Rohingya crisis
In Mina Raya camp, Indonesia, children can only receive informal education. Many families are still living in emergency tents.
Last updated 2 February 2026.
© UNHCR/Amanda Jufrian
Please help families to survive and rebuild their lives.
Shelter
including extra protection against monsoons.
Clean water
to keep families safe from waterborne diseases.
Essential items
like mattresses, blankets and kitchenware.
What’s happening to the Rohingya people?
Violence and persecution in Myanmar has driven over 1.1 million Rohingya from Myanmar and left over 3.5 million people internally displaced. These families have often trekked miles through the jungle, or braved dangerous sea voyages to reach safety.
More than a million Rohingya refugees live in the largest refugee settlement in the world in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The Rohingyas are an ethnic minority who have been denied citizenship despite living in Myanmar for many generations, making them the world’s largest stateless population.
The camps in Cox’s Bazar are severely overcrowded, with refugees facing significant risks and limited access to basic services. 95% of families rely entirely on humanitarian assistance for protection, food, water, shelter and health. With Bangladesh ranking third in the world among the states most hit by natural disasters, Rohingya refugees are highly exposed to weather-related hazards, such as cyclones, flooding and landslides. Meanwhile, funding constraints remain a critical challenge.
UNHCR provides critical lifesaving aid, protection and support to Rohingya refugees both in Cox’s Bazar and elsewhere, including shelter, water, sanitation, health and education, whilst also advocating for maintaining open borders and humanitarian access.
What’s happening in Myanmar?
Conflict in Myanmar continues to intensify, claiming lives and displacing many families. Reduced humanitarian access, deepening poverty and devastating natural disasters exacerbate the needs of displaced families and host communities.
UNHCR works with partners to provide protection, shelter and core relief items across the country. And as people flee Myanmar to escape violence, UNHCR has stepped up advocacy with other countries in the region to maintain open borders, access to asylum and humanitarian access for UNHCR and partners.
Who are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar. Over a million Rohingya refugees have fled violence in successive waves of displacement since the early 1990s. Hundreds of thousands arrived in 2017, fleeing persecution, large-scale violence and human rights violations.
Where are Rohingya families fleeing to?
Most Rohingya families cross the border into Bangladesh and end up in the refugee settlements of Kutupalong and Nayapara in the Cox’s Bazar district. But conditions there are tough and the scale of displacement is putting immense pressure on local facilities and services.
Some Rohingya refugees also seek refuge in Malaysia, Thailand, India and Indonesia.
Families are often forced to attempt dangerous journeys overland or by boat in search of protection, security, family reunification and livelihood opportunities. Tragically, in 2024 alone, around 650 Rohingya refugees were reported as dead or missing at sea.
How is UNHCR helping?
UNHCR teams lead the protection response and are hard at work in all the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar – providing life-saving essentials to families. We also support education and healthcare initiatives, such as immunisation programmes to protect against disease. UNHCR also helps refugees strengthen their shelters and prepare for the monsoon season.
What are conditions like in the Rohingya refugee camps?
The camps are vast, overcrowded and basic. The vast majority live within 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar, covering 23.6 square kilometres with a population density of 46,000, one of the highest in the world. Infrastructure and services there are stretched to their limits, with many families lacking adequate shelter, clean water and proper sanitation.
In 2023, a fire swept through one of the camps, making 12,000 of the 32,000 people living there homeless.
Where can I access the latest data and reports?
Rohingya Emergency Response – UNHCR’s relief work to protect displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Operation – latest reports on UNHCR relief work in Bangladesh overall.
Myanmar Situation Portal – for latest updates on the crisis overall, including UNHCR situation reports and funding requirements.
Did you know that in 2024, UNHCR supported close to 670,000 primary health care consultations in Cox’s Bazar, helping reduce the under-five mortality rate significantly?
16-year-old Jubaida is a Rohingya refugee living with a disability in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, and needs special care in her everyday life.
Alongside health partners, UNHCR is providing support such as rehabilitation services, wheelchairs and walking aids to Jubaida and other refugees living with disabilities in the camp.
Photo: ©UNHCR/Saikat Mojumder
16-year-old Jubaida is a Rohingya refugee living with a disability in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, and needs special care in her everyday life.
Alongside health partners, UNHCR is providing support such as rehabilitation services, wheelchairs and walking aids to Jubaida and other refugees living with disabilities in the camp.
Photo: ©UNHCR/Saikat Mojumder