At least 87,000 Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh since a military crackdown in Rakhine State of Myanmar began on October 9 last year.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said the influx slowed in late February, but more new arrivals from Myanmar were reported in the month of July and August, reports UNB.
The IOM assessment said 80,000 Rohingya had arrived up to the end of June. In the last two months, this figure has been swollen by a further 7,000.
This influx has in turn led to an increase in makeshift settlements and host communities in Cox’s Bazar district. The majority of the displaced Rohingya are living in Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas, close to the main entry area for border crossings.
In total, 164,000 undocumented nationals were identified at 57 sites across the two upazilas in the second round of Needs and Population Monitoring (NPM) by the IOM. Among those assessed, 52% were women and girls.
This file photo taken on December 25, 2016 shows Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, who tried to cross the Naf river into Bangladesh to escape sectarian violence, being kept under watch by Bangladeshi security officials in Teknaf
AFPAccording to the NPM, an additional four sites with a population of 635 were not assessed in this round due to limited access.
The NPM assessment collected baseline information on Undocumented Myanmar Nationals (UMN) including their location, population numbers, movement trends and a preliminary overview of needs.
It is designed to regularly and systematically capture, monitor and disseminate information to provide a better understanding of the movements and evolving needs of populations on the move.
The Bangladesh NPM is only conducted in two upazilas, and the population assessed does not represent the overall Rohingya population.
The Bangladesh government puts the figure at over 300,000 in its National Strategy on Myanmar Refugees and Undocumented Myanmar Nationals (UMN).
