Once We Were Refugees: Refugees, Security, Solidarity and a View from the Global South—A Case Study of the Rohingya Reception in Bangladesh

Abstract The 2017 violence in Myanmar led to an exodus of Rohingya to Bangladesh. Today, it hosts a million refugees and is home to the world’s largest camp. Bangladesh’s response to the new arrivals was described as ‘exemplary’, defined by widespread assistance and messages of solidarity expressed by the current government towards the Rohingya. Yet, Bangladesh is not a state party to the Refugee Convention, is reluctant to serve as a long-term host, and is serving as one within a global context that has popularized fortifications as a means of migrant deterrence. Given its own strained resources and security concerns, what explains Bangladesh’s approach? And what produced the shift towards the security narrative within three years of the Rohingya crisis? This project traces the discursive frameworks through which Bangladesh legitimized its policies towards the Rohingya and the sources from which its norms of solidarity and that of refugee restriction were generated.