Marketplace Dynamics and Informal Livelihoods in Rohingya Camps, Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh

This study paper attempts to highlight the current informal economic activity of Rohingya camps in Bangladesh. This study mainly tried to explore the pattern and trend of different livelihood projects in camps. The influence of informal economic activity on Rohingya people lives. Although all the conventional or common themes of livelihood may not fit in the Rohingya camp, the author has tried to highlight the issues related with camp informal economy. Content analysis method has been used to analyse different reports. The main source of the research has relied entirely on secondary data sources. The existing reports of INGOS, GOVT and academic research paper explained the present informal livelihood activities in Rohingya camps. Total 9,07,766 Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) individuals are living in 34 Rohingya camps including Ukhiya and Teknaf under Cox’sbazar district in Bangladesh. 63% FDMN individuals age in between 18 and 59 those are able to self-sustaining to work. (UNHCR October 2021)[27]These FDMN individuals gradually involving with different types of informal economic activities. Some of them are skilled individuals and most of them are unskilled individuals. Some NGOs run skill-based development project like sewing, handicraft, mask preparing etc. for turning the unskilled people into a skilled people. This type of project’s main objective is to able create self-reliance community after repatriation in Myanmar. But few people utilize this opportunity to involving with sewing works and electronic servicing works within their community as part of informal economic activities. Small shops are remarkably increased within Rohingya camps which mostly run by FDMN people. Cash for work activities run by different NGOs where most of the labour are FDMN community. Cash for work mostly related with construction and repair and maintenance works. Some members of FDMN are staying in abroad and remittance flow is coming into the camp. In between FDMN community and host community people have interconnection for small trading purpose in few businesses like fish, fruits, vegetables and FMCG products. The small shops income generation is like less profitable due to very low capital. Some of the shops established based on lending money. Local goods, services and labour market are the main sources of growing up the informal economy in camps.