Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar surges by 179,000 in a year: UNHCR

The number of Rohingya refugees sheltered in Cox’s Bazar has increased by nearly 179,000 over the past year, driven by both fresh influxes from Myanmar and newborns within the camps, according to the latest data from the UN refugee agency.

A report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released on Monday shows that the total refugee population in the district reached 1,184,864 as of Feb 28.

This is a significant jump from the 1,006,107 refugees recorded exactly one year ago, marking an increase of 178,757 people.

Md Kamruzzaman, head of the Myanmar wing at the foreign ministry, told bdnews24.com that the growth is a combination of biological increase and new arrivals.

"Nearly 30,000 to 35,000 children are born in the Rohingya camps annually,” he said.

“Families also continue to join the camps at various times throughout the year. Both groups are integrated into the databases of the UNHCR and the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC)."

The UNHCR report categorises 144,456 of the total increase as "new arrivals", while the remaining 34,301 are attributed to new births.

The report noted that 2024 saw a new wave of displacement due to both general and targeted conflict in Myanmar.

While the new arrivals have been biometrically identified, they are not yet considered fully registered refugees.

"To ensure the distribution of life-saving assistance, they are currently issued only family cards," the report said.

The data further reveals a sharp rise in the number of refugee households.

As of Feb 28, there are 246,415 Rohingya families in Bangladesh, up from 204,303 families a year ago, an increase of 41,912 units.

According to UNHCR records, the number of registered Rohingya members in Bangladesh remained at only 39,502 from the 1990s until the brutal military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State began in August 2017, which sent more than one million people across the border in waves.