy also defines different levels of emergencies: Level 1: proactive preparedness – Ability to initiate preparations for a potential humanitarian crisis, such as missions and initiatives to increase human, financial, and material support. Level 2: stepped-up bureau support – is activated when additional support and resources are required for an operation. Level 3: UNHCR response as a whole – activated in extremely severe situations where the scale, speed, and consequences of the crisis exceed the existing response capacity (UNHCR, 2017).

9 An Assistant Forest Officer interviewed at Teknaf on 12 September, 2021.

10 A resident (male) interviewed at Teknaf on 17 September, 2021.

11 A Councillor interviewed at Ukhiya on 13 July 2021.

12 There are immense challenges and problems with drug smuggling and addiction not only among Rohingya refugee youths but also among the poor locals who take up this trade full-time or to supplement their merger income by smuggling drugs in desperation as that is the only way to survive and to provide for the family. It most certainly has a debilitating effect on the health of addicted youth (Alsaafin, 2018).

13 A resident (male) interviewed at Cox’s Bazar on 20 October 2021.