Rohingya Refugees in Coxs Bazar Mark Muted Eid Amid Lingering Displacement
For the approximately 1.5 million Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, the arrival of Eid al-Adha brings less celebration and more a profound sense of loss. As festivities approach, the sprawling Leda camp in Teknaf—home to 27,000 people—is marked by a quiet, collective mourning for the lives they left behind in Myanmar.
For 55-year-old Rahima Khatun, who fled to Bangladesh in 2017, the holiday serves only as a reminder of past prosperity. Speaking from her cramped shelter made of bamboo and tarpaulin, she recalled the frantic, joyful preparations of her life in Rakhine state: the overnight baking of rice cakes and the communal effort of distributing meat to neighbors. Today, she says, those traditions have vanished, replaced by the stark reality of life in exile where both the means to celebrate and the resources to provide for others are absent.
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This sentiment is mirrored across the 33 refugee camps in Ukhia and Teknaf, where the constraints of poverty have rendered traditional observances nearly impossible. Data provided by the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) indicates that while approximately 200,000 Rohingya families will receive one kilogram of sacrificial meat each this year, the relief is significantly diminished from previous cycles. Last year, 120,000 families received 1.5 kilograms each, but funding shortages among NGOs have forced a reduction in support despite a growing population.
RRRC Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman confirmed that over 40 non-governmental organizations are working to coordinate the slaughter and distribution of roughly 2,000 animals. Camp-in-charges are overseeing the logistics, with plans to ensure that waste is promptly removed and that animal hides are donated to local orphanages. However, officials acknowledge that the sheer scale of the humanitarian need far outstrips current aid capacities.
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Economic hardship has forced many refugees to rely on the generosity of relatives abroad. In Leda camp, some families are pooling resources or utilizing funds sent by diaspora relatives in countries like the United States, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia to purchase animals. Abdur Sharif, a 45-year-old resident, managed to secure a cow with help from a relative in the U.S., allowing eight families to share the meat. Others, like 55-year-old Nurul Islam, who once sacrificed large cattle annually in Myanmar, are unable to participate this year due to the persistent lack of income-generating opportunities.
Community leaders point out that between 2018 and 2020, aid organizations provided five to six thousand animals for the Rohingya population. Despite the refugee crisis expanding to 1.5 million people, that number has dropped to approximately 2,000. As the holiday begins, for many in the camps, the traditional meal of rice bread and meat remains an unreachable luxury, leaving them to reflect on a legacy of displacement that has stripped them of their heritage and their ability to celebrate.
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