Questioning protracted stays in refugee camps. An overview of camp management and perspectives on durable solutions for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Abstract: Refugee camps, mostly located in the Global South, host millions of human beings and mirror the overburden and incapacity of humanitarian response. If these places were once supposedly created to aggregate asylum-seekers temporarily, now they have become the norm for prolonged stays where future generations grow.This thesis explores the viability of the UNHCR’s durable solutions for Rohingya Refugees- local integration, resettlement, and repatriation. Moreover, it questions the role of non-state actors when it comes to decision-making in refugee governance. The analysis is conducted through a critical interpretive synthesis. The selected literature was scrutinized and linked to theoretical concepts such as human security, securitization of migration, legal pluralism, and complex interdependence.In summary, the literature analyzed shares a unanimity that, although conditions in the camps are unsustainable for permanent stays, efforts to build better futures for refugees are not being explored enough. This is mainly due to a reluctance of States to accept refugees on behalf of their integrity and security, in the sense that refugees are perceived as threats to their sovereignty. In this sense, potential efforts by non-state actors to provide a sustainable future for refugees fall behind: in a scenario where national security prevails, keeping refugees in the camp seems to be the safest choice.