IRC: Nine years of emergency response falls short for Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host communities

Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 15, 2026 - As food assistance for Rohingya refugees is dramatically reduced, a new report published by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) lays bare the depth of the humanitarian crisis facing Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh, where around half a million young people aged 18 to 24 living in camps are unemployed, shut out of formal work and accredited education.

Drawing on a survey of 500 households across Cox's Bazar refugee camps and the surrounding host communities, the report exposes stark disparities in how the two populations are experiencing the crisis. Just 2% of Rohingya refugee parents feel hopeful about their children's futures, compared to 84% of Bangladeshi host community members living in the same district. This comes as food rations are once again reduced, increasingly falling short of meeting minimum nutritional needs, with some households receiving the equivalent of as little as $7 per person per month. Emergency responses are no longer enough.

Host communities, whose struggles have received far less international attention, are also bearing a heavy cost. Families surveyed by the IRC reported average annual incomes falling 24% between 2016 and 2020, with unskilled workers seeing wages drop by 38% as aid budgets shrink and the economic pressures of prolonged displacement intensify.

Returning from a visit to Cox's Bazar refugee camp on Thursday, Elinor Raikes, IRC Senior Vice President & Head of Program Delivery, said,

"In Cox's Bazar, I met families who are doing everything they can to survive but are increasingly forced to turn to extreme measures of survival as food assistance shrinks and they have no available means to secure an income. I met parents who told me that they are skipping meals so their children can eat, while others have no choice but to send their children to work.

"The 2025 global funding cuts have pushed an already stretched humanitarian system to breaking point. With refugees barred from formal employment and excluded from accredited education, 69% of refugee households report that children have dropped out of school. Half of those surveyed say their children have been forced into labor to keep the household afloat.

"The fragile dependency of Rohingya refugees and local host communities on humanitarian aid is now untenable. The IRC is calling on the international community to commit to longer-term, sustainable solutions. "

Hasina Rahman, IRC Deputy Director for Asia, said:

"Bangladesh made a remarkable and generous decision in 2017 to open its borders to people fleeing violence in Myanmar. Almost nine years on, the findings of this report lay bare what that decision has cost both communities. In Cox's Bazar, Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host families alike face severe constraints on access to basic services, education, and livelihoods. For an entire generation of young Rohingya, those constraints have hardened into something more permanent: no legal pathway forward, no accredited qualifications, no right to work. What was designed as a short-term emergency response has become a long-term crisis, leaving families exposed to poverty, trafficking, and child exploitation.

"The burden of this crisis is not carried by the Rohingya community alone. The livelihoods and wellbeing of local Bangladeshi families have also deteriorated as donor funding has fallen and aid programmes on which both communities depend have been cut.

"The IRC is urging donors, the Government of Bangladesh, and the international community to shift from emergency approaches toward longer-term, sustainable solutions. Creating opportunities for skills development, expanding access to accredited education, and investing in community-based self-reliance programs would foster self-sufficiency and strengthen community resilience. These measures would restore dignity, address the deep vulnerabilities documented in this report, contribute to sustainable solutions, and ease the burden on aid systems. The time to act is now, before another generation pays the price."

The IRC began responding to the Rohingya crisis in August 2017 and launched its response officially in March 2018. With over 400 staff in Bangladesh and operating across 33 camps across the division, our teams provide essential healthcare to the host community as well as Rohingya population in Cox's Bazar, as well as reproductive and maternal healthcare, child protection, education, prevention and response to Gender-Based Violence, and Emergency Disaster Risk Reduction (EDRR).