Reinstating Rohingya: Architecture for the wellbeing of humanity

Abstract

Rohingya refugees are currently residing in the southeast side of Bangladesh, which is near Myanmar border. There have been numerous Rohingya refugees living in that area for a while, and over the time their number steadily increased. However, after the military attack on Rohingya Muslims in August 2017, this number has sharply increased to around half a million. According to the report of UNHCR which was published in June 2019, currently approx. 990,0000 Rohingya refugees are living in a miserable condition who are devoid of many basic human needs. Among the population 52% is women and 55% of them is children.

Most of these women and children are suffering from the hygiene problem. As they are living a house which is not more than 150 sft and not having access to bathing or washing facility. They are getting a latrine facility which is separated from their houses and sharing it with other neighbors. As Rohingya Muslim women are very conservative, it is seen that the women feel shy to use the shared latrine. Apart from that, the number of facilities which are empowering, or training women are very low. Rohingya women are mostly traumatized due to the hardship they had to go through while migrating to Bangladesh, it is very important to empower the women and make them self dependent. Also, there is not many facilities which are providing mental health facility. Most the single women or the women who was rapped and went through great trauma need mental counseling daily with a specialized routine checkup that is personalized based on the need of the individual. The number of health facilities in the camps are lot but then again there is not much which are specifically designed to accommodate a maternity waiting area for the women. At the end they need a community space for themselves where they can meet other women and have their own time of the day from all the daily chores. In short there should be a women center specialized to fulfill the needs of the Rohingya women and adolescent girls. Also, with a proper design strategy using a sustainable framework for the climate and context of Bangladesh, thereby offering these women center will improve the Rohingya community living conditions in which the whole community can prosper.