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The Rohingya people are one of the most persecuted minority groups in the world. Following a brutal campaign of violence by Myanmar authorities against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in August 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya fled to the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh.
These new arrivals joined thousands of other Rohingya who had already escaped during earlier waves of violence and persecution in Myanmar. Most are living in fragile shelters within overcrowded settlements, making them highly vulnerable to the spread of diseases.
Who are the Rohingya people?
The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority who have resided in Myanmar for centuries. Today, over one million Rohingya refugees live in camps and makeshift settlements across Cox's Bazar, located approximately 252 miles south of the capital city, Dhaka. In this area, seasonal rains and tropical storms increase the risks of flooding and landslides.
The Rohingya had minimal access to healthcare in Myanmar, including routine vaccinations, leaving them highly susceptible to preventable diseases.
How does Doctors Without Borders help Rohingya refugees?
In Cox's Bazar, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provides a range of specialized healthcare services to address the extensive health needs of over one million Rohingya refugees living in the camps, as well as an increasing number of patients from the host community. Services include general healthcare, treatment for chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, emergency care for trauma patients, mental health support, and sexual and reproductive healthcare.
Targeted violence and persecution in Rakhine State, along with ongoing conflict in Myanmar, have continued to force thousands of Rohingya to seek refuge in Bangladesh. This recent influx of Rohingya refugees is the largest from Myanmar since 2017, when around 750,000 fled the deadly violence in their homeland.
Due to an acute global funding crisis, the critical needs of both newly arrived refugees and those already in Bangladesh are at risk of being unmet, threatening essential services for the entire Rohingya refugee population.
If additional funds are not secured, health services will face significant disruptions by September, and essential cooking fuel (LPG) will run out. By December, food assistance may also cease. Education for approximately 230,000 children, including 63,000 new arrivals, is in jeopardy of being halted.
The Rohingya depend entirely on humanitarian assistance for protection, food, water, shelter, and healthcare, as they live in temporary shelters in highly congested camp environments.
There are more than 500,000 Rohingya children in need of assistance, contributing to around one million Rohingya refugees in the Cox's Bazar camps.
Zero Hunger
The number of children requiring emergency treatment for severe acute malnutrition in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh surged by 27 percent in February 2025 compared to the same period last year, as worsening conditions push more young children into life-threatening hunger.
At the beginning of 2025, UNICEF projected that 14,200 children in the Rohingya refugee camps would experience severe acute malnutrition this year. Declining food rations, poor diets, and other factors affecting the supply of safe water and health services in the camps could significantly increase this number. Children with severe acute malnutrition are 11 times more likely to die than their well-nourished peers if they do not receive timely treatment.
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