Environmental threats from Rohingya migrating into Bangladesh

The Rohingya communities have been oppressed over the last 50 years in Myanmar because of religious differences from the dominant Buddhist ethnic groups. Therefore, they were displaced from their homeland and infiltrated into Bangladesh in search of their survival and personal security.  The first Rohingya Muslim who settled in this region came from Arab in the 8th and 9th centuries. Since then, they were persecuted by the Buddhists majority.

Meanwhile, the official attempt of prosecution began since 1982 when the Myanmar Government (then Burmese government) passed a citizenship law that denied nationality of Rohingya people. This attempt leads to the onset of inter-communal violence by cracking down Rohingya minorities by the Myanmar military forces. Although, Myanmar Government has recognized 135 ethnic groups in their country. However, they dispelled Rohingya's nationality in the ground that they were originated from the South India during the British colonial era.

Most of the Rohingya people are very poor, and they need for food, shelter, safety, and security. During the off-season, no crops are grown resulting in unemployment and starvation. The young generation is involved with many miscreant and terrorist activities.  Additionally, the Rohingya's movement is strictly prohibited. They are not allowed to move to the cities or capital of Myanmar for searching employment but only could stay in the Rakhine state.

Rohingya genocide has consisted of two phases; the first was the military onslaught from 2016 to 2017, and second was occurred since August 2017. Due to the genocide, muslim Rohingya minorities have moved to Bangladesh in an illicit way by encroaching border. Continuous prosecution by Myanmar military compelled Rohingyas to leave their homes by risking their lives at sea. Therefore, a colossal exodus of 700,000 Rohingyas (almost 60% were children) entered into the neighboring Bangladesh since August 2017. Bangladesh Government allowed them in their country due to the humanitarian ground.  

To date, the Rohingya refugees have outnumbered the local people of Ukhia and Teknaf regions of Cox's Bazar district. The establishment of makeshift camps has cleared the forested lands and vegetation at Kutupalong and Nayapara of Cox's Bazar district.  Currently, 1.5 million refugees have been living in the makeshift settlements of Cox's Bazar district.

The settlements of Rohingya refugees create massive environmental threats to the ecosystem and biodiversity. The Kutupalong-Balukhali settlement occupied 1365 ha of land, approximately 2000 ha of slopes were levelled and forestry removed for the creation of makeshift houses, offices, roads and utility services. The Rohingya refugees also need daily food, shelter and sanitation to sustain their livelihood. For instance, 4,300 acres of hills and forests have been destroyed for their shelter. They also accessed forestry for fuel which cost nearly 6,800 tons of firewood every month (about 150 kg per family). The influx of Rohingya resulted annual loss of 40 million BDT in Bangladesh. In addition, loss of vegetation from 573 ha of land has negative impact on environment because, Rohingya settlement resulted annual loss of 24,678.35 tons of carbon sequestration every year. Rohingya influx also threatened the ecosystems of the Kutupalong and Teknaf areas by polluting water, air, and soil. The survival of wild animals is at risk due to the habitat loss and fragmentation of animal's habitat.

The refugee influx in Cox's Bazar critically challenged the forestry and wild-life. The critical biodiversity areas near the refugee camps are Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary, Himchari National Park and the Inani Protected Area. These area are overexploited by the refugees for their food, fuel and settlement purposes. The loss of groundcover vegetation of these areas causes significant erosion of ground soil mostly during the rainy season. This erosion also results landslides.

Animals, particularly Bangladesh Asian elephants are suffering the most due to the loss of their habitats. The primary habitat for these elephants is at Kutapalong, Cox's Bazar. However, this place is currently used as main settlement for the Rohingyas.  According to the study by IUCN in 2019, about 268 Asian elephants are currently living in Bangladesh. Among them 35 to 45 elephants live around the Rohingya camps. These camps block the corridors of the elephants. Thus, the elephants are now critically endangered due to the acute scarcity of food, water, and shelter. Moreover, a great number of flora and fauna in the settlement areas are at risk of extinction.

Environment pollution is being increased due to the filthy sewerage, high traffic, and burning of firewood by Rohingya refugees. Polythene bags and plastic bottles are piled up indiscriminately without considering environmental impacts. In addition, the groundwater has been contaminated through the processes of leakage, seepage, and overflow. Red Cross reports that about 70% of the water is highly polluted in this area. 

The unfiltered water and unplanned sewerage system at the refugee camps pose serious health risks to refugees. Therefore, they are frequently suffered from diarrhea, fever and jaundice. Moreover, they are usually suffered from skin diseases, heart and respiratory illnesses. The smoke from the firewoods and exhaust from the vehicles at the Rohingya camps choke the air which is responsible for respiratory illnesses of the refugees. Furthermore, the camps are not escaped from the brunt of COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly, 11 people have died and 500 were identified with coronavirus till to date. As the refugees housed in cluttered and temporary plastic tents therefore, the virus could spread to the camps and could infect almost 1 million refugees if remain unattended.

In this situation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres extremely valued the kindness of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh in responding to the crisis. The Premier also discussed the crisis with the delegates of USA, China, India, Russia and Japan to find a resolution over the issue of Rohingya refugees.

The environmental impacts are either short or long-term and in most cases severe and unavoidable in the receiving countries. In the case of Bangladesh, the influx of Rohingya has been accounted for land degradation, land shortages, soil erosion, soil, air and water pollution for the people living around the temporary settlement of the Rohingyas. Indeed, environmental impacts are so serious that no actions are acted effectively to curb the pollution. In this situation, one of the solutions could be to relocate Rohingyas into Vashan Char by providing them environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable habitats. Moreover, the Government of Bangladesh could create rigorous international pressure against the Myanmar government to push Rohingyas back to their country.

The United Nations and world political leaders are concerned about the environmental threats in Bangladesh. They already visited Myanmar and Bangladesh to create a policy for the protection of environment near the Rohingya settlements. We urge an early action plan immediately impose to protect our environment and sustainability of our ecosystem.


Dr. Mohammad Zahangeer, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU.
Dr. Md. Abdullahil Baki Bhuiyan, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural, University (BSMRAU).