Integrating human rights approaches into public health practices and policies to address health needs amongst Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh: a systematic review and meta-ethnographic analysis

BACKGROUND: The Rohingya people of Myanmar are one of the most persecuted communities in the world and are forced to flee their home to escape conflict and persecution. Bangladesh receives the majority of the Rohingya refugees. On arrival they experience a number of human rights issues and the extent to which human rights approaches are used to inform public health programs is not well documented. The aim of this systematic review was to document human rights- human rights-related health issues and to develop a conceptual human rights framework to inform current policy practice and programming in relation to the needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. METHODS: This systematic review was conducted using the 2015 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Eight computerized databases were searched: Academic Search complete, Embase, CINAHL, JStor, Pubmed, Scopus, SocIndex, and Proquest Central along with grey literature and Google Scholar. Of a total of 752 articles retrieved from the eight databases and 17 studies from grey literature, 31 studies met our inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Using meta-ethnographic synthesis, we developed a model that helps understand the linkages of various human rights and human rights-related health issues of Rohingya refugees. The model highlights how insufficient structural factors, poor living conditions, restricted mobility, and lack of working rights for extended periods of time collectively contribute to poor health outcomes of Rohingya refugees. CONCLUSION: This review provides a human-rights approach to frame actions both at program and policy level in a sustained way to address the health needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Such policy actions will focus on finding long term solutions for integrating the Rohingya population while addressing their immediate rights issue. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This systematic review has not been registered.