Fresh Rohingya intrusion continues as repatriation stalls
Fresh Rohingya arrivals in Bangladesh have continued in recent months, underscoring the persistence of the refugee crisis that began with the mass influx in August 2017.
According to the latest monthly report published on Monday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a total of 144,456 newly arrived Rohingya have been registered in Bangladesh between December 2024 and 28 February this year.
The figure represents an increase of 1,129 compared with January, when the number of newly registered arrivals stood at 143,327, the report said.
UNHCR data show that 1,184,864 Rohingya are currently living in camps across Bangladesh, most of them in the refugee settlements of Cox’s Bazar.
Officials say the continuing arrivals are being driven by ongoing violence and persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, forcing Rohingya families to cross the border in search of safety.
“Rohingya people continue to seek refuge in Bangladesh due to targeted violence and insecurity in Rakhine State,” the UN refugee agency said in its report.
The agency added that it has completed biometric registration of 1,040,408 Rohingya refugees as of 28 February, who fled Myanmar during different periods since 1990.
Among them, 39,502 refugees arrived after 1990, while 1,000,906 entered Bangladesh following the large-scale influx of 2017.
The report also noted that renewed conflict in Rakhine since 2024 has triggered another wave of displacement, with a significant number of new arrivals detected in the camps toward the end of last year. Biometric identification of these newcomers is currently ongoing. Women and children account for around 78 per cent of the refugee population, highlighting the vulnerability of the community.
A further 12 per cent are considered at heightened risk, including persons with disabilities, single parents, seriously ill individuals, unaccompanied minors and elderly refugees requiring special protection.
Bangladesh has been hosting Rohingya refugees for decades, but the crisis escalated dramatically after the 2017 mass influx during the tenure of the Awami League government, when hundreds of thousands fled a military crackdown in Myanmar.
Despite several diplomatic initiatives and international efforts over the years, repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar has yet to begin, and new arrivals continue to complicate the already fragile humanitarian situation.
Analysts warn that with no visible progress on safe and voluntary repatriation, the prolonged presence of nearly 1.2 million refugees is posing growing humanitarian, security and socio-economic challenges for Bangladesh.
