Beyond Camps and Communities: The Economics of Refugee Relocation in Bangladesh
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Washington, DC: World Bank
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Relocating refugees to remote purpose-built settlements
offers an alternative to hosting refugees in traditional
camps or local communities. Yet, its consequences remain
poorly understood. This paper evaluates the well-being and
fiscal implications of relocating Rohingya refugees from
the overcrowded camps of Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char, a
newly developed remote island settlement in Bangladesh.
Using data from the 2019 and 2023 waves of the Cox’s
Bazar Panel Survey and the Bhasan Char Panel Survey
2022 and considering the absence of systematic selection
criteria in the relocation process, the paper compares
well-being outcomes between relocated and non-relocated
households using both unadjusted means and propensity
score matching. The paper documents two main findings.
First, relocation is associated with a systematic reduction
in refugee well-being, including lower food consumption
(in both variety and nutritional value), higher illness and
depression rates, and lower wages. Second, these outcomes
occur despite significantly higher costs: per capita service
delivery in Bhasan Char is approximately three times more
expensive than in Cox’s Bazar. These results raise important
questions about the sustainability and effectiveness of
purpose-built relocation models in displacement settings
Palabras clave
FORCED DISPLACEMENT, BANGLADESH, RELOCATION POLICIES