The Rohingya people have a long history of systematic exclusion and persecution. Stripped of their citizenship in 1982, the Rohingya were rendered stateless; this left them increasingly vulnerable to entrenched discrimination in Myanmar. Since then, the lives of Rohingya in their home state of Rakhine have been marked by severe restrictions on their movements and the systematic denial of food, healthcare, education and opportunities to earn a living. Decades of violence, fear and displacement culminated in the targeted attacks waged against the Rohingya in 2017.

As a result of the persecution and attacks, large numbers of Rohingya fled across the border to Bangladesh in search of safety; around 1.1 million Rohingya refugees now live in sprawling camps in Cox’s Bazar district. What began as a pressing humanitarian emergency has, over eight years, morphed into a protracted crisis with no sustainable end in sight. Rohingya refugees remain confined to camps with no legal status, no right to work and with limited access to education, while living conditions in the camps continue to deteriorate as more refugees flee Myanmar.

This report draws on the voices and experiences of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to inform the discussions at the upcoming UN conference. We present refugees’ perspectives on the conference and their demands to world leaders. We outline the conditions driving displacement from Rakhine state, and examine life in the camps in Bangladesh, including refugees’ access to food and healthcare, and the specific challenges faced by new arrivals. While based on a survey of several hundred respondents, these findings provide a snapshot of the broader challenges faced by more than one million Rohingya living in Bangladesh.