Dwindling aid drives online gambling, debt in Rohingya camps

Online gambling and debt-related crime are becoming growing concerns in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps as humanitarian assistance declines and livelihood opportunities remain severely limited, authorities and the UN refugee agency say.

According to ARAB NEWS, around 1.3 million Rohingya live in 33 densely populated camps in Cox’s Bazar district, most of them having fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.

They have remained in Bangladesh as efforts to begin a UN-backed repatriation process have repeatedly failed. Rohingya refugees are generally not legally allowed to work in Bangladesh, while restrictions on movement in the camps make access to jobs outside difficult.

As a result, many families depend on humanitarian aid or irregular informal income. International assistance, however, has declined since 2021 because of competing global crises, donor fatigue over the prolonged Rohingya crisis and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UN Refugee Agency estimated that more than 35% of Rohingya households were already facing extreme humanitarian needs in 2023 as funding cuts deepened. Around the same time, authorities began noticing the first signs of online gambling in the camps.

“Rohingyas in the Cox’s Bazar camps have been getting involved in online gambling and we are noticing a rising trend,” Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, told Arab News.

“This practice started coming to light in 2023-24. From that time onward, the activity has increased significantly,” he said.

Authorities say gambling-related debt has also contributed to other forms of crime, including violence, kidnapping and extortion.

“Many abduction incidents that are taking place in the camps are related to this gambling. These are mostly staged,” Rahman said.

He said some people who fall into debt through gambling stage their own abductions and have others demand money from their parents.

UNHCR data show that hundreds of people in the camps are affected by gambling-related incidents each month.

Its latest monitoring report, covering the second quarter of 2026, identified a “sharp rise in online gambling”, linking the trend to financial hardship and limited livelihood opportunities.

“Online gambling is becoming a growing protection concern in the camps,” said Mosharaf Hossain, UNHCR spokesperson for Bangladesh.

He said refugees were increasingly turning to online gambling as a negative coping mechanism as humanitarian assistance declined and opportunities for self-reliance remained limited.

“For refugees who have spent years in displacement, meaningful opportunities are essential to protect dignity, build resilience and help people pursue safer and more hopeful futures,” Hossain said.