Barred from jobs, Rohingya refugees eat up Bangladesh labour market: Study

Rohingyas who are not officially allowed to work in Bangladesh are eating up the labour market of the host community in Cox’s Bazar, a study finds.

They have also lowered the wage rate of the local people, the Policy Research Institute (PRI) study revealed on Thursday.

“Though they are not supposed to be employed, but we saw them everywhere,” Dr MA Razzaque, research director of PRI, said while presenting the report at an event in the presence of Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and UNDP country chief Sudipto Mukherjee.

PRI conducted study titled ‘The Rohingya refugee crisis and its impact on the host community’ with the support of UNDP.

Over 700,000 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh following August 2017 military crackdown in the Rakhine State that the UN termed “ethnic cleansing”.

The latest influx has taken the Rohingya population to more than 1.1 million in Bangladesh.

“With less than 0.31 percent of the earth’s population, Bangladesh hosts 4.7 percent of its total refugees,” Dr Razzaque said.

The study tried to understand poverty and vulnerability, environmental impacts, agricultural production, fishing and related activities, among others.

“They have created impacts on prices of essentials. Coarse rice was Tk 32 per kilogram before the influx. After the influx, it rose to Tk 38,” he said.

The rate of all wage labourers before the influx was Tk 417 per day n Teknaf which fell to Tk 357 – marking a 14.3 percent decline.

In Ukhia, it fell to 6.08 percent.

But in Cox’s Bazar where all NGOs and foreigners are staying to work for the Rohingyas, the daily wage rate rose to 4.2 percent because of the presence of foreigners.

The study also found that 2,500 households have fallen below the poverty line, while 1300 more have become vulnerable.

PRI Chairman Dr Zaidi Sattar said there have been some “positive impacts” of the crisis arising from the presence of international agencies and NGOs that are here ro mount a massive humanitarian effort addressed towards the management of Rohingya refugees with complimentary support to local communities.

“At least $200-300 million of spending has been added to economic activities in Cox’s Bazar, whose annual GDP of $4 billion could get a 6 percent boost each year while the crisis lasts,” he said.

“But the bottom line is the global community must continue their pressure on the Myanmar government to take back the forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Bangladesh.”

The foreign minister reiterated that solution of the crisis lies within Myanmar.

“The overall impact we cannot estimate in numbers. It can create uncertainty and derail many our development aspirations,” Momen said.

“Myanmar will also be sufferer. There are lots of companies who are trying to invest in this area fear the pockets of radicalisation and uncertainty. So we are asking the international community to put pressure on Myanmar so that their nationals can go back with safety and security”.

“We’ll never force them to go. The repatriation will be voluntary,” Momen added.