Bangladesh

Bangladesh is vulnerable to natural disasters, being prone to floods and cyclones and having a relatively large population of 151 million people, 43%  of whom live on less than US$1.25 a day (World Bank, 2010).

During the last ten years, major natural disasters have affected millions of people, including floods in 2004 which affected 36 million people and Cyclone Sidr in 2007, which affected nine million people and killed thousands.

In addition, an estimated 300,000 refugees of the Muslim minority Rohinga ethnic group have fled from neighbouring Myanmar since being stripped of their citizenship in 1982, and are now resident in Bangladesh. Tens of thousands live in official and informal refugee settlements, while a far larger number live as ‘illegal economic migrants’ throughout Bangladesh. The Rohinga refugee crisis is often considered a ‘forgotten’ crisis.

Humanitarian aid to Bangladesh increased dramatically in 2007 to US$287 million following Cyclone Sidr, but has fallen steadily since then to US$84 million in 2010.