Navigating Life in Protracted Displacement: The lived Experiences of Rohingya Youth in the Refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh
Author
Sharif, Ahmed
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-10-15
Abstract
This thesis explores how Rohingya youth in Camp 15, Jamtoli, Cox’s Bazar experience and respond to educational, social, and security barriers while living in long-term displacement. It focuses especially on restricted freedom of movement, camp living conditions, family responsibilities, and hopes for the future. The study uses a qualitative research design based on five semi-structured interviews with Rohingya youth living in Camp 15. The interviews were translated, transcribed, and analyzed thematically to identify recurring patterns in participants’ stories while still paying attention to their individual experiences. The analysis is guided by Giddens’ structuration theory, Malkki’s work on displacement, identity and belonging, and Carling’s aspiration-ability framework, which examines the relationship between what young people hope for and what they are actually able to do. The findings show that exclusion from education is not only felt as a lack of schooling, but as an interruption in their pathway towards higher education, recognized qualifications, employment, and greater independence. Limited mobility and insecurity further restrict access to education, services, work, and social participation, while shelter conditions, scarce resources, and family responsibilities shape the everyday reality in which young people study and try to plan for the future. At the same time, participants show agency by continuing to learn, teaching younger children, developing practical skills, supporting their families, maintaining social relationships, and taking part in community activities. The study identifies a persistent gap between aspirations and abilities. The young people hold on to aspirations for higher education, professional work, contributing to their community, greater mobility, and an eventual return to Myanmar, yet their ability to realize these goals is tightly constrained by structural, institutional, material, and political conditions. Overall, the thesis argues that Rohingya youth should be understood neither only through their vulnerability nor as fully free and autonomous individuals, but as social actors who exercise agency within strong constraints. By linking education, mobility, insecurity, living conditions, belonging, and future aspirations, the study provides a focused and nuanced account of how young people negotiate possibilities under prolonged displacement.
Denne specialeundersøgelse ser på, hvordan unge Rohingya i Camp 15, Jamtoli, Cox’s Bazar oplever og håndterer barrierer inden for uddannelse, sociale forhold og sikkerhed, mens de lever i langvarig flygtningesituation. Der lægges særlig vægt på begrænset bevægelsesfrihed, forholdene i lejren, ansvar over for familien og drømme for fremtiden. Undersøgelsen bygger på et kvalitativt forskningsdesign med fem semistrukturerede interviews med unge Rohingya, der bor i Camp 15. Interviewene blev oversat, transskriberet og analyseret tematisk for at finde mønstre på tværs af deltagernes fortællinger, samtidig med at deres individuelle erfaringer blev bevaret. Analysen er inspireret af Giddens’ teori om strukturation, Malkkis arbejde om fordrivelse, identitet og tilhørsforhold samt Carlings aspiration-ability-ramme, der ser på forholdet mellem unges ønsker og deres faktiske handlemuligheder. Resultaterne viser, at udelukkelse fra uddannelse ikke kun opleves som mangel på undervisning, men som et brud i deres mulighed for at komme videre til højere uddannelse, opnå anerkendte kvalifikationer, få arbejde og opnå større selvstændighed. Begrænset bevægelsesfrihed og utryghed gør det yderligere svært at få adgang til uddannelse, serviceydelser, arbejde og socialt liv, mens boligforhold, knappe ressourcer og familieansvar præger de daglige vilkår, hvor de unge forsøger at lære og planlægge deres fremtid. Samtidig viser deltagerne handlekraft ved at fortsætte med at lære, undervise yngre børn, udvikle praktiske færdigheder, støtte deres familier, holde sociale relationer ved lige og deltage i aktiviteter i lokalsamfundet. Undersøgelsen peger på et vedvarende gab mellem unges aspirationer og deres muligheder for at realisere dem. De unge holder fast i håb om videregående uddannelse, professionelt arbejde, bidrag til lokalsamfundet, større bevægelsesfrihed og en fremtidig tilbagevenden til Myanmar, men deres muligheder er stærkt begrænset af strukturelle, institutionelle, materielle og politiske forhold. Samlet argumenterer studiet for, at unge Rohingya hverken bør forstås kun som sårbare eller som helt frie individer, men som sociale aktører, der udøver handlekraft inden for snævre rammer. Ved at forbinde uddannelse, mobilitet, utryghed, levevilkår, tilhørsforhold og fremtidsdrømme giver undersøgelsen et nuanceret billede af, hvordan unge forhandler deres muligheder i en langvarig flygtningesituation.
[This abstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]