Through its partners, UNHCR gave more than 52,000 households shelter materials in 2021, including bamboo, tarpaulin, rope and wire to support regular shelter maintenance. To ensure an adequate and dignified living space for refugees, it continued to pilot more effective and sustainable shelter solutions that provided efficient use of space, sustainable use of materials, and addressed the high level of congestion in the camps. In 2021, several new transitional shelter designs were tested, including mezzanine shelters (305), elevated shelters (100), improved shelters (103), double-storey shelters (100) and Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner design shelters (203). However, only 474 transitional shelters were constructed in 2021 as a result of COVID-related lockdown, Government restrictions on shelter designs, including its suspension of the double-storey shelter project, and the limited amount of flat land available to safely construct shelters. While six transitional shelter designs were approved by the Government, only one was built on slopes. In addition, the Government did not allow any other permanent shelter design, except the one permitted on the site of the March 2021 fire, which had destroyed almost all shelters in camps 8E, 8W and 9.
Site improvement works and hazard mitigation measures resulted in the construction of 28,116 metres of drainage, 31,984 metres of roads and pathways, 12,916 metres of bridges (reinforced concrete cement, steel and bamboo), 6,508 metres of stairs and 15,207 metres of slope stabilization in the camps. To address accessibility challenges and ensure refugees’ safety, 51 steel bridges were constructed over the Western Link Road in the Teknaf camps.
Major infrastructure projects in the camp were planned and implemented together with the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Office, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), as part of an inter-agency effort to improve infrastructure provision within a macro-settlement approach. At year-end, the Local Government Engineering Department was constructing 6,000 metres of vehicular roads in the camps. In 2022, it was expected to implement 33 multi-purpose service centres and eight satellite fire stations in all camps based on UNHCR’s assessments.
To strengthen the security and resilience of refugees and support emergency preparedness and planning for monsoon season, UNHCR identified flood-affected areas and facilities across all 33 camps to prioritize refugees’ relocation. In 2021, UNHCR introduced nature-based solutions for site development activities into programming, to promote the restoration of natural drainage systems and plantation for slope stabilization, reducing soil erosion and flooding. Awareness-raising sessions were conducted with refugee communities to explain issues related to landslides and flooding, and to underscore the importance of developing new sites and building designs to protect them from future flood damage.
UNHCR designed, constructed and repaired over 25 infrastructure projects, including health facilities, permanent warehouses, LPG depots, facilities for security forces and more. This included the construction and maintenance of 11 health and nutrition facilities, such as an intensive care unit laboratory and an outpatient department at the Sadar District Hospital with 78 rooms, and the Ukhiya Specialized Hospital with 57 rooms, which was expected to be completed by mid-2022. In the camps, three warehouses for core relief item distribution and three LPG depots, six rub halls (warehouses) for bamboo treatment were constructed, while 126 containers for distribution centres were repaired.
Following establishment of the MoU between the Government and the UN in October 2021 on Bhasan Char, the shelter sector laid out a space allocation plan to ensure efficient use of space for service points. This plan was developed based on sustainable planning principles that would be implemented alongside the increase in the number of refugees that will be relocated by the Government to the island.
2021