Rohingya Crisis - Host Communities Review

The Rohingya influx in Cox’s Bazar has put pressure on the district’s Bangladeshi community, particularly in the upazilas of Teknaf and Ukhia where the Rohingya now constitute at least one third of the total population. The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) aims to meet the needs of 300,000 (54%) Bangladeshi of Teknaf and Ukhia, in the seven unions with the highest proportion of Rohingya people. However, host communities in Teknaf and Ukhia have indicated feeling ignored by humanitarian organisations and reports of tensions between the Rohingya and Bangladeshi communities have emerged. This brief aims to provide an overview of what is known about the communities in Cox’s Bazar, which are now host to around 900,400 Rohingya people. As the majority of the Rohingya population is situated in Ukhia and Teknaf, this brief mainly focuses on these two upazilas where possible. For the purpose of this brief, the host community refer to all Bangladeshi people living in Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas of Cox’s Bazar, and are often referred to as ‘host communities’ throughout the brief. Given the size of the influx, the entire population of the two upazilas is estimated to be affected by the influx.