Bangladesh
Bangladesh-UNHCR Rohingya Registration and Identity Architecture
The Government of Bangladesh and UNHCR have implemented joint verification and registration processes for Rohingya refugees, including biometric identity management and issuance of family and identity documents for assistance, protection, and population management in Cox's Bazar. Renewed violence in Rakhine State since late 2023 has driven a new wave of arrivals; under improved data processing modalities begun in January 2025, roughly 150,000 new arrivals were biometrically registered between December 2024 and March 2026, bringing the total registered population to approximately 1.19 million. In April 2025 Myanmar authorities for the first time confirmed a list of 180,000 Rohingya as eligible for return, though no repatriation has followed amid continued conflict in Rakhine.
Why it matters: This is a central case for displacement governance because data inclusion does not equal system inclusion. Refugees may be highly visible to humanitarian systems while remaining outside national membership and durable solutions. The 2024-2026 arrivals surge, alongside a first-ever Myanmar-confirmed repatriation eligibility list that has produced no actual returns, sharpens the political economy archetype of registration without resolution: administrative capacity to identify and count refugees has steadily improved, while the political conditions for return, local integration, or third-country solutions have not.
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