“We just want to rebuild our lives, if not for us then for our children,” says Shaker Muhammud, a Rohingya refugee who is currently residing in a rented space in Kapan. This particular residence holds 218 refugees, and all of them have their own problems and grievances. Many are still searching for lost family members, some have recently been reunited, and every one of them is worried about where their next meal is going to come from. There are aging people who need medical attention, widows who don’t speak the language and thus have no way of asking for help or communicating outside, and children who don’t belong anywhere. Rohingya refugees have been entering Nepal since 2013, with only a card issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in their name. “The card was a hope for us at first, but now it seems like a burden,” says Muhammud. The card clearly states that the Rohingya community will be funded and looked after by the UNHCR, but according to Muhammud, they have not done much to help them lead decent lives. They have had to find their own place to stay. Some have taken small flats around Kapan, while others have leased small plots of land and built temporary roofs over their heads. “When we first came to Nepal, we received some financial help to get us started. But now there’s nothing,” says Muhammud.

What’s worse is that they aren’t allowed to work. Currently, they are paying Rs 25,000 per month for the land they have taken on lease. “We have two months left on rent. After that, we have no idea where to go,” he says. The funding they were promised would have gone towards their rent and provided them with at least two square meals a day. But the UNHCR stopped the funding citing budget constraints, leaving the refugees in a quandary. “

Things apparently got worse during the Covid-19 lockdowns, says Muhammud. The UN refugee agency had declared that each of the Rohingya refugees would get Rs 3,000 per month for their daily needs during the lockdown. But according to the refugees, they only received Rs 1,000, and that too only for the first nine months. “It was difficult to make ends meet. It still is, especially since we aren’t allowed to work,” says Arifulla, a Rohingya community member. When asked for clarification, the UNHRC offered to provide a written answer. But their response didn’t state whether the UN body had rescinded financial support to the refugees. Instead, they said they supported Nepal’s Covid-19 response in multiple sectors, such as cash-based interventions, water, sanitation, health, education, livelihoods, and counseling through UNHCR 24/7 hotline services for refugees. Coming back to the Rohingya community, everyone is in contact with other refugees in other countries, and they claim that they are being given the necessary funding to manage their daily expenses. “We don’t understand why refugees in Nepal are the only ones who don’t get help from the refugee agency when the funding must be similar worldwide,” says Arifulla speaking on behalf of those who had formed a little crowd around me during my recent visit to Kapan. The concerns seem fair. So far, the UNHCR has done its best to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. In March 2022, the UN launched a response plan to support 1.4bn Rohingya and Bangladeshis, which included over 918,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, Bangladesh. The community members in Nepal are looking for answers. They demonstrated in front of the UNHCR building one and a half months ago. But, to their dismay, they got no response whatsoever. Seeking help from the government isn’t an option for the refugees. Every time the community members have visited government authorities, they have been given the same answer: “You are being looked after by the UN refugee agency.” They find themselves caught in a trap they see no way out of. With no hope on the horizon, many Rohingya refugees have found work or are looking for odd jobs to earn a little bit of money. They know this is illegal. But they also need to pay rent and buy food. “But there is no guarantee that we will get paid. Since most people know we aren’t allowed to work, the pay is very little. Sometimes they cheat us and don’t give us the promised salary when the job is done,” says Arifulla. Muhammud adds he lost out on Rs 30,000 when people found out he was a refugee. He still feels bad about it because he had worked really hard. That incident has crushed his morale and he doesn’t want to work anymore. “What’s the use when I don’t know if I will be paid or not?” he questions. They have nowhere to go with their complaints. They know the police will be of no help. “We would probably be jailed for working illegally,” says Arifulla. “But sometimes it seems like getting arrested would be a blessing. We would at least get to have two meals a day,” he adds. UNHCR, on the other hand, says that they prioritize self-reliance and income generation for refugees while mainstreaming them into local services. “UNHCR Nepal finances basic and advanced vocational skills training, such as carpentry, beautician, haircutting, web-design, and masonry and so on,” writes the UN body in their email response to ApEx. “UNHCR Nepal guides refugees on market opportunities and linkages to employers and provides top-up support for prominent small businesses with the scope to expand.” Their response did nothing to ease the refugee’s worries. The card the refugees have been given clearly states they are ineligible for employment. They feel the UNHCR is just beating around the bush and plan to do nothing for them. There have been days when everyone here has had to live on one meal. And sometimes even that seems impossible. They are thankful to several organizations for at least trying to help. “Sometimes, we get rations from some organizations, especially during Ramadan. But we can’t always depend on someone else’s mercy for our next meal,” says Arifulla. Tikaram Pokharel, spokesperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), says that the refugees have been living in the worst conditions possible. He mentions that they are deprived of education, health benefits, and even proper sanitation. “They were forced out of their country, which itself is the biggest human rights violation anyone can face,” he says “Their condition now isn’t any better.” Most of the refugees say they have no hope that their lives will get any better but they wish their children can have a place to call home. “We have no state, and we don’t want our children to go through the same,” says Muhammud as those around him nod in agreement. They are disheartened that they could never get an education but educating their children is one of their biggest priorities, they say. They say they don’t want to send their children to public school, having heard many terrible things about it. But then the UNHCR reduced the amount for a single child’s education to a minimum, making it difficult for the parents to pay for their tuition, books, and stationery supplies. “It used to be Rs 18,000, but now it has been reduced to Rs 6,000,” says Arifulla. Also, the aid is only available if the child is studying at a government school. The UNHCR did not respond to this complaint as well. In terms of health benefits, the government provides some medicines for free. If treatment is required, the UNHCR has, in the past, collaborated with the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. But then this facility is only for minor issues. The refugees claim that when they have suffered from major health problems, their treatments have been delayed and they have gotten worse. Although they haven’t lost anyone yet, the fear that an illness might claim a loved one’s life because of lack of treatment haunts them day and night. The UNHCR said they support the refugee’s access to essential public services, including access to public health care and public education. But going by the refugee’s testimonies that clearly doesn’t seem to be the case. With so many problems at every turn and their only ‘support system’, the UNHCR, refusing to address their issues, things look bleak for the refugees. They are doing what they can but it’s not enough to ensure a good future for their children and that weighs heavily on their hearts.