Bangladesh

Nonviolent Peaceforce started working in Cox's Bazar, the world’s largest refugee camp located in Bangladesh this year.  As the refugee crisis unfolds, and overwhelming humanitarian needs emerge, the NP team is working with local partners to improve the safety of people living in the camp and to prepare for the flooding and mudslides of the rainy season. NP is building collaborative relationships with local non-governmental organizations, internal Rohingya-led organizations, and international non-governmental organizations and is providing protection to these organizations responsible for overseeing the camp. 

Since our team has helped prepare the response to the monsoon crisis, they are now working as first-responders to the disaster. Our staff has been assisting the International Organization of Migration with relocations, both for new arrivals from Myanmar and for families currently located in flood and landslide prone areas within the refugee camp.

With your help, we will continue in this effort, as there are upwards of 100,000 inhabitants currently living in these danger zones. NP is supporting Rohingya-led organizations to prevent family separation and harm when communities are forced to move for safety.

In collaboration with a Film4Peace, NP hosted a two-day training for over 30 participants on providing protection to people in the camp. As a group, they listed the safety concerns for each of the five settlements within the camp. NP is currently waiting on follow-up opportunities to engage directly in each of the five settlements, as each settlement is tackling issues like child marriage, sexual and gender-based violence, inter and intra communal violence, inter-ethnic and religious violence between Bangladeshi and Rohingya refugees and the tensions between Bangladesh and its Rohingya refugees. Based on NP’s work in many other contexts, community protection is successful when dialogue and building relationships within the community is its foundation. 

NP is also working with Rohingya-led organizations to build their skills in reducing violence and keeping people safe without the use of weapons. These mentoring teams on the ground are comprised of NP staff, International Organization of Migration Bangladeshi national staff, Bangladeshi national staff of a local non-governmental organization and Rohingya peacebuilders.