Bangladesh: Bangladesh: Cox’s Bazar Settlement and Protection Profiling: Round 5 Report (July 2019)

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees, REACH Initiative Country: Bangladesh, Myanmar
SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION Since August 2017, an estimated 741,000 Rohingya refugees have fled from Myanmar into Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, increasing the total number of refugees to around 910,000. 1 The majority are reliant on overstretched humanitarian assistance, services, and resources including shelter, food, clean water, and sanitation. Information on Rohingya households, particularly in relation to protection and services, is in need of regular updating due to the variation in service provision across settlements, challenges presented by the monsoon and cyclone seasons, and the evolving social and contextual dynamics within each settlement. REACH, in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), conducts Settlement and Protection Profiling (SPP) assessments to support evidence-based monitoring and analysis of crosscutting protection issues in Rohingya refugee settlements. The current round of assessment (round 5) focused on household-reported quality of life and safety in the camps, as well as vulnerabilities, demographics, and access to key services. This report compiles and summarises the key findings of SPP Round 5 and, whenever data allows, provides a comparative analysis with data from SPP round 4 in December 2018, to analyse trends over time. Please note that the assessment is not a tool for identification or monitoring of individual protection cases. The fifth round of SPP was conducted in 33 out of 34 camps in Cox’s Bazar District from 25 June - 5 August, 2019, with Kutupalong Registered Camp (RC) being the only exception due to security considerations at that time. Surveys were conducted with households selected through simple random sampling of shelter footprints. Findings for this report are generalisable to the refugee population living in all 33 accessible camps at a 95% confidence level and a 2% margin of error, based on interviews with 3,335 households. Key Findings Feelings of safety and security in the community Findings point to persistent trends in perception of risk among the overall population and protection concerns affecting specific vulnerable groups. Households’ reported perception of risk for adults has decreased since the previous round and was comparatively low, relative to reported perception of risk for boys and girls. For boys and girls, the fear of kidnapping was cited by roughly half of households. Reported prevalence of family separation was relatively low, inclusive of separated and unaccompanied minors, missing family members, or family members in detention, but was likely underreported when compared with larger numbers suggested by new cases of separated children as captured by child protection case workers. Reported rates of current or planned early marriage of children under 18 were consistent with the previous round of assessment (7% of households), and findings on justifications for early marriage suggest that this practice may be exacerbated by the challenges of displacement. Findings indicate a high prevalence of signs of distress among the population, reportedly affecting over half of households and disproportionately affecting adult women. Majhis2 continued to be the most frequently cited first port of call for reporting safety and security incidents, including general safety concerns, violence against children, and gender-based violence. Findings indicate that the proportion of households citing majhis as first port of call for reporting disputes and security incidents is largely consistent with the previous round. Awareness of alternative community level protection, or community watch groups operating during the day, decreased since the previous round. The assessment highlights areas in which camp structures and facilities directly impacted feelings of safety and security in the camps. Improved roads and paths were the most cited necessary intervention to improve safety and security in the camp. Moreover, a lack of lighting in the camps was found to be preventing universally safe access to camp facilities. Lack of lighting at latrines in particular was a protection concern for a majority of households. This is supported by over half of households citing solar lighting as their most urgent priority need, increasing significantly since the previous round. A majority of the 11% of households that reported paying rent were worried about meeting rent payments, and roughly one third were concerned about the threat of physical harm as a result of being unable to pay rent to host communities. Findings indicate little improvement on reported rates of shelter locks. Declining use of firewood in favour of fuel has likely mitigated the risks associated with firewood collection.

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