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UNHCR Bangladesh Operational Update, 1 - 31 January 2020

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Education efforts received a boost this month with a decision by the Bangladesh Government’s National Task Force deciding to support the piloting of a Myanmar curriculum for refugee children.

Reports were received in January of small numbers of Rohingya refugees leaving Bangladesh by boat to other locations in the region. Calm sea conditions this time of year make sea journeys possible.

The second phase of the Government of BangladeshUNHCR Joint Registration process has ended. However,
UNHCR will continue to update the data already collected on an ongoing basis in 2020.

KEY FIGURES

744,400 (as of 30 September 2019) Fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since September 2017. *Some 914,998 refugees from Myanmar currently reside in Bangladesh in total.

819,787 Registered under the Government of Bangladesh-UNHCR process and provided with identity documents.

Operational Context

■ The overall situation of refugees in Cox’s Bazar remains stable. However, there are continued limits on the freedom of movement of refugees from the settlements where they live. The Government of Bangladesh has also started fencing around the perimeter of refugee settlements, beginning their work in the northernmost settlement in Kutupalong, Ukhiya, in January.

■ A ban on the use of SIM cards remains in place, which has affected refugees’ ability to contact family members in Bangladesh and abroad, and created challenges for coordination at field level for officials and agencies working in the humanitarian operation.

■ Construction activities in settlements have continued to be scrutinized closely by the authorities with several ongoing projects being stopped. The unpredictability of stoppages creates challenges for implementing projects.

■ A small number of refugees have been reported trying to leave Bangladesh through sea movements as conditions in the Bay of Bengal improved following the recent monsoon/cyclone seasons. Such movements are generally observed at this time of year as traffickers and smugglers try to profit by exploiting refugees.

■ UNHCR welcomed in late January the decision of the Government of Bangladesh at its National Task Force on the Rohingya response to expand access to education for refugee children and adolescents living in the settlements in Cox’s Bazar. This is a positive step by the Government of Bangladesh to ensure access to learning. Education actors in Cox’s Bazar, including UNHCR, plan to pilot the introduction of the Myanmar curriculum in the refugee settlements starting in April, initially targeting 10,000 students in grades 6 to 9. It is hoped that the use of the Myanmar curriculum will be expanded to other grades in a phased manner.