By: Hafizur Rahman, Camp Correspondent
Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh – July 21, 2025
As monsoon rains lash the overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, over one million displaced people face worsening conditions—with crumbling infrastructure, hazardous walkways, and increased risk of landslides—exacerbated by sharp cuts to international humanitarian funding.
The camps, located in steep and flood-prone terrain, have long relied on community-led maintenance projects to stay functional and safe. Since 2020, a programme supported by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) had provided small stipends to refugees for repairing paths, reinforcing slopes, and maintaining latrines, bathing spaces, and water points. The initiative offered not only safer living conditions but also rare income opportunities for families with no other means of livelihood.
But that critical lifeline is now under threat. Amid a global aid shortfall, the programme has seen its funding slashed. Once able to engage 30 to 40 workers per project, the current budget allows only seven or eight—if any at all. The impact is visible and dangerous.
“Paths that were once walkable are now slippery death traps,” said Jaynub Begum, a 24-year-old refugee who used to work on stairway construction in Camp 15. “There’s a latrine near our shelter that’s about to slide downhill. We’re scared to use it, but we have no alternative.”
In 2024, more than 5,500 refugees worked on over 500 infrastructure projects across the camps. This year, the number has dropped by nearly two-thirds. Many drainage systems are now clogged, footbridges have collapsed, and critical walkways—often the only access routes to food, clinics, or shelters—are eroding fast.
“These aren’t just inconveniences,” said Afruza Sultana, who works in Site Management Support for BRAC, a UNHCR partner. “They are daily hazards that threaten people’s safety, health, and mobility. And this crisis is not isolated—it touches every aspect of refugee life.”
Jahid Alam, a 45-year-old father of two from Camp 11, explained how the programme once helped him feed his children. “The food ration isn’t enough for a family. When I could work on the repair team, I bought extra rice and eggs for my kids. Now that support is gone,” he said. Both Jahid and his wife live with disabilities and are now struggling to survive without any form of income.
Afruza stressed that the programme was more than a job—it was a source of dignity. “It gave families a sense of purpose. Now, parents are withdrawing children from learning centers, falling into debt, or considering dangerous migration routes because they feel they have no other options.”
UNHCR echoed those concerns in a recent press briefing, warning that continued budget cuts could disrupt critical services, including healthcare, fuel distribution, food aid, and education. Without renewed support from donor countries, the agency fears the situation will deteriorate further in the coming months.
“Humanitarian funding may be shrinking,” Afruza said, “but the needs on the ground are not. Behind every budget cut is a family struggling to survive—a child without a school, a latrine on the verge of collapse, a shelter with no one left to maintain it.”
With the monsoon season expected to intensify in the coming weeks, camp residents and humanitarian workers alike are bracing for more rain—and more risk.
