Bangladesh — Awareness of reporting mechanisms for reporting general and sensitive issues in the Rohingya camps (May 2022 - April 2023)

During an emergency and time of displacement, the psychosocial implications of displaced people are affected and the breakdown of the usual protective institutions such as the family, community, government, law enforcement structures, etc. increase the intensity of different protection issues. Since people have a lack of awareness about their rights and entitlements in an unfamiliar environment, the risk of exploitation and abuse increase. Although Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by humanitarian workers (“SEA”) can occur in any humanitarian or development context, it is a specific risk in emergency contexts as it brings a rapid increase in the number of partners for the humanitarian response, rapid recruitments and staff turnover, high work pressures, and challenges to ensuring effective coordination and oversight, thus expanding the risks of all forms of misconduct, including SEA.

It has been six years since Rohingya refugees fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh and the humanitarian response remains focused on meeting humanitarian needs. A PSEA network was established in 2017 to prevent SEA risks and respond to allegations reported. IOM-NPM in coordination with the PSEA Network conducted an assessment to understand the perception of Rohingya refugees on existing complaints and feedback mechanisms (CFMs) in the camps, especially focusing on reporting sensitive issues, namely Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA). Until now, the NPM and the PSEA Network conducted 3 surveys. The first survey2 was conducted from December 2021 to January 2022 in 4 Camps, the second survey3 was conducted from August 2022 to September 2022 in 6 camps, and most recently, the third one, has been conducted in May-June 2023 in 7 camps.