Bangladesh

In pictures

In Rohingya camps, life goes on after 9 years of displacement

The Rohingya refugee crisis is one of the world’s most protracted humanitarian emergencies, rooted in decades of persecution and statelessness that forced hundreds of thousands to flee Myanmar and seek safety in Bangladesh.

Nine years of displacement in Cox’s Bazar are seen in children growing up in the camps, learning, playing football, and families rebuilding after hardship.

Over 1.2 million Rohingya live in Bangladesh.  Most came in 2017, some have even been displaced for decades. A surge in violence saw 150,000 new arrivals seek safety from persecution in Myanmar in recent years. Communities are trying to give the camps a semblance of home, but the hope of return always remains.

Despite challenges, life continues. Volunteers support their communities, children play, and young people study and dream of a better future.

Opportunities are limited and funding is shrinking, but resilience remains strong.

Even in displacement, people continue to live, learn, and hold on to hope for a safe return home.

Prothom Alo English Desk
Rohingya children gather around playgrounds in Bhasan Char, the island relocation site in the Bay of Bengal that hosts around 34,000 Rohingya refugees. For children who have grown up in displacement, play offers a rare space for joy, friendship and a sense of normal childhood.
Rohingya boys study together inside a community library in the camps. With access to higher education extremely limited, such spaces remain important for young people determined to continue learning.
Rohingya refugees collect LPG from a distribution point in the camps. Access to clean cooking fuel has helped reduce reliance on firewood while making daily life safer and more manageable for families.
A UNHCR staff member speaks with an elderly Rohingya woman inside her shelter in Cox’s Bazar. Her generation has lived through decades of displacement, carrying memories of Myanmar while holding on to hope in Bangladesh.
An aerial comparison shows how the Rohingya refugee settlement in Cox’s Bazar has changed from 2018 to 2026. What was once a bare, densely packed emergency settlement has become greener through reforestation, slope protection, and community planting that help reduce erosion.
A Rohingya volunteer carries a child through floodwater after heavy rains in the camps. As frontline responders during the monsoon, community volunteers are often the first to act - helping families move through flooded areas, assisting the vulnerable, and responding to immediate risks before outside help arrives.
Rohingya refugees and humanitarian workers take part in a solidarity football match during World Refugee Day in the camps. Sport has become one of the few spaces where people can come together beyond the routines of displacement.
A narrow pathway between shelters in the camps at night, illuminated by small solar lights. The quiet nightlife of the refugee camps, where homes built from fragile materials continue to hold families together amid years of uncertainty.
After crossing the Naf River from Myanmar on makeshift rafts, a group of Rohingya refugees trek towards Noaya Para Ghat, where they will spend the night before heading to a refugee camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh. Three weeks earlier, after being forced from their homes and stranded on the river's shore, they built rafts from bamboo poles and jerry cans.
Oral vaccination campaign against scabies in the Rohingya refugee camps near Cox's Bazar.
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