(Source: Kabela.com)
The Bangladeshi government has undertaken initiatives to improve the living standards of the Rohingya population taking refuge in Bangladesh. The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief has proposed a project, “Building Community Resilience and Self-Reliance,” to improve the basic services and facilities for the Rohingya. The World Bank will fund the project, which will cost 7.964 billion BDT, through loans and grants.
The proposal states that the forced displacement of Rohingya refugees into Cox’s Bazar has increased population density in the area. This has led to rising prices for essential commodities and increased competition in the local labor market, thereby exacerbating poverty. Consequently, the overall socio-economic condition of the local population has deteriorated.
Furthermore, crime rates are rising among both the host community and the Rohingya population, and overall security is declining. Given these circumstances, the project aims to improve living standards and enhance economic and social resilience in the area.
In addition to this project, the government is undertaking extensive measures to improve the living standards of the Rohingya population in Bangladesh. The World Bank will provide $700 million in financial assistance for infrastructure and quality of life improvements in the areas populated by the Rohingya, including $315 million in grants and $385 million in loans.
To carry out this program, the World Bank will fund ten proposed projects from various ministries and departments to carry out the implementation of this program. These projects focus primarily on education, health, socio-economic development, and infrastructure improvement for the Rohingya. Sources from the Planning Commission indicate that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will chair today’s Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will present these projects for approval.
If ECNEC approves the projects, they will be presented at the World Bank’s board meeting later this week. We rushed preparations for these projects in order to expedite approval. Critics have raised concerns about taking such a large loan for the Rohingya, arguing that the grants are conditional on infrastructure improvements that would not have been necessary without the Rohingya’s presence. Given the current dollar shortage, some believe the government has exploited its weakness to impose loans under the guise of grants.
The Rohingya would be receiving this loan from an international development partner for the first time since their displacement from Myanmar in 2017. Until now, the government had only accepted foreign grants for humanitarian aid to the Rohingya through the Joint Response Plan (JRP) over the past seven years.
Direct communication with the Prime Minister’s Office secured the $700 million loan and grant package, bypassing the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and the Planning Commission. This emergency approval process has led to questions about the proposed projects’ expenses, with unusually high costs suggested for consultants and some projects lacking detailed studies.
Multiple officials from the commission stated that some of these projects were not part of the planned infrastructure improvements. There were no plans for such development in these areas in the five-year plan, but the government is taking this loan due to the crisis. Since the projects came through the Prime Minister’s Office, neither the Planning Commission nor the ERD could discuss the loan details, which might have helped reduce unnecessary expenses.
The socio-economic infrastructure division of the Planning Commission has six projects funded by the World Bank amounting to $350 million, with $192.50 million in loans and $157.50 million in grants. Additionally, four projects from the physical infrastructure division include the construction of roads, electricity, reforestation, and cyclone shelters in Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong for the local residents. This sector will also see an expenditure of $350 million.
The projects aim to improve the living standards and overall socio-economic conditions of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasanchar in Noakhali district, as well as the Bangladeshi population in various districts of Chittagong division. We will achieve this by providing health, nutrition, education, population control, prevention of violence against women, vocational education and training, and ensuring disaster-resilient basic and humanitarian services. Furthermore, we will reconstruct and renovate the necessary physical infrastructure to achieve these objectives and recruit skilled and trained personnel to ensure efficient service delivery.
