Displaced Rohingya Children and the Risk of Human Trafficking

Abstract

On the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, more than half a million Rohingya children sit in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, at serious risk of falling victim to human trafficking and related forms of exploitation. Without access to education, these children are faced with limited options for their future. Child labour and child, early and forced marriage are serious concerns. As we approach the second anniversary of the violence which led to a mass exodus of Rohingya from their homes in Rakhine State, Myanmar, Rohingya children face an uncertain future, denied the rights ostensibly guaranteed to them in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Drawing on findings of a rapid assessment conducted in 2018, and supplemented by additional desk research, this article outlines risk factors that makes Rohingya children particularly vulnerable to exploitation, and offers recommendations for addressing these vulnerabilities.