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When Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971, their economy struggled to take off. Densely populated and politically volatile, the UN has classified Bangladesh as one of the least developed countries in the world. This means they are particularly vulnerable to economic shocks and have low levels of human assets. Despite their lack of stability, they have been the most responsive country to the Rohingya Refugee Crisis. In 2017, over one million Rohingya Muslims were violently driven out of their home country, Myanmar, into Bangladesh. The influx of immigrants - who still cannot return home safely - is taking a toll on the Bangladeshi population.
Following the ethnic cleansing in 2017, the already overpopulated country is facing costs of providing these immigrants with shelter, food security, health care, child and gender-based violence protection, water, sanitation and hygiene, etc. Safe estimates say that these will cost 70% of Bangladesh’s per capita income. The Rohingya Refugee Crisis Response Plan was launched, seeking financial aid for Bangladesh from different countries including the United States and Canada. Even with the aid, however, the Bangladesh government is incurring large outstanding annual costs.
The hard-earned progress to improve the poor living and working conditions in Bangladesh is being threatened by the Rohingya crisis, which affects both local food and labour markets. The immediate spike in demand for food and other necessities following the influx in 2017 caused a supply shortage throughout the country. This shortage led to an increase in price levels of those goods for everyone in the region. As well as increasing price levels, Bangladesh’s current sources of income are also threatened by the crisis. Two of Bangladesh’s main industries-tourism and agriculture- are suffering, as immigrants are utilizing local resources and spaces normally reserved for tourism in order to survive. This poses not only a threat to Bangladesh’s economy, but also major environmental costs to wildlife and forests in the region. Bangladesh’s trade deficit due to low levels of exports compared to imports has also been exacerbated by this stress on resources and sudden spike in population. The increase in price levels combined with unstable sources of income have contributed to increasing poverty levels in affected areas of Bangladesh since the crisis.
Rohingya immigrants looking for work as a means of supporting themselves are generally willing to accept a lower wage than Bangladeshi workers, particularly in low-skilled labor positions. As a result, employers are more likely to hire immigrants who will work for less. This causes an overall decline in wage rates in that sector. According to current policy, the Bangladesh government does not allow Rohingya immigrants out of their camps in an attempt to discourage them from entering the formal labor market. However, this means that the immigrants are either forced to participate illegally in the labor market or rely solely on Bangladesh government aid to survive- neither of which is ideal for the Bangladesh economy.
It is impossible to know how long this crisis will last, or what the long term impacts will be on the Bangladeshi economy or the Rohingya immigrants. However, we do know that the already overpopulated and unsteady country has taken on a massive burden by providing a refuge for the persecuted Rohingya immigrants. We also know that this burden is not one they should be forced to carry alone.
Josephine Erb, November 2020
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