The authorities and UNHCR have identified a site for a transit centre to temporarily host new arrivals before they are allocated a plot in Kutupalong extension. UNHCR is coordinating with partners to set up medical services, sanitation facilities, family reunification, and provision of food and water.

The first part of the relocation of refugee families from Bandarban to Kutupalong settlement was completed, with some 2,333 individuals relocated between 14 and 19 January 2018. The distribution of shelter kits and family counting for this group will continue during next few days. On 21 January 2018, the relocation of 6,637 refugees from Bandarban / Bor Shon Khola began and is expected to be completed within nine days. Partners continue to support UNHCR with logistical arrangements, including volunteers for the carrying of luggage, provision of hot meals and water, as well as medical and protection screening upon arrival to Kutupalong.

The joint family counting exercise, led by the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and supported by UNHCR, was launched in Balukhali. A joint team of around 114 staff is collecting information on families, including vulnerabilities and specific needs, and geo-localising them through a mobile device. Refugee families will receive an RRRC card to facilitate harmonized assistance delivery.

The new school year has started. So far, 7,082 refugee children, from the registered camps and the new settlements, are enrolled in primary education. The Department of Primary Education has provided children in Kutupalong registered camp with National Curriculum Textbooks. While enrolment is ongoing, 22 sessions were organized to sensitize communities on the start of the school year and education more broadly. Over 300 refugees participated

The second phase of UNHCR’s shelter strategy is underway in preparation for the monsoon season. Since November, UNHCR and its partners has distributed some 27,600 upgraded shelter kits, composed of bamboo poles, ropes, tools, and tarpaulins, to help refugees build sturdier homes. Since November 2017, over 27,500 kits were distributed. In four days only, UNHCR’s partner ADRA completed the distribution for more than 2,600 families in Charmakul / Karantoli. In addition, UNHCR continues to collaborate with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) to identify areas, which have the highest risk of landslides and to mobilize partners to prepare the sites for the upcoming rains.

Thousands of refugees from Myanmar have been admitted to Bangladesh after spending up to four days stranded near the border. By last night Bangladesh border guards reported that over 6,800 refugees had passed through Anjuman Para border village in Cox’s Bazar district. Thousands more are said to be on their way from Myanmar. The most vulnerable among the new arrivals are bussed from the border to a transit centre near Kutupalong camp. At the centre, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners provide food, water, medical checks and temporary shelter.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees urged governments and business leaders in the Asia-Pacific to show solidarity with refugees in the region and share responsibility for protecting and finding solutions for them. Addressing ministers of 26 countries at the Seventh Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process in Indonesia, he appealed for regional support for over 700,000 Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh.

UNHCR and other UN agencies worked around the clock to repair damage, temporarily relocate affected refugees, and activate disaster response plans following eight days of unrelenting rain and wind - the most severe weather since the massive Rohingya refugee influx of 2017. Between 4 and 12 July, 709mm of rain fell in parts of the Kutupalong refugee settlement, out of a July average of about 1040mm for Cox’s Bazar. A combination of landslides, floods and wind damaged or destroyed hundreds of structures and temporarily displaced thousands of refugees.

UNHCR and partners built 1,573 latrines and 200 tube wells. This represents over 78,000 who have access to latrines and 100,000 who have access to water. UNHCR continues to lead the coordination among WASH actors at the field level in both Kutupalong (including in the extension site) and Nayapara, providing technical guidance and support to improve compliance with WASH standards.

UNHCR and partners have constructed almost 60 latrines, 70 bathing cubicles and 6 tube wells in Kutupalong and Nyapara. There are now over 4,600 latrines, some 1,920 bathing cubicles and 910 tube wells installed in the settlements.