Misunderstanding + misinformation = mistrust:

How barriers reduce access to humanitarian services, reduce the quality of those services and aggravate social exclusion for Rohingya communities

PART II: COX’S BAZAR, September 2019

1 A three-part report

Translators without Borders (TWB) is We are grateful to the many organizations pleased to launch a three-part report and individuals that supported or and accompanying language guidance participated in this study. on an innovative cross-border study. The series explores the role of language The cross-border study was conducted in humanitarian service access and and authored by a TWB team in community relations in Cox’s Bazar, and Bangladesh. Many others also Bangladesh and Sittwe, Myanmar. contributed feedback and valuable comments to the final series of reports. • Part I. Cross-border trends: Challenging trends in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh and Sittwe, Myanmar

• Part II. Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: Findings from Bangladesh including sections on challenges, adaptive programming, and recommendations

• Part III. Sittwe, Myanmar: Findings from Myanmar including sections on challenges, adaptive programming, and recommendations

Children learn the at a madrassa in a Bangladeshi community neighboring the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. Credit: TWB / Fahim Hasan Ahad

2 Table of Contents

Methods and further information...... 4 Usage...... 4 Executive summary...... 5 Recommendations...... 6 Language barriers limit access to quality services...... 8 Language barriers limit access to quality health services...... 8

Language barriers limit access to quality education services...... 18 Language barriers hinder the inclusion of Rohingya communities in Bangladesh today and in Myanmar tomorrow...... 26 Language skills determine access and status in Bangladesh...... 27

Language determines future integration efforts in Myanmar...... 29

Naming conventions reinforce intercommunal divisions...... 30

Cultural understanding breaks down intercommunal barriers...... 31 Effective humanitarian communication depends on clear messages and high professional capacity...... 33 English- and Rohingya-speaking communicators rely on intermediaries speaking Chittagonian and Bangla...... 33

Unclear communication and low capacity can lead to misinformation, mistrust, and power imbalances...... 39

Humanitarians appear to misunderstand the language and literacy skills of displaced people...... 40

3 Methods and further information

Detailed information on methods and limitations is available at https://translatorswithoutborders.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Methods-and- limitations_Cross-Border.pdf.

For detail on the of the Rohingya response in Bangladesh and Myanmar, see https://translatorswithoutborders.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Languages-in-the- Rohingya-response_Cross-Border.pdf.

Usage

Language and ethnicity names: Language speakers: The terms "English We use the official language or ethnicity speaker," "Myanmar speaker," "Rakhine name designated by the national speaker," "Rohingya speaker," refer to a government in Bangladesh or Myanmar person who is most comfortable speaking respectively. For example, we use Bangla the given language. instead of Bengali and Myanmar instead of Burmese. This does not imply that the person is a native speaker of that language or that If a language or ethnicity is not officially their ethnicity necessarily mirrors the recognized, we use the name recognized language they are most comfortable in American English or the preferred speaking unless otherwise stated. For term of self-identification used by example, a Chittagonian speaker may interviewees. For example, Rohingya. be ethnic Rohingya. Also, local and non-local Bangladeshi.

4 Executive summary

through other people. The groups that “A language should are most commonly monolingual are have its own also disadvantaged in other ways. This language dependency reinforces their exclusivity… Until relative lack of power and agency. today language is the Forced displacement increases reliance only anthropological on others from outside the Rohingya element to identify community for support. This makes it even more essential for them to them as Rohingya. communicate across languages and cultures. The role of intermediaries One Rohingya can becomes more important and the risk of be separated from a exclusion for monolinguals even greater.

Bangladeshi only with Effective two-way communication is his or her language. a key component of user-centered, equitable service provision and So we do not want them accountable humanitarian action. In to mix up with our the linguistically diverse humanitarian response, organizations struggle to language and culture.” get that communication right. The result is reduced access to quality - A Bangla speaking services, further exclusion, and government official missed opportunities to help improve intercommunal relations. The Rohingya are marginalized in Myanmar society, as reflected in their Humanitarian organizations in Cox's Bazar lack of legal status and recognition as District can improve communication citizens. Across the border in Bangladesh, with Rohingya refugee communities they are also unable to fully participate by increasing staff language capacity, in society due to their lack of legal cultural awareness, and knowledge status and recognition as refugees. One of interpreting principles. consequence of this is to reduce their opportunities to learn other languages More fundamentally, language and such as Bangla or Chittagonian. This cultural awareness should inform every locks in their exclusion through language. aspect of program design, resourcing, and implementation. That is how we Monolingual Rohingya in the Cox's Bazar ensure that under-served Rohingya can refugee camps and host communities understand their options, make their have difficulty accessing information, needs and wishes heard, and build better voicing their needs and wishes or relations with neighboring communities. engaging with decision-makers except

5 Recommendations

This assessment highlights ways in 3. Test comprehension which humanitarian organizations can of critical messages communicate more effectively with the Develop and test message banks affected population. to see which messages are best understood, convey the intended 1. Apply plain language principles meaning, and resonate with target Develop information, education and groups. Whenever possible, co-design communication materials in plain or co-redesign messages with language, especially those intended community members. This will also for the Rohingya community. Explain help to track progress and raise concepts using familiar words and awareness of the importance of clear sentence structure. Avoid or clear messaging. Ultimately this explain technical jargon and words should increase the effectiveness that are not commonly used. Ensure of humanitarian communication content is field-tested, appropriate for practices over time. the intended audience, and addresses key community concerns. (For an 4. Promote and support empathy overview of plain language principles, with service users and see https://translatorswithoutborders. understanding of their needs org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ Train and brief service providers in Basic-plain-language-principles-for- language and cultural awareness. humanitarians.pdf) Enable them to apply that learning by designing programs to allow 2. Invest in formal training for adequate time for communication. interpreters and field staff In health clinics, for instance, this in language and cultural skills means organizations should plan Assess skills as for doctors to spend longer with part of staff recruitment, and engage patients, especially new patients. It Rohingya staff and volunteers to is common for interpreting into an support community engagement. unstandardized language to take Training and support programs a few minutes longer. Plan for any can build interpreters’ and field interpreted meeting or gathering, workers’ capacity, including in such as focus groups, to take at least complex terminology such as health twice as long. As far as possible, interpreters may require. This can don’t rush interactions with Rohingya draw on tools like TWB’s multilingual community members: it can readily glossaries of humanitarian terms. be taken as rude and disrespectful. Humanitarian organizations can foster cross-cultural communication skills by encouraging collaboration between Rohingya staff and volunteers and those from other backgrounds.

6 5. Design a bridging strategy for scope for standardizing Rohingya home language (Rohingya) to as a language of instruction. national language (Myanmar) as the language of instruction 6. Develop social cohesion in classrooms programming that addresses Expanding the use of the Rohingya language-based exclusion language in education will improve and does not perpetuate it children’s learning across the Design social cohesion and curriculum, including learning peacebuilding programs to be additional languages. This is especially accessible to monolingual Rohingya, important for disadvantaged groups as well as to other groups. This should such as girls, children with disabilities, inform everything from activity and those who have missed years planning to staff recruitment and of schooling. Starting immediately, training, to communication. Model provide stronger guidance for the use and promote intercommunal respect of Rohingya in teaching and learning, by referring to social groups by the teacher training, management, and names they prefer: call Rohingya, assessment. Consider developing an Rohingya. Explore the role of language approach to teaching Myanmar as a intermediaries and shared problems second language and progressively like gender-based violence as entry using it as a language of instruction points for promoting intercommunal as students become more confident. understanding. In the long term, work with the Rohingya community to explore

A community health worker speaks to the assessment team at a clinic in the refugee camps in Bangladesh.

7 Language barriers limit access to quality services

Rohingya speakers who do not also speak LANGUAGE BARRIERS LIMIT Rakhine or Myanmar are vulnerable ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH to exclusion from information, access SERVICES to services, and quality service provision. Such monolinguals make up the vast Among women and older people majority of the Rohingya population. in particular, health knowledge and They are predominantly people with no trust of health service providers are low, or low education, people from rural areas, which affects service access and quality. and women. Language and communication challenges compound these problems. Service providers and service users alike struggle to communicate. Service Most Rohingya access providers broadcast unclear messages and have low professional language humanitarian health services, capacity. Service users are unable to but many doubt the quality understand messages due to low literacy and effectiveness of care and education levels. Health services in Cox’s Bazar District Rohingya speakers who do not speak are provided by both government and other languages depend on those who national and international humanitarian do. This results in diminished individual organizations. We limited our scope agency, and gives the intermediary a to humanitarian-operated primary critical role in the individual’s ability to health services and health and hygiene access quality services. Our assessment promotion. found that humanitarian organizations are largely not ensuring staff and A household survey we conducted for this volunteers have the skills, training, study found very high rates (92 percent) and support to play that role effectively. of health service use among newly arrived Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar. Yet 23 percent reported that they did not feel all their questions were answered, nor did they understand everything during their visit. Some informants told us unlicensed doctors also see as many as 150 patients a day because some refugees trust them more than humanitarian clinics.

8 During our consultations we learned that most Rohingya refugees tend to go “Recently I went to a to the nearest humanitarian clinic for clinic with my child, primary health issues. For more serious issues, they prefer the larger foreign- who had a high fever. operated facilities, such as the Malaysian I explained to the or Turkish hospitals. Only a small minority from Kutupalong-Balukhali Expansion doctor about my child’s Site reported going to Bangladesh suffering and the government-run health facilities. People gave several reasons for this preference doctor seemed to not for foreign health facilities. These include longer opening hours, shorter waiting understand what times, higher quality service, better I was saying.” quality medicines, and more trained professionals. - A newly arrived Rohingya- speaking man aged 15 to 24 For the Rohingya community, the social acceptability of health services is limited by factors such as: “I had treatment for my child in this hospital, • inability to communicate effectively or at all with service but I did not understand providers what the doctor was • rude or disrespectful behavior saying. He drew some of health service providers lines on the package • short consultation times with the doctor of the medicine, but I couldn’t understand it. • cultural taboos about seeking medical help for sexual and Because of this, I gave reproductive or mental health issues. my child an overdose of medicine and it These complaints arose repeatedly during caused him to become consultations, but they were especially common among monolingual Rohingya, unconscious.” particularly women and older people. - A newly arrived Rohingya -speaking man aged 15 to 24 Patients, doctors and intermediaries struggle to Many patients only speak Rohingya. understand and be understood They depend entirely on an intermediary to communicate with the doctor. These Rohingya speakers commonly reported are often community health workers communication issues, explaining that who can communicate with the doctors some had disastrous consequences. in Bangla and to some extent with the

9 patients in Chittagonian, which is related Discussions about internal medical issues to Rohingya. From our interviews and are particularly difficult to communicate. observation, these intermediaries often This is partly due to the inherent difficulty struggle to facilitate exchanges between of communicating about something patient and doctor. you can’t see. Low health literacy in the Rohingya community further complicates Differences between Rohingya and this. Common misconceptions about Chittagonian create further potential human anatomy include placing the liver for confusion. When seemingly in the chest not the abdomen, so people simple words in Rohingya and will describe chest pains as pain in the Chittagonian have completely different liver (hoilla). meanings, prescriptions can be easily misinterpreted. This can result in patients not taking their medicine at the right time “If I want to explain a or in the right dose, for instance. disease in detail inside the body or something “When [the Bangladeshi] heart-related which say bikal, it means is not visible to point ‘afternoon’ [the period to, then it’s very hard from 3pm to 5pm], but to explain.” Rohingya understand bikal as ‘night’.” - A newly arrived Rohingya- speaking man aged 15 to 24 - A newly arrived Rohingya- speaking man aged 15 to 24

A pharmacist dispenses medicine to a Rohingya woman at a humanitarian clinic in the refugee camps. Credit: TWB / Fahim Hasan Ahad

10 When they talk about health, doctors and patients are also speaking from “When my wife goes different medical traditions. Traditional to the clinic, I always medicine in Rohingya society perceives health and sickness as an imbalance of need to go with her bodily fluids and supernatural elements. because she does The understanding of Western medicine among Rohingya in the camps today is not understand the influenced by these traditional beliefs. For language that is spoken example, people we interviewed generally viewed injections - which put fluid into at the clinic. We men the body - as more effective than pills. go outside, interact with “Previously they Bangladeshi people, used to think that collect aid distribution, oral medicines so we understand like aren’t enough to 20 percent of Bangla. heal from diseases. But women always sit Only injections and at home so they don’t saline can make any understand.” difference.” - A newly arrived Rohingya- speaking man aged 15 to 24 - A Bangla-speaking man who is a field supervisor In our conversations with Bangla- and Chittagonian-speaking health service These Rohingya-speaking patients want providers, we found that some were to be fully engaged in the management dealing with inaccurate translation by of their own care, but they lack the health bypassing spoken communication. This knowledge due to language, cultural was especially the case with individuals and education barriers. who had been working in the response for some time. Women face particular problems understanding and being understood on health issues, in part because of their limited opportunities to learn other languages.

11 Rohingya cultural norms prevent women “The Rohingya patient from discussing female body parts or and the Bangla- functions with or in the presence of men. Interviews suggest that if a female staff speaking doctor were member is not, or not expected to be speaking in Bangla. (...) available, many women will not seek care at a clinic. The patient could not speak proper Bangla “Sometimes women and the doctor couldn’t and children have speak Rohingya so they difficulty explaining communicated through health-related words, hand gestures and especially about sexual repeating words.” and reproductive - Observation notes from a visit health. As most of the to a humanitarian clinic doctors are men, women Diagnosing conditions and prescribing feel shy to explain their medication without clear two-way problems. They hesitate communication can result in misdiagnosis and inappropriate a lot to speak about treatment. This highlights how a lack of skilled interpreters can lead to health problems affecting services that are not patient-centered their reproductive or equitable. organs or private parts. Cultural issues prevent Sometimes they keep access to appropriate care quiet and do not tell Beyond technical competence with anyone about their medical and other relevant terminology, sickness and health interpreters need cultural awareness to be effective. They need to understand the problems.” importance of communicating cultural and linguistic nuances. This cultural - A Chittagonian-speaking mediation role is essential to improve man aged 25 to 49 the quality of health services. In these conditions, women often We observed several instances where use body language and euphemism to language and cultural barriers discourage communicate their symptoms. This relies patients from discussing symptoms with on intermediaries being sensitive to those health professionals. Patients do not signals. receive patient-centered and equitable care because the doctor and interpreter do not have adequate language skills or cultural awareness.

12 A lack of cultural awareness Many Rohingya interviewed complained impairs trust of medicines being wrongly prescribed, or generic painkillers being prescribed for all ailments. In many cases their doubts Rohingya patients also complained of about the quality of treatment were linked rude or disrespectful behavior. These to a sense that health providers lacked cases were often linked to a lack of real concern for their welfare. cross-cultural understanding or a lack of willingness to accommodate patients’ language support needs. “Once I went to a

hospital for a big cut “Once I was given some I had on my leg. The medicine for my leg doctor did the surgery pain and I found it very and prescribed me only helpful. When I returned a few paracetamol. to the hospital to ask for When I asked the doctor more of the medicine why he is prescribing that I was given before, only that, he said, ‘If the doctor said to me: you want to take it, you ‘This is not rice, that can, otherwise you may you would ask me and leave.’ So I threw the I will give you as much medicine away and left.” as you want.’ That, I really didn’t appreciate.” - A newly arrived Rohingya- speaking man aged over 50 - A newly arrived Rohingya- speaking man aged over 50 Cultural norms make it hard for patients to concerns

“Doctors say that you Most Bangla- and Chittagonian-speaking don’t need to come here health service providers interviewed did not feel there were serious language and if you don’t understand communication challenges. the language.”

- A newly arrived Rohingya- speaking man aged 15 to 24

13 of culture, pragmatism, and ignorance of “I don’t really see rights. Social emphasis on saving face, by any problem with not revealing the extent of one’s needs, combines with concern that criticism language. If a patient may lead to services being withdrawn. doesn’t understand me Concepts of patient-centered care and what they imply for their right to quality or anyone else, they health services are also unfamiliar. ask again and then understand. I really like “No one offers to help when the patients keep us with these [language] asking until they challenges and we don’t are clear.” know how to complain. And we also dare - A Bangla-speaking man who is a medical assistant not complain.”

- A newly arrived Rohingya- “Bonding between speaking man aged over 50 doctor and nurse has In this context, it takes considerable tact, improved, there is cultural sensitivity, and time to establish a dialogue where the patient’s concerns good bonding between can truly be heard. Clearer messaging patient and doctor too. and an investment in patient-centered care and communication could go a We faced problems of long way to improving the actual and language in the past perceived quality of health services.

but now it is easier.” A fictional scenario illustrates - A Bangla-speaking man the limitations of relying who is a health facility manager on untrained interpreters

It may be that medical personnel are The fictional scenario below illustrates not aware of the problems their patients the issues with health service quality experience because people are reluctant encountered in the Kutupalong-Balukhali to complain openly. Expansion Site and surrounding areas. We constructed it from our observations in Our study indicates that Rohingya humanitarian clinics and the experiences patients often find health services described by program managers, doctors, inadequate but generally fail to raise nurses, community health volunteers, their concerns with health providers. and patients. This seems to be due to a combination

14 Scenario: Momena complains Momena considers leaving to avoid the of “pain while showering.” shame of discussing certain areas of her Misdiagnosis: minor sprain body with a man, but this time, she is in too much pain. She touches her lower Momena, a young Rohingya woman, waits back and very quietly says, “Ghusol’or in the health center waiting room, about shot beshi dorod gora.” half an hour’s walk from her shelter in the Kutupalong camp. She sits in the corner Joshim interprets this to Doctor Rofik: of the room, grimacing with pain. “She is in pain when showering.” Joshim doesn’t realize that the word for Momena has been having erratic but shower, ghusol, is also a euphemism for heavy menstruation for the past several menstruation in the Rohingya language. . Her lower back pain and cramps leave her bedridden for days at a time. It Seeing that Momena is uncomfortable, has become difficult for her to take care of Doctor Rofik tries to use the few Rohingya her two young children, which is taking a words he picked up while working in the toll on her relationship with her husband. camps, and asks Momena to lift up the back of her burka and her blouse which Joshim, a Chittagonian college graduate she reluctantly does. He checks her lower who only recently joined the healthcare back. He presses her spine a little and facility as an interpreter, finally calls asks if she fell recently. She shakes her Momena into the doctor’s consulting head indicating no. room. Doctor Rofik, a Bangla speaker, sits behind a desk reviewing Momena’s health Sensing it could just be a minor sprain, record. Momena is the 55th patient the he prescribes her paracetamol and an doctor and interpreter have seen today, ointment. and many more queue in the waiting room and outside. Doctor Rofik does not say this to Momena, but speaks directly to Joshim to let him Doctor Rofik asks Momena what brings know. Joshim only tells Momena that she her here; Joshim interprets. Momena is will get some medicine for the pain. He uncomfortable and sits in silence. She then points her to the pharmacy with the looks towards the door, as if expecting prescription slip Doctor Rofik wrote for her. someone else to walk in. Joshim repeats the question, again without reply. Both The consultation has taken less than five the doctor and Joshim grow impatient, minutes. and Joshim finally asks again loudly. Conclusion: In the absence of a female Momena, startled, responds: “My sister- health worker or interpreter, Momena in-law told me there were female resorts to euphemism. The interpreter interpreters here. Can I speak with a fails to spot the euphemism, and does woman please?” Joshim does not relay not facilitate direct communication this question to the doctor, but answers between patient and doctor. The doctor her directly: “Both female staff are sick makes little effort to engage the patient and are not working this week. So if you directly. As a result, both miss verbal and want help, you will have to speak with me.” non-verbal signs that could have helped them to understand Momena’s real problem.

15 Cultural understanding breaks Yet the few female community health down barriers to health access workers are highly valued. A woman with health knowledge and sociolinguistic skills can communicate effectively on Young Rohingya mothers and older topics such as women’s reproductive Rohingya women are some of the most health, vaccination rumors, and vulnerable subgroups in the camps. Both traditional medical practices. This is groups are likely to speak only Rohingya particularly important for topics that and have low levels of formal education. could potentially undermine access Young mothers are subject to cultural to health services. taboos and restrictions that make it

difficult for them to leave their homes to go to a clinic. “It’s very important

A few people interviewed called for for women to work in health service providers to be particularly the camps. Women supportive when women overcome these obstacles to seek care. One suggestion make up 68 percent of was to allow a family member to be the population in the present to provide support. camps, yet all our staff “[A woman] was in are men. Women stay labor, and restless. She inside the house and was screaming Maa! they don’t come in front Maa! (mother). Her of male staff. In order mother was just outside to reach them, we need the labor room and but female staff...”

wasn’t permitted to - A Rohingya- speaking man enter. The nurse told who is a civil society leader

the woman in labor, To expand the pool of female community ‘This is not a place health volunteers, health service providers need to address their to shout. You have safety concerns and persuade their to do whatever I say’.” communities of the unique contribution they can make. - A Rohingya-speaking woman who supervises community health A fictional scenario illustrates volunteers the value of cultural understanding Precisely because of these constraints on women, we observed that those We constructed the following scenario women who are multilingual have an from our observations in humanitarian important role to play. Health services are clinics and the experiences described dominated by male staff and volunteers: by program managers, doctors, nurses, traditionally women have not taken such community health volunteers, positions, in part through concerns for and patients. their dignity and safety.

16 Scenario: Older women stick to didn’t expect to be talking about jinns and traditional beliefs, mistrust health evil eyes with the women. Before Ayesha promoter can respond, one of the older women speaks up. “If anyone in your family suddenly stops talking and keeps to herself, or “What do these Bangla people know if she is trying to hurt herself, see a about our culture?” she says. “They don’t doctor immediately.” This is the advice need to teach us what is going on in our from Ayesha Khatun, a Chittagonian mind. Jinns and nazar (evil eye) are part community health promoter working in of our religion. You don’t argue with what the Kutupalong extension camps, to a Allah created.” group of Rohingya women gathered in the women-friendly space. “Some things cannot be treated with paracetamol!” another woman quips. The Ayesha is from Ukhiya, the closest other women laugh in agreement. town to the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar District. Her first language is Ayesha feels unsure. There have been Chittagonian, though she is also fluent in times when a few women disagreed with Bangla. Her intermediate Rohingya skills what she was saying or just walked away. and friendly demeanor make her quite But this time, these women seem to be well-liked in the camp blocks where she taking offence at what she was saying. works. She tries to remember what she learned in training a year ago. Though the training This morning, the women at the women- included guidance on many things, it said friendly space range in age from 20 to little about spiritually sensitive topics. She over 50. Several women have brought knows she has to improvise. their children along. The room is full of energy, with the children yelling and “The medicine is for your body, and the playing, but the group of women were holy water is for your soul. You need deep in a serious conversation. both, but it is best to seek medicine first because the doctors are not always here. “But my mother-in-law said my daughter You can get a hold of the imams anytime,” should first go to the imam and get holy Ayesha suggests. water,” one of the young women says in a quiet voice. “She said my daughter could The older women warm to this argument have been possessed by a jinn during our and move closer to hear what else she long trek to the camps. She hasn’t spoken had to say. since we came here.” Ayesha doesn’t say this just to placate The other women nod in agreement. the women. She genuinely believes it herself. She takes paracetamol to relieve In the pre-Islamic and Islamic context, headaches, but when she is feeling the term jinn is used for supernatural sad or tense, she reaches for the holy creatures that are neither good nor evil. tabeez (talisman) given to her by her They cannot be seen with the naked eye, grandmother. but live in the same plane as humans and can sometimes possess animate beings. Conclusion: Understanding and respecting traditional beliefs is important Ayesha initially began the meeting by for communicating on health. Here saying they would talk about women’s the health promoter draws on her own mental health, a concept that was alien knowledge of traditional Rohingya to the group just as it was alien to Ayesha practices to communicate effectively and prior to her working at the NGO. But she encourage uptake of health services. 17 LANGUAGE BARRIERS A 2019 assessment1 found that 64 LIMIT ACCESS TO QUALITY percent of children aged three to five EDUCATION SERVICES in the camps were attending school or temporary learning centers. Attendance Lack of understanding impacts fell off for both sexes from the age of trust. When many teachers and most six, most sharply for girls. By the time parents do not understand education children were aged 15 to 18, just 1 percent policy and newly adopted learning of girls and 9 percent of boys were still approaches, misunderstanding and in school. miscommunication can further impact access and quality. For the Rohingya community, cultural taboos about girls going to school after Within the Rohingya community, people puberty are a powerful constraint on express concerns about the quality of education access. Any change in those education provided in temporary learning attitudes will take time, and this study centers. Education service providers lack does not address them directly. However, guidance on using Rohingya after level 1 a parallel TWB study on education2 did and in making the most of Rohingya as a find that community members have language for learning. Teachers struggle general concerns about the education with their own Myanmar and English provided in the temporary learning language skills and with helping learners centers in the camps. Below we analyze to transition to these as languages of findings from that study on the part instruction. Teachers, teacher trainers language can play in establishing and teacher supervisors face challenges effective and trusted education services in communicating and learning about in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh. unfamiliar teaching methods in a multilingual context. Early in the response, temporary learning centers relied heavily on play- In the resulting confusion, there based learning approaches. These were is a danger that learners miss out intended in part to provide psychosocial on an opportunity to learn effectively support following the traumatic in a multilingual environment. experience of displacement. The potential benefits of that practice were Most Rohingya children access not communicated effectively, however. As a result, we found a persistent belief humanitarian education among teachers, parents, and even services, but many parents learners, that these institutions are doubt the quality and not serious. effectiveness of teaching

In the Cox's Bazar refugee camps, humanitarian organizations provide basic 1 REACH, UNICEF. Education needs assessment, education through temporary learning Cox’s Bazar, April 2019 centers. In parallel, the community 2 TWB, UNICEF (2019) Language, education and organize madrassas, or religious schools, the Rohingya refugee community of Cox’s and community schools. Bazar [forthcoming]. This finding is support- ed by another recent study: Olney, J. Haque, N. and Mubarak, R. (2019) We must prevent a lost generation: Community led education in Rohingya refugee camps, PRIO

18 “We only played there Language in the classroom [former temporary Ensuring the education provided yields positive results is clearly also essential learning center] and we to overcome parental concerns about were not taught there, temporary learning centers. The TWB study referenced found teachers were which is why we left.” unsure about how to apply unfamiliar methods, including in the use of - A Rohingya-speaking Rohingya in the classroom. girl aged 10 to 12 The learner-centered methodology of The temporary learning centers are now the LCFA is new to teachers, parents, expected to apply the learner-centered and children alike. The LCFA also methods of the Learning Competence endorses a mother tongue-based Framework Approach (LCFA). Its child- multilingual education approach, friendly methods are different from the which is acknowledged best practice in traditional rote teaching and learning multilingual settings.3 In this approach, approaches that both Rohingya and children learn new concepts and ways local are used to. Teachers of communicating in their first language are encouraged to use games, songs while also learning and gradually and visual aids to help children learn. receiving instruction in additional For many community members these languages. unfamiliar practices indicate that temporary learning centers aren’t While both the learning and the language serious about learning. methodology are positive, an assessment combining class observation and Parents also question the quality of interviews found that practice falls short Rohingya teachers, often based on their of the ideals set out in the LCFA. Myanmar language abilities rather than their teaching skills. All the lessons observed were multilingual, with teachers frequently In addition, the initial assessment of moving between the target language students’ educational levels was carried (Myanmar or English) and Rohingya or out in English and Myanmar. As a result, Chittagonian (the teachers’ own mother students unable to express themselves tongue). Lessons largely consisted in those languages were unable to of the teacher talking, with learners demonstrate their competence in other contributing mainly short or one-word subjects such as numeracy. In the eyes of answers. Teachers spoke a mix of either many families this has led students to be Rohingya or Chittagonian, and English incorrectly streamed at lower levels. and Myanmar. Rohingya teachers tended to confuse Myanmar and Rakhine. A continued lack of trust in humanitarian teaching approaches has the potential to reduce enrollment and attendance. More effective communication practices could 3 Susan Malone 'The rationale for Mother help to overcome parents’ reservations Tongue Based Multilingual Education: Implica- tions for Education Policy' SIL 2007 accessed and allow their insights to inform at: https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/ education delivery. files/mtbmle_implications_for_policy.pdf

19 The extract below illustrates a typical approach to teaching. Here the task is to “The Rohingya language say the Myanmar words for “father” and is important at the “mother”, and is explained in Rohingya. Learning is by rote, and learners do not beginning but after two use Rohingya in the process. to three years, when students know English Teacher: and Myanmar, this will Father hode kiore? not be needed.” (How do we say father?) - A Rohingya-speaking Learners (most): man who is a teacher

Bafore (father) This view contradicts accepted practice in multilingual education, where mother Teacher: tongue has a central role for at least the first six years of schooling. The LCFA does Bafore. Father. Maare. not currently offer guidance on the best Mother. Nnofori yar way to incorporate Rohingya in relation to language and content learning outcomes age? (Didn't we learn beyond level 1. Without such guidance, that before?) interaction between teacher and learner may be limited by their ability in English - Observation notes from a visit to a and Myanmar. temporary learning center, Level 2 The classroom observation also found As in this case, in the lessons observed, that there were no Rohingya language teachers typically used Rohingya to resources available in classrooms to translate words and phrases from encourage learning in the learners’ Myanmar or English and to explain tasks. mother tongue. Other teaching and They did not invite students to explore learning materials were used little, and new concepts or complete tasks in teachers didn’t refer to the books or Rohingya. This practice reflects a view materials on the walls. Teachers tended that Rohingya should be "phased out" to resort to repetition and there was no of teaching and learning as soon individual reading, pair or group work as possible, echoed by teachers: using resources.

A fictional scenario illustrates typical concerns with education quality

We constructed the following scenario from our observations and experiences described by program managers, teachers and co-teachers, and students and their parents.

20

Scenario: Yusuf’s child is not Mashab finally interjects. “This is indeed developing his Myanmar language an issue,” Mashab says. He has heard skills; teacher admits to low capacity these complaints many times now. and resources “But parents have to understand the difficulties we teachers face here.” Yusuf, the father of eight-year-old Sakib, and a few other fathers are chatting “Many of the teachers, including me, outside the temporary learning center. never had a chance to finish school They have gathered to speak with Mashab back in Myanmar so our skills in Alom, their children’s teacher. Myanmar language are not the best. The Bangladeshi teachers don’t know any Yusuf is not happy with the education Myanmar language, so they use their local his son is getting. Sakib is now in grade language which sounds like ours. I know 1, a year behind where he would have it is not the best situation, but what can been back in Myanmar, and he still does we do?” not speak any Myanmar. Yusuf thinks all his son does is pass time at school. He Mashab continues. “To help them believes school should be about learning understand the topics, we use Rohingya. the language of their home country, The NGO experts are telling us that building the foundations for future learning materials in Rohingya language success and possibly citizenship. is important for your children’s future. They say it is better for them this way. At Students begin pouring out of the least they learn the ideas, even if their classroom. Mashab sees the men outside Myanmar language skills are not good... and welcomes them in. They all sit in a They said they will share more Rohingya circle on the floor. After an exchange of language materials to help children excel greetings and some sweet milk tea, Yusuf in both Myanmar and English. We are begins. waiting for this.”

“Mashab. You tell me. Shouldn’t we Conclusion: Teachers struggle to teach be teaching our children a language children in Myanmar and English when that they could use with other groups, their own language skills are limited. especially when we leave these camps? They also lack a full understanding of Shouldn’t we be part of Myanmar?” the potential benefits of using Rohingya in the classroom, and their use of it is Mashab opens his mouth to speak, therefore less effective. Nor does this but Yusuf continues. enable them to address the concerns of parents who think teaching their children “Now, we are not as educated as you are,” directly in Myanmar offers them the best he says as he lowers his eyes. “Some of chance of an education. us didn’t even finish primary school. But our Bamar teachers taught us very good Myanmar,” he exclaims, regaining his courage.

21 Language barriers impede the need for translation and interpreting teacher supervision added a layer of complication for trainee teachers. and training Beyond training, technical and program Language barriers also have an impact staff from humanitarian organizations on teacher training, supervision, and supervise all the teachers, observing support, in a context where teachers teaching and provide feedback. Technical and their trainers and supervisors speak staff are often Bangla speakers from a range of languages. other parts of Bangladesh. Program staff

are generally local Chittagonian speakers. While teachers attend many short training Rohingya teachers therefore receive courses, they are not trained in the use feedback and guidance in languages they of Rohingya for teaching and learning, may struggle to understand. although as outlined above this is challenging. Nor do they currently receive Teachers’ professional development language training in Myanmar or English should include building both their own as the languages of instruction, although language skills and their ability to use a their knowledge of these languages is range of languages effectively in their limited. Both teachers and humanitarian teaching. Such development should make education program staff called for explicit the teachers’ capacity to create teachers to receive language training in opportunities for learners to develop their Myanmar (Rohingya teachers) and English thinking and expressive skills in Rohingya (host community and Rohingya teachers). and, over time, in English and Myanmar.

“If we get training in Teacher learning circles set up in the camp context offer an example of how English and Myanmar, education sector partners can provide a language which we teachers with further support. These are multilingual group study and planning don’t know very well, initiatives which provide teachers with our language skills will an opportunity to overcome language and learning obstacles together. They be more developed. (…) could be an effective means of relaying If we want to advance future guidance on the use of Rohingya as an initial language of learning and the the students in English, teaching of Myanmar and English to help children transition to learning in these we have to get training languages. in English.” A fictional scenario - A Rohingya-speaking illustrates the difficulties of man who is a teacher communicating new learning Teacher training has followed a cascade methods model moving through English, Bangla, and Chittagonian. Rohinga language We constructed the following scenario use in teacher training was reportedly from our observations and experiences very limited. Cascade training is a described by humanitarian program difficult model for building professional managers, teachers and co-teachers, competence, particularly where so much and students and their parents. of the content is new. In this case,

22 Scenario: Samina advocates “Play is not just for fun. Just like this for play-based learning, game taught you how to interact, it can but is met with skepticism teach kids how to behave and cooperate with one another.” Samina pauses so that A group of Rohingya teachers from Tahmina can interpret. the temporary learning classrooms in Cox's Bazar return to their seats in the “That’s why it is so important to humanitarian training space after the teach young children, especially break. A few Chittagonian teachers from kindergarteners, how to play games the host communities sit among them. and interact with their peers.”

Samina Chawdhry starts the next training Samina highlights best practices session by throwing several colorful in kindergarten and primary school plastic beach balls at the surprised settings. She is sensitive to the resource- participants. Samina is a non-local constrained environment of a temporary Bangladeshi technical officer on learning classroom in a camp. She education in emergencies. She is new to uses examples of different play-based using games in the classroom, but feels activities like ball games, coloring, that it helps keep people engaged. and role play.

“The goal is to keep as many balls in the Some of these ideas are new to Tahmina, air as possible!” she shouts in Bangla and she struggles to find words in over the laughter. Tahmina interprets with standard Bangla, let alone in Chittagonian equal enthusiasm. or Rohingya. The teachers start to find it harder to concentrate on what she Tahmina is a Chittagonian speaker from is saying. Teknaf town. She is fluent in Bangla and Chittagonian, and speaks some English Samina notices that some of the teachers from her humanitarian work and some are whispering and carrying on side Rohingya she picked up in the camps. conversations in Rohingya. She stops the presentation and asks Tahmina what they She is acting as an interpreter for are talking about. the training session. The session is in Chittagonian, though Tahmina struggles Tahmina is also puzzled by the sudden to translate some concepts which Samina side conversations, and she asks the speaks about in English. She is not a group in Chittagonian, “Do you have any trained interpreter, but her language questions about what Samina is saying? skills help bridge the communication gap Is something wrong?” between Bangla speakers and Rohingya who understand some Chittagonian. One of the teachers gives Tahmina a long explanation in Rohingya. Tahmina looks After a couple of minutes of sporadic ball flustered and is reluctant to relay the throwing, hitting and the accompanying information to Samina. laughter, Samina tells the group to catch the balls and place them on the floor. “They are saying that the children’s “Playtime is over!” Tahmina interprets parents don’t want their children to and the group complies. play these games. The parents think the teachers are wasting time with the Samina then explains the purpose children by playing and drawing,” of the activity. Tahmina finally explains.

23 A Rohingya teacher explains that parents Samina says, “It’s true that play and want their children to memorize and games are not serious. But you will see recite poems in the Myanmar language. that it will help children pay attention in “They think that’s education.” class. I’m not sure what else to say, but I trust the experts and I think, maybe, we Samina has heard this view before. can try this and see what happens...” She knows intuitively that play helps with attention and engagement, but Conclusion: The interpreter struggles she actually agrees with the teachers with unfamiliar concepts and a lack and parents that it is not serious. She of prior information on the session in is unsure how to convince the teachers relevant languages. Providing training of the effectiveness of play-based materials and other content in advance approaches she was taught by her and discussing the meaning of new terms trainers. gives interpreters the best chance of facilitating meaningful conversations. The trainer struggles to convince teachers of new teaching approaches which she does not fully understand.

Children learn the at a madrassa in a Bangladeshi community neighboring the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. Credit: TWB / Fahim Hasan Ahad

24 Communication is needed to To overcome community concerns about address community concerns the quality of the education provided in the temporary learning centers, humanitarian education providers need To date, education sector communication an explicit communication strategy. with caregivers has focused on regular This centers on explaining child-friendly parent meetings in the temporary teaching practices and the benefits learning centers. This is problematic, of using mother tongue as a language as the power imbalance between of teaching and learning, including education sector staff and Rohingya for the better acquisition of Myanmar community members may impede open and skills. communication. The use of Chittagonian may limit caregivers’ understanding This could involve presenting parents and willingness to talk. with their children’s expected learning outcomes, in Rohingya and in a format Moreover, educational concepts such they can understand, so they are aware as “competence” and “active learning” when targets are achieved. A wider are likely to be unfamiliar and to have dialogue, in Rohingya, is also needed no direct equivalent in the Rohingya on challenging issues like accreditation, language. and the legal limitations on the languages used in teaching centers. Similar to health service providers, however, education service providers Ultimately, this communication could be often don’t see language as a barrier. the basis for better mutual understanding Greater awareness of the challenges for between education providers and parents is needed to establish dialogue families, for the benefit of students. with families on their children’s schooling.

“We hold a parents’ meeting every . We use local language [Chittagonian] at the meeting. This is not a problem because after one or two years everyone understands.”

- A Chittagonian-speaking man who is a technical officer

25 Language barriers hinder the inclusion of Rohingya communities in Bangladesh today and in Myanmar tomorrow

Language is pivotal to overcoming the “Back in Myanmar, isolation and exclusion of the Rohingya Rakhine and Burmese in Bangladesh society. As long as the Rohingya lack opportunities to learn people used to call us Bangla and Chittagonian, they will rely [Rohingya] ‘Bengali’ on intermediaries who speak Rohingya. They will continue to have difficulty with hatred since [they directly accessing information, voicing thought] we came from their needs and wishes, and engaging with decision-makers. The relationship Bangladesh. When they between the Rohingya and their language intermediaries impacts the effectiveness really want to insult us, of humanitarian response. It will also they call us kalar (dark- determine the success of efforts attempts to resolve intercommunal skinned, foreigner, tensions. Indian). Now in the Current government policy bans teaching camps in Bangladesh, Bangla to Rohingya children in schools, some drivers call the on the premise that their displacement is temporary. Yet until durable, voluntary children halar Bormaiya repatriation is achieved, there are direct (damn Burmese) when social benefits to supporting children and adults to learn local languages. some cross the street in front of their cars.” Social cohesion programming can also help improve the relations - A Rohingya- speaking man between Rohingya and their language who is a civil society leader intermediaries. Organizations planning such programming should consider language as a factor of exclusion and design their interventions accordingly to maximize reach and impact.

26 LANGUAGE SKILLS DETERMINE While ancestry and appearance are ACCESS AND STATUS also markers for exclusion, language IN BANGLADESH can either deepen or bridge the intercommunal divide. Knowledge of Bangla or Chittagonian enables Rohingya “We want children to negotiate at least partial social to learn Arabic first, inclusion and access to local services. because it is important Speaking Bangla is associated with for reading the holy political power through claims to Bangladesh identity, as well as the ability book and prayers. to compete for jobs. Interviewees from both government and local communities English is also voiced concern to limit Rohingya important. We want integration and competition them to learn Rohingya, for employment. as well, we never know “A language should if we can go back to have its own Myanmar someday! If exclusivity… Until we are going to reside today language is the in Bangladesh, it is only anthropological important for them element to identify to learn Bangla.” them as Rohingya. - A newly arrived Rohingya- One Rohingya can speaking woman aged 25 to 49 be separated from The Bangladesh government’s position is Bangladeshi only with that newly arrived Rohingya are “Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals” whose his or her language. displacement is temporary. The ban on So we do not want them teaching Bangla in temporary learning centers is consistent with that. But it to mix up with our excludes a significant portion of the language and culture.” Rohingya population from opportunities to build positive relations with - A Bangla-speaking man neighboring communities. who is a government official

27 driver and passenger) or workplace “If Rohingya are (humanitarian facilities). educated and taught Local Bangladeshis interviewed sometimes took a negative view Bangla, they will of these interactions. take our jobs. This is happening already. “We gave them shelter Whereas a Bangladeshi because they are employee is getting also Muslims. But we 17,000 BDT salary per discovered that we have month a Rohingya many differences with is becoming his boss them even in terms of and getting 34,000 BDT. language. Some think It is not acceptable.” we speak the same language. As a matter of - A Chittagonian-speaking man who is a journalist fact: no. Sometimes we hire Rohingya workers Language barriers affect intercommunal relations and communication between to work in our field or Rohingya and neighboring communities. Rohingya who have arrived in Bangladesh home. But it is very since 2017 and have not acquired difficult to get things a knowledge of local languages are at the greatest disadvantage. Their done properly. Because reliance on interpreters and cultural they do not understand mediators from the registered refugee and local Bangladeshi communities to our language” access information and services leaves monolingual Rohingya with diminished - A Chittagonian-speaking individual agency. The resulting power man aged 25 to 49 differential between them and the intermediary communities fosters Among Rohingya, the “registered” mistrust and blocks social integration. refugees who largely came to Bangladesh two or three decades ago are more likely Even if most Rohingya and local to speak Chittagonian and have grown Bangladeshis spoke the same language, culturally closer to their local Bangladeshi opportunities for direct interaction are neighbors. Ethnic Rohingya that grew up limited. When interactions do occur, in the registered camps usually speak a they are usually at the marketplace, in mix of Rohingya and Chittagonian as their the informal market (between landlord home language. Some can also speak and tenant, employer and day laborer, Bangla.

28 “Only unregistered “We don’t like them newly arrived Rohingya at all. We’ve been here have language issues. for nearly 30 years and Registered Rohingya making our demands don’t have them.” and they have ruined

- A registered Rohingya-speaking all our efforts. Why woman aged 25 to 49 they are getting more facilities than us?” “There are problems - A registered Rohingya-speaking with newly arrived woman aged 25 to 49 refugees. The old Bangladeshis don’t tend to differentiate Rohingya are used between registered and newly arrived to Bangla words and refugees so the registered refugees make the distinction themselves, arguing that . they are also “local” to the Cox’s Bazar But newly arrived area. Rohingya do not LANGUAGE DETERMINES understand the local FUTURE INTEGRATION EFFORTS IN MYANMAR dialect properly.” Parents consulted expressed clear - A Bangla-speaking man preferences for the language they want who is a program lead their children to learn in order to succeed. Most Rohingya refugees said that they Decades ago they struggled to integrate want their children to learn Myanmar in the Ukhia and Teknaf camps due to because it is the national language. It their lack of a shared language and would open up opportunities for them the suspicion of their new Bangladeshi to return to Myanmar. These opportunities neighbors. Now, registered refugees relate to employment, further education, are important intermediaries between and the ability to integrate into broader humanitarians and the newly arrived Myanmar society. However, some refugees. Yet many resent the qualified that if they cannot go back home newcomers for seemingly setting to Myanmar, they would like their children back their cause of integration. to learn Bangla for similar reasons.

The next most valued language was English because of its importance in qualifying for humanitarian positions. Arabic was the third most valued language for religious and cultural reasons. Rakhine was also valued, as the lingua franca of .

29 NAMING CONVENTIONS (exonyms) reveal tensions between them. REINFORCE INTERCOMMUNAL Understanding these naming practices DIVISIONS and using the names each group prefers to be called can promote more positive In the border area between Bangladesh communication with and between them. and Myanmar, various language, cultural, and religious groups have coexisted for Figure 1 shows the endonyms and millennia, trading and intermarrying. exonyms used between Rohingya, non-local Bangladeshis and local As in every human society, competition Bangladeshis. It highlights the use for resources naturally pushes groups to of names that are or are perceived as make decisions about who does and does pejorative. The first word in each cell is not belong. Judgements over belonging the one used most commonly by the find their expression in the ways different “namer”. The second and third terms are groups refer to each other. Differences other names, which may or may not be between the name that a group uses to commonly used by the “namer”. Terms describe itself or its members (endonym) considered pejorative by (at least some and those others use to describe it of) the “named” are in orange. Positive or neutral terms are unmarked. Cells in blue

Figure 1. Endonyms and exonyms among Rohingya, non-local Bangladeshis and local Bangladeshis in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

NAMED Bangladeshi Bangladeshi Rohingya Rohingya (local, (non-local, non (new arrival) (registered) Chittagonian) -Chittagonian) NAMER

Rohingya Rohingya Bangladeshitta Nua refuzi Furan refuzi Geraimma / gerami Rohingya (Bangladeshi) (New refugee) (Old refugee) (villager) (new arrival) Arakani Arakani Bangladeshi (Bengali) (Arakanese) (Arakanese)

Rohingya Rester refuzi Gerami (villager) Bangladeshitta Nua refuzi (Registered refugee) Rohingya Sitainga (Bangladeshi) (New refugee) Furan refuzi (Chittagonian) Bangali (registered) Arakani (Old refugee) Bangladeshi (Bengali) (Arakanese) Rohingya

Rohingya Bangladeshi Rohingya Boinga Burmaiya (Burmese) Staniyo (local) (local, Burmaiya (non-native4) Furan Rohingya Bangladeshi (Burmese) Bangladeshi Chittagonian) (Old Rohingya)

Rohingya Rohingya Burmaiya Burmaiya Bangladeshi Bangladeshi (Burmese) (Burmese) (non-local, non- Staniyo (local) Bangali Shoro-narti Shoro-narti (Bengali) Chittagonian) (refugee) (refugee) 30 FDMN5 FDMN5 are what the “named” prefer to be called. Text in quotation marks is an English4 5 “They [Rohingya] translation of the preceding words. For also use bad words example, refer to people from Cox's Bazar district as Geraimma to identify us. They or Gerami (villager).6 The people from [Rohingya] call us Cox's Bazar district consider this term pejorative. geraimma (villagers), which is not acceptable. During the course of our study, many newly arrived refugees readily used They could have called “Rohingya” as an endonym. This was in contrast to registered refugees, for whom us stainyo (local).” self-identifying as Rohingya was not as - A Chittagonian-speaking consistent and clear. In group settings, man aged 25 to 49 when asked their ethnicity, registered refugees thought and explained before responding. They clarified that they “Sometimes we hear were local and had been in Bangladesh for a long time and while they shared a the local people calling common heritage, they were different the Rohingya people from the newcomers. They prefered to be called “registered refugees.” ‘burmaiya’ to insult them.” The derogatory terms highlighted in Figure 1 reference physical appearance, - A Chittagonian-speaking man ancestry, and implied rural origins. who is a university deputy head Language differences also play an important role here as these derogatory naming conventions are mostly being CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING used between different language groups. BREAKS DOWN INTERCOMMUNAL BARRIERS

The first step towards improving 4 Boinga indicates that a person is “uncultured” in relation to Chittagonian culture. It refers intercommunal relationships is to design only to people within the supra-Bangla ethnic programs to be accessible to monolingual identity who are not native Chittagonians. Rohingya, as well as to other groups. This It does not refer to the Rohingya people, should inform everything from activity although they are culturally closer to Chittag- onian than other . planning to staff recruitment and training, to communication. 5 Forcibly Displaced Myanmar National

6 Rohingya tend to refer to local Bangladeshis Referring to the newly arrived Rohingya as geraimma / gerami. However, local Ban- gladeshis perceive this as pejorative since it is by that name, which they prefer, is culturally undesirable to be identified as from one way of signaling and promoting a village. While many Rohingya may not intend respect both within teams and to offend, it is best to ask for clarification or understand the context when the term is used externally. Similarly Rohingya who in conversation. arrived in Bangladesh decades ago prefer the term “registered refugee.” This is a fundamental of rights-based

31 programming. Local Bangladeshi The three communities also face many colleagues may appreciate such of the same challenges, for instance sensitivities better in the context of on rights issues such as gender-based a conversation about the Rohingya violence. This presents so far unexplored community’s use of the pejorative entry points for practical social cohesion geraimma / gerami (villager) to refer programming. to them.

The local Chittagonian speakers “We feel everyone and registered refugees who act as is close because in intermediaries for newly arrived refugees could be a bridge between communities. Bangladesh we see only There are varying levels of mutual Muslims and we are distrust and hostility between all these groups and newly arrived Rohingya, yet also Muslims so we feel their language skills and knowledge of very close at heart.” other cultures also earn them respect. - A newly arrived Rohingya- speaking woman aged 25 to 49

A local community leader speaks to the assessment team in a Bangladeshi town near the Rohingya refugee camps.

32 Effective humanitarian communication depends on clear messages and high professional capacity

Effective humanitarian communication backgrounds, as in the Rohingya that builds knowledge and trust uses response, there is a high risk languages and formats that of ineffective communication. are accessible to affected people. It depends on: This is further complicated by widespread monolingualism at either end of the • a clear source message information flow. This has resulted in a communication gap between • the technical and interpersonal humanitarians and members of the capacity of the people involved Rohingya community. in the communication and

• structured testing of messages ENGLISH- AND ROHINGYA- at each transfer point. SPEAKING COMMUNICATORS RELY ON INTERMEDIARIES SPEAKING CHITTAGONIAN The clearer the source messages AND BANGLA and the greater the capacity of communicators, the greater the likelihood The diverse language landscape of Cox's that humanitarian communication will Bazar district means communication be effective. The converse is also true. happens in at least five different spoken Unclear messages and low capacity result languages and three written languages. in ineffective communication. Testing People’s ability, fluency, and literacy vary comprehension of messages ensures within those languages. The majority accuracy of the translation, and builds of English speakers and Rohingya knowledge and ultimately, over repeated speakers don’t speak and understand interactions, trust. the four other relevant languages. The information flow therefore depends When messages must pass through heavily on intermediary languages and multiple languages and be conveyed communicators. through communicators of diverse

33 Figure 2 illustrates typical spoken The figure indicates information flows informationMyanmar flows in the Rohingya between humanitarians (mainly English response in the Cox's Bazar refugee speakers) and refugees (mainly Rohingya English (ENG) camps, based on our observations and speakers), via ChittagonianMyanmar and(MYA) Bangla as Rakhine (RKI) consultations with humanitarians and intermediate languages.Rohingya Information (RHG) can Rohingya community members. Each flow from left to right or from right to left, branch represents a conversion from one depending on whether humanitarians language to another. At each of those or Rohingya initiate it. pointsENG of language conversion, there is RHG E1

potential for miscommunication or even The four branches show the variousRo4 a complete stop in the information flow. language conversions that occur in the

MYA response.RKIR3 The width of each branch B2 varies, indicating the relative volume of information that flows alongSource/Target each. Source/Target Intermediary Language Language Intermediary Language Language Figure 2. An information flow model for the humanitarian response in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh (humanitariansBangladesh   displaced people) English (ENG) Bangla (BEN) Chittagonian (CTG) Rohingya (RHG)

ENG RHG

BEN BEN CTG

Source/Target Source/Target Intermediary Language Language Intermediary Language Language

Because we did not analyze written information derives from written communication in detail, Figure 2 does information, monolingual Rohingya not show this flow. However similar also rely heavily, though indirectly, language conversions occur, with on accurate conversion of written similar potential for miscommunication. information between the various Humanitarians generally develop languages. printed materials in English. They then have them translated into Myanmar The high proportion of monolingual and Bangla to share with the Rohingya Rohingya and English speakers at population. Bangla content is usually either end of the information flow are training materials for registered Rohingya particularly vulnerable to errors or volunteers who speak the language. blockages at any of the intermediate language conversion points shown Low rates of literacy among Rohingya- in Figure 2. Any errors in relaying speaking refugees may mean they rely information from one language to less directly on written information. another magnify subsequent errors. However, because most spoken

34 This is of greatest significance to Further, monolingual Rohingya are less monolingual Rohingya, who rely on likely to qualify for paid volunteer and effective information flow for their professional growth opportunities than survival. Without effective communication multilingual Rohingya. they face exclusion from information and quality service provision, leaving them Information providers isolated and vulnerable. Avoiding such and recipients errors is also important for humanitarians, who rely on effective communication The various language speakers face to plan and deliver appropriate services. different challenges in communicating with each other. These are due to both Because of their reliance on multilingual linguistic and cultural differences and intermediaries, monolingual Rohingya varying opportunities for interaction. are at greater risk of misunderstanding Understanding these differences could and misinformation about and mistrust help to devise ways to overcome the of humanitarian services. Those most challenges they create. At either end of likely to be monolingual speakers among the information flow, communicators are Rohingya in Bangladesh are people monolingual and at the greatest linguistic with no or low education, newly arrived and cultural distance from each other. refugees, and women. Monolingual Rohingya speakers access services at lower rates and experience lower- quality services compared to multilingual Rohingya speakers.

A Rohingya woman's case is processed at a humanitarian hospital before consulting with a doctor in Cox's Bazar. Credit: TWB / Fahim Hasan Ahad

35 The monolingual communicators Newly arrived refugees in Bangladesh at either end of the information flow Rohingya speakers are mostly newly arrived refugees from Myanmar (in the English speakers past two years). They usually act as camp English speakers in the response volunteers and/or service users. They are come from a variety of backgrounds usually based in the camps. They interact and therefore speak different dialects, mostly with Rohingya refugees compared including American, British, Indian, West to the other language groups due to African, East African, and Australian. shared language and identity. While some Rohingya speakers speak some of the Humanitarians that speak English tend other languages in the response (Bangla, to be foreign nationals in program lead, Myanmar, Chittagonian, and English), managerial and office-based roles. They they tend not to have fluency in any of are usually based in Cox’s Bazar town. those languages. Most do not speak any English speakers have little interaction of these other languages. with Rohingya refugees due to both spatial and language barriers. English Registered refugees in Bangladesh speakers tend not to speak any of the Rohingya speakers who are registered other languages in the response (except refugees (those that arrived in sometimes Bangla) so they rely heavily on Bangladesh from Myanmar two or three staff intermediaries. decades ago) are a distinct linguistic subgroup. Their language has evolved Rohingya speakers over time to incorporate many Bangla, Because Rohingya is not a standardized Chittagonian and English words. Many language, there is a natural variety speak some Bangla and Chittagonian, of dialects across Rakhine state in but usually not fluently. Myanmar, as well as Cox’s Bazar, where many Rohingya now live. Although there are differences among subgroups of Rohingya, the main divisions within the refugee population in Bangladesh are between newly arrived and registered refugees.

36 Information intermediaries is very important. Highly technical information from humanitarian managers Chittagonian speakers are usually in English or Bangla might easily be information intermediaries at the camp misunderstood and misinterpreted by and village levels, between Bangla Chittagonian speakers without technical and Rohingya speakers. In contrast, training. Bangla speakers are usually information intermediaries at coordination and It is therefore important to build the managerial levels, between English capacity of Chittagonian speakers by and Chittagonian speakers. hiring or training people with English, Bangla, and Rohingya language skills. As the most common information Building interpretation, translation, intermediaries to and from Rohingya and cultural mediation skills is equally volunteers and refugees, Chittagonian important. speakers determine what information is passed to them, and how those messages These capacity-building measures are interpreted. They also determine what enhance understanding and generate information is passed from refugees to knowledge in both directions along humanitarians and how those messages the information flow. The end goal is to are interpreted. provide a flow of accurate information, to build trust and increase program At these central points in the information efficiency, which importantly restores flow, technical and language capacity dignity to the Rohingya population.

Camp-in-charge (CIC) official for a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar gives an interview on language barriers to a member of the assessment team.

37 The information intermediaries Bangla speakers at the center of the information flow Humanitarians that speak Bangla tend to be non-local Bangladeshis (from Chittagonian speakers or outside of division) who Humanitarians that speak Chittagonian act as program officers and field officers. tend to be local Bangladeshis (from They are usually based in Cox’s Bazar, within Chittagong division) who act as Ukhiya, Teknaf or in the camps. They have field officers and staff. They are usually more interaction with Rohingya refugees based in Ukhia, Teknaf or in the camps. than English speakers do, but much less They have the highest level of interaction than Chittagonian speakers due to both with Rohingya refugees compared to spatial and linguistic distance. Bangla other language groups due to both speakers tend not to speak any of the spatial and linguistic proximity. While other languages in the response except Chittagonian speakers usually speak English. some of the other languages in the response (Rohingya, Bangla, and English), they tend to be fluent only in Bangla.

A facilitator conducts a focus group with registered refugees in Bangladesh.

38 Training for intermediaries Some hired full-time interpreters, but is limited most did not, so staff and volunteers were required to interpret without training and on top of their main job responsibilities. Our findings indicate humanitarian organizations could provide more, and more ongoing, training for their staff in “We don't have these important intermediary roles. any professional TWB provides training for humanitarian interpreters. My staff in Cox’s Bazar on language awareness and the basics of co-workers help me humanitarian interpreting. Some of the to interpret. They field-based humanitarians and service providers interviewed had participated in interpret from Rohingya these sessions. However, these last one to five days and are not a comprehensive to Bangla, Bangla course. Job-related training provided to Rohingya.” by the employer sometimes includes communications components, but - A Bangla-speaking woman who is these do not go deeply into language a sexual and gender-based violence and interpretation challenges or officer ethics. Refresher training (every one to six months) was common in some UNCLEAR COMMUNICATION organizations, but most did not offer any AND LOW CAPACITY CAN training beyond the initial onboarding. LEAD TO MISINFORMATION, MISTRUST, AND POWER “Yes [we train IMBALANCES translators for health In Cox's Bazar District, Chittagonian speakers are the main intermediaries services]. When a new between humanitarians and refugees. one is hired, we train Yet those intermediaries generally lack knowledge and experience of the them on hospitality, topics that humanitarians and refugees how to interact with typically want to communicate about. This, combined with limited language patients and other ability and a general lack of awareness necessary aspects. of cultural nuances, often leads to an incorrect or incomplete information It lasts for three exchange.

to five days.” Consequently, humanitarians and refugees are wary of the information - A Bangla-speaking man that intermediaries provide. The shortfall who is a camp site manager in skills also explains the presence of conflicting information about the similarities, differences, and between Rohingya and Chittagonian, as well as Chittagonian and Bangla.

39 Humanitarian communication is impaired “Though interpreters by several misunderstandings about are useful, I believe the language and literacy skills of the Rohingya population: it would be better if I could speak Rohingya... • Literacy is far lower than humanitarians believe, so verbal There’s no specific communication is essential.

way to verify accuracy, • Knowledge of spoken Bangla but as we understand and Chittagonian is also lower than humanitarians believe, so Rohingya language, we communication in Rohingya is verify and direct them essential. This is particularly evident among those with no to interpret correctly.” and low education, newly arrived refugees, and women. - A Bangla-speaking woman who is a sexual and gender-based violence officer Not only do these misunderstandings impact the effectiveness of information Humanitarian organizations can address flows from humanitarians to refugees. these power imbalances by taking They also impact on community feedback language and culture more systematically to humanitarians. into account in planning, resourcing, and implementing programs. That implies An online survey we conducted with clear source messaging, trained and humanitarians in Cox's Bazar district supported intermediaries, staff with provides insights into the state of 7 the right language skills, and services humanitarian communications. organized to promote communication. Comparing the results of this survey with These are the components of language- a Rohingya refugee household survey we aware humanitarian services responsive conducted concurrently in Kutupalong- to the needs of users. Balukhali expansion site demonstrates a gap between humanitarians’ perceptions HUMANITARIANS APPEAR about language in the camps, and the TO MISUNDERSTAND THE reality. LANGUAGE AND LITERACY SKILLS OF DISPLACED PEOPLE

7 “Humanitarians” includes any national or in- The issues outlined above seem due ternational staff member working at any level in part to a lack of awareness in the for any organization focused on the Rohing- humanitarian community of the scale of ya crisis in Cox's Bazar District. The online survey was shared in English and Bangla. For the communication challenge refugees detailed information about the online survey, face. While humanitarians recognize including methods and the original question- the importance of communication naire, see https://translatorswithoutborders. and language in the response, their org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Meth- ods-and-limitations_Cross-Border.pdf. perceptions about language barriers still do not match the reality in the camps.

40 Humanitarians overestimate Humanitarians misunderstand literacy levels in the camps refugees’ language abilities

Twenty-three percent of humanitarian Many humanitarians have an incorrect respondents to our survey felt they had understanding of the prevalence of insufficient information on literacy levels, spoken languages, as well as the languages spoken, and other relevant similarities and differences between factors for communicating with affected them. populations. While our survey was not representative, it may indicate a wider Eighty percent feel that Chittagonian is gap in knowledge across the response. very similar to Rohingya, and 75 percent believe that most Rohingya refugees When asked about their perception understand it. In fact, while the two of literacy in the camps and villages, languages are related, TWB’s research humanitarians commonly estimate that in Cox’s Bazar since 2017 has found that just over 50 percent of refugees are they do not use the same or similar words literate in Rohingya. They also believe for many important concepts.10 over 50 percent are literate in Myanmar and over 25 percent are literate in Sixty-two percent of humanitarians Bangla. These results show a limited surveyed in both contexts also believe understanding of Rohingya literacy that most refugees understand Myanmar. and education levels. In fact Myanmar is unrelated to Rohingya. Just 16 percent of refugee households In fact, 34 percent of households have surveyed by TWB said they spoke literate household members according Myanmar. to TWB's survey of refugees.8 Of the literate households, 62 percent said they were literate in Myanmar, 35 10 https://translatorswithoutborders.org/rohing- ya-refugee-crisis-response/ percent in Rohingya, and three percent in Rakhine. As Rohingya is not a standardized language and Rakhine has low standardization, these findings merit further investigation.9

8 The TWB measure for literacy in this sur- vey was self-reported ability to write in the specified language. This is slightly different from the wording of TWB’s online survey (“In your opinion, what percentage of Rohingya refugees living in camps in Cox's Bazar district understand the following written languag- es?”). 9 Observation indicates community-run schools in the camps teach children to write in Ro- hingya using a number of scripts.

41 This project is funded by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the UK Department for International Development. The views expressed in this report should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of the Swiss Confederation, nor do the views expressed necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies. The UK government and the Swiss Confederation are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained in this report.

Translators without Borders (TWB) envisions a world where knowledge knows no language barriers. The US-based nonprofit provides people access to vital knowledge in their language by connecting nonprofit organizations with a community of language professionals, building local language translation capacity, and raising awareness of language barriers. Originally founded in 1993 in France (as Traducteurs sans Frontières), TWB translates millions of words of lifesaving and life-changing information every year. In 2013, TWB created the first crisis relief translation service, Words of Relief, which has responded to crises every year since.

For more information about this study or to find out how TWB is supporting the Rohingya response in Bangladesh and Myanmar, visit our website or contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

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