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THE STRUGGLE FOR EDUCATION AMONG ROHINGYA REFUGEES

OF MYANMAR LIVING IN BANGLADESH

Student Name: Al Amin Rabby

Student Number: 14202353

Program: International Migration and Social Cohesion (MISOCO)

Second Year University: University College Dublin.

2

nd

Year Supervisor:

Dr. Steven Loyal, University College Dublin.

Email:

steven.loyal@ucdconnect.com

or

stevenloyal2002@yahoo.com

1

st

Year Supervisor:

1. Professor Willem Van Schendel, University of Amsterdam,

Email: Schendel, Willem van

H.W.vanSchendel@uva.nl

2. Professor Gunther Dietz, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain.

Email:

guntherdietz@gmail.com

, gdietz@uv.mx .

Dublin

May 2015

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Declaration

I am declaring that this thesis is my own work. I have used various sources given in the list of

references. I am aware about the completion and assessment rules of the MISOCO program.

Al Amin Rabby

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

1

1.2 Rohingya: Legal Status in Bangladesh

3

1.3 Educational Provision for Refugee Children 4

1.4 Research Question and Objectives 5

1.5 Rationale of the Study 5

1.6 Outline of the thesis 6

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORY

2.1 Introduction

7

2.2 Who is Refugee? 7

2.3 Importance of education 9

2.4 Problem and Barriers of Refugee Education: Developed and Developing Countries 9

2.5 Education, Social Capital and Cultural Capital 15

2.6 Theoretical Framework 17

2.7 Conclusion 21

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction 23

3.2 Research Design 23

3.3 Research Strategies and Access to the field 24

3.4 Sampling and unit of Analysis 28

3.5 Ethical Considerations 30

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3.7 Own Reflection 32

3.8 Data analysis 34

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4. Introduction 35

4.1 The field of Struggle 35

4.1.1 Problems with curriculum 35

4.1.2 Abusive behavior 39

4.1.3 Local Newspaper reports and reaction 42

4.2 Education as Resource 45

4.2.1 Why parents want education for children 45

4.2.2 Students view 49

4.2.3 Teachers view 50

4.3 Strategies and Practices: How they access education 52

4.3.1: Student’s strategies and practices 53

4.3. 2Family strategies and Practices: What parents did to educate their children 59

4.4 Social capital and cultural capital: Role of friends, teachers and local leaders 62

4.4.1 Role of friends and peer 62

4.4.2 Role of local school teachers 64

4.4.3 Role of local community and the authority 68

4.4.4 Recognition among Refugee community 70

4.5 Conclusion 71

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS

5.1 Conclusion 73

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5.2 References 74

ANNEXES

Annex-1, Accronymes 81

Annex-2, List of the Interview respondents 82

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Acknowledgement

I would like thank MISOCO for granting Erasmus Mundus Scholarship and Shahjala University

of Science and Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh for the study leave with pay.

I am grateful to 2

nd

year thesis supervisor Dr. Seven Loyal, for his tireless efforts and discursive

comments in earlier drafts. I do appreciate his continuous monitoring and guidance without that

this would be highly impossible to finish timely. I am thankful to Dr. Alice Feldman,

UCD-MISOCO coordinator, for reference letters for me and arranging workshops and seminars during

the formative process of the thesis.

I do acknowledge 1

st

year supervisors; Professor Willem Van Schendel and Professor Gunter

Ditez for their guidance, suggestions and feedbacks.

I appreciate the RRRC for the permission to access refugee camp and Mr. Sagar and Shuvra for

their support in this process. My thanks to UNHCR sub office head for introducing me with Mr.

Huad and Mr. Saiful who helped me during field work. Moreover, I am grateful to Mr. AH Himu

for tremendous support during visits in the camp and my colleagues; SK. Biswas for introducing

me with this nice guy, and Karima and Mr. Shabul for their guidance about the camp. Thanks to

Monika Apa for the cooperation. I appreciate Mr.Saikat, Mr. Minhaz ,Mr. Shakil and Mr.Moide

for providing me a room in perfect time.

My special gratefulness to the refugee students, their parents and the school teachers without

them this study would be impossible.

Furthermore, gratitude to my Colleague Nasrin for her cooperation and her elder sister and

brother in law for being so caring. Thanks to Rabu for arranging flight ticket during field visit.

Many thanks to my friends; Piyali, Kate, Joe, Marisa, Tirza, Armen, Atik and all other for their

continuous support, comments, discussions and friendly critique during the process.

Regards

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction:

UNHCR (2013) estimated1 that globally 51.2 million people were forced to leave their homeland due to conflict or persecution. In addition, UNHCR (2012) reviled that 23,000 persons per day are forced to leave homes and seek refuge in other countries. The reality is that 80 percent of the refugees are hosted by developing countries (UNHCR, 2012). Recent increase in number of refugees due to war in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Libya and some other parts of African continent. However, refugees who are living in host countries for longer duration become forgotten issue such as Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh2.

Nearly 300,000 to 500,000 undocumented Rohingya RAS from Myanmar3 have been living for more than three decades in Bangladesh. However, only 32,600 recognized refugees are living in two official camps in Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh, of which more than fifty percent are children (Ahmed, 2010; Lewa, 2009, Feeny, 2001 and UNHCR,2014). The Rohingya are from the Rakhain (Arakan) state of Myanmar. They are decedents of Moorish, Arab and Persian traders and soldiers who ruled between 7th to 15thcenturies (Ahmed, 2010).In the British period, there were several movements in and out of Burma. In 1942, the war between Britain and the Japan forced many people to leave Burma for East Bengal. The Rohingya were allies of the British while, the Buddhists supported Japan. That caused further

1

the figures represent data of 2012 including refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people.

2In 1971, after a bloody liberation war with Pakistan, Bangladesh (previously known as East Pakistan and East

Bangle in British period) achieved independence.

3Myanmar, commonly known as Burma achieved independence in 4th January 1948 from Great Britain. The

country lies between Bangladesh and Thailand, with open coasts on the Bay of Bengal in the South. It has borders with in the Northeast of China, North West of India and in the Southeast of Vietnam (MSU, 2014). The total surface area is 676 578 square kilometres with an estimated population of approximately 52 million (nearly 1.2 million are not enumerated) and 76 persons living per square kilometre (UN, 2014). The GDP per capita is $1125.9 and nearly 26% of the total population is living below the poverty line (UN, 2014 and WFP, 2014). Majority of the population 89 percent are Buddhist, 4 percent are Muslims, 4 percent Christian and 1 percent Hindu and 2 percent are followers of other religions (CIA, 2014). After 1989, the Military government has changed the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar in 1989(ABITSU, 2014).

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tension between the Buddhists and Muslims who stayed in Burma after independence in 1948 (Silverstein, 1980, cited by Pittaway, 2008).

The Government of Myanmar (GOM) considered the Rohingya not only as enemy but also as illegal migrants from East Pakistan (Ahmed, 2010). Due to persecution the Rohingya took up arms to establish their rights. They were persuaded to lay down arms, by the promise of political rights and citizenship (ibid, 2010). Nevertheless, the Rohingya were excluded from the census in 1977 and the 1982 citizenship law 4(Lewa, 2012; Fenny, 2001 and Ahmed, 2010).

The eviction5 of Rohingya increased in Myanmar, while military started clearing space to build army barracks and model villages6 (Ahmed, 2010 and Ullah, 2011). The largest Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh occurred in the 1970s and early 1990s. The Government of Bangladesh (GOB) recognized 258,000 Rohingya as refugees in 1991 through an executive order. However, undocumented 200,000 Myanmar nationals including Rohingya were not registered as refugees, and were considered as illegal immigrants or economic migrants

4The 1982 Citizenship Act, which confined citizenship to persons who belong to one of 135 ‘national races’

(from which the Rohingyas were excluded), and to those whose ancestors settled in the country before 1823, effectively formalized their status as ‘stateless persons’ (Lui,2007 and Ullah, 2011). The law categorized three types of citizenship (a) full citizenship, (b) associated citizenship and (c) naturalized citizenship. Citizenship security cards were issued consistent with a person’s citizenship status: Pink, Blue and Green respectively (Lewa, 2012,Fenny, 2001 and Ahmed, 2010). They were asked to register as Bengali-Burmese and thus excluded from the rights of citizenship and human rights (ibid, 2010; Fenny, 2001 and Lewa, 2009).

5Nearly 800,000 Rohingya are living in Myanmar, mainly in Rakhain/Arakan states, constituting 91percent of

the state population (Lewa,2012). Tens of thousands have fled in recent decades to Malaysia, up to half a million to Bangladesh, and an unknown number are scattered from Thailand, to India, to Saudi Arabia (IRIN, 2014). Ahmed (2010) has identified several factors that forced Rohingya to escape from Burma, these are: deprivation of citizenship, forced labor, forced eviction and relocation, mass killing, rape, looting of properties, destroying mosques, and a weak Myanmar-Bangladesh border (Ahmed. 2010).

6The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) of Myanmar Government, has taken plan to setup “Model

Villages” to populate the Rohingya majority areas of Arakan by Buddhists people. Model villages have been established in the confiscated lands of the Rohingay communities. They also destroyed the previous Rohingya Holyand historical places. Under the project each of the families will receive 3 acres of Rohingya lands for cultivation and 0.2 acres of lands for housing along with monthly allowance for meal, monetary helps, a pair of

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(Ahmed, 2010). With the assistance of UNHCR 236,000 refugees were repatriated to Myanmar in 1993 and 1997. The repatriation was highly controversial and many of those repatriated to Myanmar have since returned to Bangladesh (ibid, 2010, and UNHCR, 2007). Bangladesh is a non-signatory state of the 1951 UN Refugee convention or the 1967 protocol. However, it is party to a number of UN conventions7 (UNHCR, 2011 and UNHCR, 2014). The UNHCR’s legal status in Bangladesh is based on a Memorandum of Understanding in 1993.The activities8 are strongly focused on repatriation, seclusion to the camps and restriction of economic activities out of the camps (UNHCR, 2012; Fenny, 2001 and Lewa, 2009). There is no domestic refugee law or policy in Bangladesh to guide refugee rights and protection.

1.2 Rohinga: Legal Status in Bangladesh

Bangladesh citizenship9 law does not permit any Rohingya refugee to marry local citizens and denies other basic rights that are awarded to refugees who were born in Bangladesh (Lewa, 2014, The Newage, 2014). The Rohingya RAS living in Bangladesh are subject to hostile or indifferent policies, various forms of abuse, subjected to arrests, detention, beatings, withholding of rations, and forced repatriation by the government (Burma Human

7such as; Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Convention on the Rights of the

Child(CRC), the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families (UNHCR, 2011and UNHCR, 2014).

8In Bangladesh, the UNHCR works with the Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC) which is

under the authority of Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (MFDM)(Ahmed, 2010). The MFDM assigns managers from civil servants (known as Camp in Charges or CiCs) to the two refugee camps in Nayapara and Kutupalong. The MFDM receives financial support from the UNHCR to operate their activities in the refugee camps. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Ministry of Finance’s Economic Relations Division and the Ministry of Health works through staffs supported by the UNHCR under the MFDM project (UNHCR, 2012). In camps the CIC coordinates the work of all international organizations, non government organizations, security forces and health workers (Ahmed, 2010 and UNHCR 2012).

9The Bangladesh citizenship law considers anyone who is born in the territory as a Jus soil citizen. At the same

time it approved dual citizenship for Bangladeshi citizen or their inheritors’. However, the government may notify any person or categories of person to whom the law shall not apply (Ahmed, 2010 and UK border Agency, 2011).

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right report, 2007). In addition, The GOB thinks development activities will work as pull factor to entice more Rohingya from Myanmar (Danish Immigration Service, 2011 and Ahmed, 2010).

1.3 Educational Provision for Refugee Children:

Since mid-1996 the GOB allowed formal education10 inside the Kutupalong camp and since 2000 in the Nayapara camp. The education programs are for various age groups such as Play group 4+, Pre-primary 5+, Primary 6+, non-formal 12+ and adults (Ahmed, 2010). UNHCR (2014) reports that the GOB has approved the provision of Grade 6 and Grade 7, junior secondary level education to refugees in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The program is funded by UNICEF and implemented by a NGO named Village Education & Resource Center (VERC). In 2013; 6,835 students were enrolled in the schools, with 3,373 male students and 3,462 female students in 22 schools (Ahmed, 2010; UNHCR, 2011 and VERC, 2013).

The Rohingya often try to adopt Bengali as a language and to present them as Bengali, some children manage to go to formal schools outside the camps, though it is legally unacceptable (Danish Immigration services, 2011). Studies showed that the refugee students are highly eager to get education (UNHCR 2014, Pitteway 2008, Ahmed, 2010, IRIN, 2010 and Fenny, 2001). The parents considers education as vital and as the only way out for their children, if they are ever to have a future (Pitteway, 2008) however majority of the Rohingyaare illiterate (WFP-UNHCR, 2010). In this context, I am willing to understand the educational struggle of

10Education in Bangladesh has three major phases; these are primary, secondary, higher education. Primary

education is a five year cycle starts from grade one to five, whereas secondary education is a seven year one, with three years of junior secondary from grade 6 to grade 8. Two years of secondary from grade 9 to grade 10 and two years of higher secondary from grade 11 to grade 12.At the same time there is a technical and vocational stream of education which leads to 4 years graduation from poly technical institutions. Moreover, another form of education is Madrasa education which parallel to general education, giving emphasis on religious education (MoE, 2014). After completing 12 years of schooling students get entrance into universities

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the refugee students and their strategies in navigating education in Bangladesh from a Bourdieusian lens.

1.4 Research Question and Objectives:

My research question is what is the educational struggle of the Rohingya refugee students in Bangladesh? In so doing, I would like to know:

1. What are the barrier and problems for refugees to access formal education? 2. Why and how do Rohingya attempt to access formal education for their children? 3. What strategies do they use to access local schools/ formal education?

1.5 Rationale of the Study:

Sociological studies mainly focus on the role of education in relation to social inequality and social exclusion. However, studies about education of underprivileged and discriminated groups such as refugee and asylum seekers (RAS) are uncommon (Pinson and Arnot, 2007). In many cases RAS issues are seen as adult problem and a temporary one, despite the fact that nearly 50 percent of the RAS are children and most of them live in protected camps for long durations (UNHCR, 2009).

There are lot of studies about refugee students in Developed countries however, studies about RAS in Developing countries are few (Meda, Sookrajh and Maharaj,2012). My assumption is that there might be differences in hosting refugee in a poor country like Bangladesh a non-signatory of the 1951 UN refugee convention. In addition, the research concerning refugee focuses on issues like reconciliation, peace-building, health, employment and primary education( e.g. Prior and Niesz, 2013; Kanu,2008;Shakya et.al.(nd); Stevenson&Willott, 2007; McBrien, 2005). So the current study focuses on secondary education of the refugees in

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a poor host11 country such as Bangladesh. Moreover, education for the refugees is seen as luxury when the host population is also poor and deprived of educational facilities. Ensuring education for refugees is challenging for both the host government and the international organizations. This increases the challenge for students and their families to manage educational access with struggle in an alien land.

1.6 Outline of the thesis:

In the current study, I will address the issues as follows; Chapter 2 will provide the reviews of main research studies about refugee education, social capital, cultural capital and their adaptations in new refugee settlements. The section will provide reviews of refugee education both in developed and developing countries context. Moreover, it will deal with the theoretical framework suitable for this study looking at Bourdieu’s notion of habitus, cultural capital and social capital. In Chapter 3, I will describe the strategies in accessing field, sample, and unit of analysis, data collection method and data processing techniques of the study. I will discuss about ethical considerations of the research in refugee context and the limitations of the study. The 4thChapter will discuss findings from the field work in various subsections such as problems and barriers of the refugee students, family and individual strategies to overcome or bypass the problems in accessing schools, the educational practice and the support from local friends, leaders and other related issues along with the analysis to tie these findings with the theoretical framework. In Chapter 5, I will draw conclusion along with my objectives and theoretical underpinning and will try to reach conclusion including future research dimensions.

11World Bank (2013) reports that 30 million students are in Bangladesh however, 5 million students are out of schools for poverty and lack of schools (WB, 2013). The report does not consider the Rohingya refugees, internally displaced people due to climate change, river erosion and poverty that might contribute in educational exclusion. In 2010, the GOB has formulated a new education policy, which afterwards became a law that gives emphasis on universal primary and secondary education for all and adopted all the provisions of the CRC (MOE, 2010) but still there is nothing mentioned about education for the refugee children.

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction:

In refugee camps, daily life includes issues of food, health, water and sanitation. As the period of camp life increases, education for refugee children also becomes an issue. Nearly 50 percent are children among the Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh (UNHCR, 2014). Education is not only an issue of human rights, but also an opportunity to improve the future for refugees. Keeping the research question in mind, the review of the literature below focuses on several issues. First of all, I looked at literature that defines and positions refugees with citizenship. Secondly, I reviewed various literatures on education for refugee children in both developed and developing countries. Lastly, I utilized a theoretical framework

incorporating habitus, social capital and cultural capital which will provide a way to understand the struggle for access to education in Bangladesh.

2.2 Who is a Refugee?

Generally speaking, the word ‘refugee’ is used to signify an individual who goes to another country to save his/her life from racial, ethnic, religious and political violence in their home country. The United Nations 1951 Convention defines refugee as someone who is unable or reluctant to go back to his country of origin:

… owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it” (United Nations 1951,p.2; cited in Meda,Sookrajh&Maharaj, 2012, p.154).

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This convention of 1951 and the 1967 protocol recognize rights of people as refugees in host countries, which include rights to protection, movement and work. The convention is

criticized as Eurocentric, limiting the definition of refugees to those facing political

persecution rather than those facing persecution based on ethnicity or religion (Boyle et al., 1998 cited in Pinson, Arnot and Candappa, 2010,p.11).

As Fred, Chung and Pedersen (2003) mentioned, refugees are not same as immigrants, sojourners or guest workers, mainly due to the unintended nature of their displacement, regarding their lack of control of the war and political violence that affects them

(Meda,Sookrajh&Maharaj, 2012,p.154). The outcome of the forced displacement is that refugees are neither psychologically nor pragmatically ready to leave their homes. They suffer from uncertainty, chaos, danger and the complete disruption of normal life (ibid, 2012, p.154). Again, refugees are distinct from asylum seekers. An asylum seeker is “a person who has left his/her place of origin and formally applied for asylum in another country, waiting to be granted refugee status” (Walker, 2011 cited in ibid, 2012, p.154 and PriorandNiesz, 2013). Nevertheless, Citizenship entitles an individual to: the right to live as a human being along; “civil rights (e.g. freedom of conscience, protection of property and some associational liberty); political rights (e.g. to vote, hold office, speak and associate freely); and social rights (e.g. to form labor unions and to receive any social benefits that the welfare state provides)” (Howard, 2006, p.445). However, refugees are deprived of these basic rights and suffer from discriminatory policies from the host states. Some of the developing countries are not signatory members of the 1951 refugee convention (UNHCR, 2012) and have no law(s) that guide them in a particular direction, addressing the issues of free movement, work, education, healthcare and other basic rights to live respectable lives as human beings.

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2.3 Importance of education:

Education is viewed as one of the central pillars of humanitarian responses along with food, shelter and health services (UNHCR, 2001). As children are vulnerable and dependent, they are in the process of growing not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. UNHCR (2001) assert that the sudden and violent nature of migration forces families into uncertainty and disrupts community structure and thus highly affects the physical,

psychological and social wellbeing of children. UNHCR (2001) also indicate four reasons why education is essential in a refugee context. These are: 1. Education is a human right; 2. Education serves as a safeguard through which exploitation and abuse of children can be identified; 3. Education is helpful in meeting psychosocial needs; 4. Education enhances self-reliance and social well-being by building human capital (UNHCR, 2001; and Meda, Sookrajh and Maharaj, 2012). Moreover, educational credentials are highly valued in every corner of the world as it gives emphasis on individual achievement rather than ascribed features. Education is the only determining factor which ensures how far an individual will achieve success (Collins, 1979).

2.4 Problems and Barriers of Refugee Education:

The challenges that refugee students face have been studied in different contexts with refugee students from different continents (Uptin, Wright and Valerie, 2014; Prior and Niesz, 2013, Kanu ,2008,Shakya et.al.(nd); Stevenson&Willott , 2007; Zeus, 2011 and McBrien, 2005). The challenges students face are generally academic (Kanu, 2008; Bačáková,2011,

Shakyaet.al.(nd)) and economic as the allocation of resources for refugee students is very low and refugee families are unable to meet the expenses to continue education. (McBrien, 2005, kanu, 2008; Meda, Sookrajh and Maharaj, 2012; Bačáková and Closs,2013 and Bačáková,2011). Some other explored the psychosocial and experiences of trauma

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(Shakyaet.al.nd; and Jones and Rutter, 1998 cited in Tylor, 2008) and cultural and integration issues (Kanu, 2008; Portes.et.al.,2010, and Portes and Zhou, 1993). Moreover, studies also focused on the schooling and education systems in countries of resettlement (Matthews, 2008; Tylor, 2008; Taylor and Sidhu 2012) . A few studies (such as Devine, 2009; Darmody, Byrne and McGinnity’s, 2012, Kevin, 2008 and Morrice, 2011) focused on the issue of habitus, cultural capital and social capital for education of the refugees. However, the studies were in developed countries where refugees are already granted their status. the literatures does not discuss that despite living in marginal conditions, the refugee families and their children are struggling to achieve education with a minimal amount of economic, cultural, and social capital.

2.4.1 In Developed countries:

In their study, Uptin, Wright and Valerie (2014) tried to understand the educational experiences of African and Asian refugee students before their resettlement in Australia. They reported that stigmatizing the refugee in today’s world has severe consequences in limiting resources and access to education for refugee students. The refugee students reported that they built up new identities to get into the schools of first host countries before coming to Australia. The schools were identified as “an important space for exercising agency for the refugee students”, and allowed them to respond to their situations and negotiate shifts in their own identity to ensure better lives (ibid, 2014, p.8). The study shows that many students faced discrimination due to their embodied differences, and peers in schools did not accept them as friends. The students themselves were accepting of the abuse, and did not complain to anyone, as they felt that they had to play the ‘good’ role to gain help for education and other necessary services (ibid, 2014, p.12). Despite the barriers, their continued ‘practice’ of

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attending schools showed the motivation of these students to achieve education. Here, the constitution of “new identity” in order to attain education is remarkable. However, my own thought is that the study did not mention that with these everyday practices, the refugee students are instilled with strategies and experiences that shape their lives, which might lead them to gain more recognition not only in their own community but also in the host society as well.

While studying Karen refugees from Myanmar who have been resettled in the United States, Prior and Niesz (2013) discuss the preliminary experiences of cultural differences and the stories of adjustment over time in new host settings. At first, the refugee students remained isolated and anxious or did not want to go school; however, gradually they adapted to their classes and built friendships with peers. School family events and links with parents also helped children to adapt in the new school environment. This research shows how to support refugee children and their families in a new community and how to adapt classrooms to provide students with the best educational experience possible (ibid,2013, p.15). However, this study was on protected refugees who have legal rights, whereas students who are in local schools where they are not legally permitted might have different strategies for adaptation (UNHCR, 2011). I assume that some of the strategies they discuss might work for refugee students who have lived in a country for a long time because living in an area for a long duration gives an opportunity to learn more about the host culture and society and thus gain awareness about education system of the host country.

Kanu (2008) studied the educational needs and barriers of the African refugee students in Canada. This research showed that African refugee students faced various problems academically, economically, and psychosocially in their resettlement. These challenges negatively affected their capability to integrate and to do well in school, which thus created barriers in their socio-economic opportunities. Providing more resources to the schools and

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cooperation among different actors: teachers, housing and family services, and health

personnel can improve the services to refugee students (ibid: 2008,p.935). Moreover, Shakya et.al.(nd) in their study, explored how refugee youth face several systemic obstacles in pursuing their educational goals in Canada, such as: “(1) information barriers; (2) non-recognition of "foreign" educational credentials and inaccurate academic placement; (3) linguistic barriers; (4) financial barriers; and (5) discrimination” (ibid,nd, p.71). They indicate that strategies used by the students to cope in school include: asking for help and support from friends; looking for help from education-related new-comer services; searching for help from all other available sources; and being ready to query authority about their bad decisions (ibid, nd,p.73). These studies show that if the refugee students are provided with more information and financial support, along with extra support services, then they have a better chance at adapting and doing well in schools. Even for the protected refugees, there might be the absence of support provisions for students who attend formal schools. However, I assume that the coping strategies will provide support for gaining access to education.

While studying the educational aspirations among teenage refugee children in United Kingdom, Stevenson &Willott (2007), found that various issues such as: disrupted education; experiences of trauma; concerns about status; and English language difficulties are affecting refugee students’ educational outcomes. They also reported that despite facing multiple disadvantages, many students view higher education as means to avoid poverty and to fight their inequity. Poverty among the refugee students affected their education as they had to pay more tuition fees than the local students. There was a lack of information about refugee rights and entitlements, which subjects to choose, and the required documents for admission. Furthermore, uncertainty about their refugee status made them worry about whether they will be allowed to stay in the UK (ibid, 2007, p.678). Despite fewer support systems and

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opportunities for higher education, the students were highly inspired and motivated to continue.

These studies highlight that a lack of language skills is a barrier for academic potential and adapting to the school environment. However, in the context of Bangladesh, the Rohingya refugees speak a local dialect of the Bengali language and the school curriculum is in Bengali (UNHCR, 2014). Thus these students might not face the same language problems studying in Bengali schools. Though, these students might have problems if they repatriate to Myanmar, where the national language is Burmese (Ahmed, 2010). As well, there may be problems of recognition of certificates by the GOM or the GOB in order to find jobs.

Some studies (e. g. Matthews, 2008; Tylor, 2008; Taylor and Sidhu 2012) focus on refugee schooling and education systems in countries of resettlement. For example, Taylor and Sidhu (2012) and Metthews (2008) investigate the function of schooling and its involvement in resettlement of refugee children in Australia. These studies identify that in camps educational facilities were not fully available to the children because of their lack of full citizenship rights in their countries of origin and of first asylum (ibid, 2012). Even in western countries living in protected camps (e.g. Australia), children suffer due to lack of education. The authors suggest that inclusive education in schools might be helpful not only for successful integration and building social cohesion of the students, but also to understand more about the host society and education. To ensure education for refugee students, schools should create learning environments with space for participation, communication, relationships, friendships, belonging and learning about one self and others (Metthews, 2008,p.42). Tylor (2008) identifies problems at the policy level. There are no policies or strategies for refugee education in Queensland. He argues that education for refugee students is viewed as less important than for other students by the government. At the same time, the research criticizes

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the over emphasis on traumatized experiences, which leaves other migration experiences invisible. Therefore, previous studies leave scope to address other experiences, such as poverty, racism, education, uncertainty of migration status and other inequality related issues.

In their studies about Myanmar’s refugee students’ in the Czech Republic, Bačáková and Closs (2013) and Bačáková (2011) find that teachers have no previous experiences or training for having refugee students in their classrooms. There was a lack of funding for the schools; some of the students were placed at wrong education levels considering their age and

previous education. They also identify the exclusion of refugee students from classmate and peer groups, and lack of participation of children and parents in the educational decision-making process (ibid, 2013). These practices deny equal opportunities for the resettled refugee families to access and to participate fully in education, and in Czech Republic society in general. My assumption is that the experience of the Rohingya refugee students, who are more or less similar in body color, language and culture of Bangladeshi students, might have different experiences from the racial discrimination affecting children in these studies. Still, it is assumed that there are other forms of abuse and discriminations that they face in schools.

2.4.2 In Developing countries:

Meda, Sookrajh and Maharaj (2012) study refugee children’s right to primary education in South Africa. They find that refugee students face two types of barriers: admission-related barriers and barriers related to staying in school. Being non-citizens, school enrollment requires identity documents, transfer documents and birth certificates that refugee families often cannot always provide. Even after collecting required documents, the school fees were often beyond the means of poor refugee families. Furthermore, they find that some principles

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denied refugee students admission to schools because the schools were already out of capacity. Moreover, the lack of infrastructure such as enough classrooms, and lack of awareness of teachers and education committees about rights of refugee students also shape refugee students access to schools. Thus refugee children are largely deprived of the right to primary education in South Africa.

Bonfiglio (2010), discusses the non-formal education (NFE) provided to refugees in Ghana that helps to create a learning environment for this population who are unable to access formal education for various reasons. The study identified that NFE helped refugees build social networks and trust among themselves, which was valuable for finding jobs in Ghana. The flexibility and different types of NFE facilitates in Ghana make it a form of education which is accessible to refugees. The educational skills taught are based on needs and capacities specific to refugees in various refugee contexts. The study argues that NFE has increased refugee capabilities that contribute to survive in a marginal context. However, critiques might argue that the NFE does not change the marginal positions, it just helps the refugees to cope within the current situation.

2.5 Education, Social capital and cultural capital:

Studies about education and cultural capital for immigrants and refugees mainly focus on assimilation to the local society. The seminal study by Portes and Zhou (1993) indicate that immigrants and refugee students in the USA can assimilate to the host society if their families are able to provide sufficient resources to them. If there is lack of cultural, social and

economic capital, then migrants assimilate into the lower strata of the socio-economic hierarchy of the host society. They use the term “segmented assimilation” to explain that social, cultural and economic capital help to determine different paths for migrants. The first

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describes how immigrants will assimilate to the host society directly through a straight line to the middle class that will lead to upward mobility. The second path is downward assimilation into the underclass, which afterwards hinders the opportunity for upward mobility. And the third one is selective assimilation, which explains the way in which migrants’ own values and social ties within the ethnic community provide them with social capital to help the

newcomer to assimilate into the host society. However, the study does not put emphasis on the ‘strength of weak ties’ in providing social support and thus helping them to gain education (Granovettor, 1973). In addition, Portes et.al., (2010) discusses educational achievement and social status attainments among the immigrants of Spain. They found that high aspirations among youth lead to higher opportunities of success. Moreover, parental human capital and influences along with their access to social capital provides the scope for younger generations to achievements.

In her study, Devine (2009) considers how migrant children practice capital accumulation throughout their participation in Irish schools. The study finds that children with a middle class background are aware of the value of education for mobility and opportunity in the future. On the other hand, poorer, marginalized and former asylum-seeking families often lack strong social support systems, personal time or energy and have inadequate cultural resources to invest in building social capital in the school and local community. Nonetheless, teachers also identify that migrant students were hardworking and highly motivated to do well in schools. In addition, Kevin (2008) also reports that Somali male students in USA used their social network and coping strategies to achieve cultural capital through education. Similarly, Darmody, Byrne and McGinnity’s (2012) study in Irish context finds that migrant children’s educational career is influenced by various economic, social and cultural barriers in different forms of discrimination and prejudice. They argue that these obstacles contribute

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cumulative disadvantages for migrant students. Admission policy and requirements, and the subjective (and often prejudice) choices of teachers shows that there is gap between policy and practice. The study also indicates that accumulation of disadvantages might have consequences on both an individual level, with lower occupational attainment, and on the societal level, resulting in lower social cohesion (ibid, 2012,p.148).

2.6 Theoretical Framework:

“Education is the most important determinant yet discovered of how far one will go in today's world.” (1979,p.3) --Randall Collins, The Credential Society.

Pierre Bourdieu’s contribution to the sociology of education is notable when we think of education and its impact on society in general and the individual in particular. He paid specific attention to the education system as his argument was that education plays a significant role in the reproduction of class privileges and social inequality. Education is a form of cultural capital which serves as vehicle for the individual to achieve higher social positions. For Bourdieu, education is a field of struggle that (re)produces inequality through schooling, cultural practices of students and their family (Gewirtz and Cribb, 2009, p.46). Bourdieu’s work about habitus, capital and field provides various tools for analysing the relationship between the social world and the individual, as well as the voluntary and involuntary movement of individuals in social space through migration (Morrice:2011). The dialectical relationship between the individual and the social enables social structure and culture act upon the individual and thus reproduces social structure through every day practices(ibid, 2011).

According to Bourdieu, habitus is “a system of durable, transposable dispositions which functions as the generative basis of the structure, objectively unified practice” (Bourdieu,

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1979, vii;cited in Mill, 2008, p.80). The habitus is our way of speaking, gesturing, standing, thinking and feeling which is derived from our social background and through the

socialization or learning process from which we know the basics of our culture; the practical lessons on how to produce skilful social activity. These activities and everyday practices are governed through tacit rules, norms and traditions as taken for granted or unthinking ways (Morrice: 2011). The disposition depends on the social position of an individual which is related to their particular endowment of capital.

Habitus is linked with various types of capital such as social, economic, cultural, and symbolic capital. An individual can secure advantage in any one of these capitals in a particular field. Cultural capital can be defined as embodied states and institutional forms such as language skills, aspirations, having the right accent, being familiar with particular academic discourses and knowing how to behave in a particular situation (ibid, 2011). The institutional cultural capital in the form of academic qualifications is legitimised through the recognition of certificates. As the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh speak the same language as the local people of the south-eastern districts of Bangladesh, they enjoy the advantage of speaking the language of the local people (Ahmed, 2010), which can be viewed as a type of cultural and social capital (generally speaking). As there was common land between

Myanmar and Bangladesh during the British period, there were social ties between the people of now Bangladesh and Myanmar, as well as cultural and religious similarities among them (Ahmed, 2010). This gave the (Rohingya) refugee community another advantage in knowing how to behave in their new country thus they possess same habitus.

Social capital serves as social ties and networks that work as resources and gives advantages to those who belong to the network (Bourdieu, 1977 and Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992). The concept of social capital received impetus after Putnam (2004) differentiated between

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bonding and bridging capital (cited in Morrice, 2011). Generally, bonding capital refers to our relationship with people similar to us and the social network within relatives and kin such as friends, family members, neighbours, etc. which provides advantages for belonging in the network (cited in Morrice, 2011 and Morrice, 2009). On the other hand bridging social capital helps people to get advantages from distant social groups and circles (ibid, 2011). The fact is that bridging social capital helps to get into the network where information, resources, and ideas might serve from out of own close group that “might provide the know-how to achieve goals and bring advantage”(ibid, 2011,p.5). Thus it helps one group to settle and gain adaptive advantages (Morrice, 2007) and at the same time it can also facilitate the pursuance of narrow sectarian interest to exclude others from the network.

As depicted by Morrice (2007) in her work, the refugee community may be rich in bonding capital within their community but might be excluded from bridging social capital. In other words, this is same as Granovettor’s (1973) conceptualization of ‘strength of weak ties’ which described a person out of the network getting benefits through ties with loosely connected people. In the context of refugee camps, there might be some people helping refugee students in getting information about admissions, providing private tuitions, and in utilising strategies to access formal schools.

However, without getting recognized by the community and legalized by the authority the capital earned might not be useful for the refugee students. Only institutionalized capital can bring symbolic capital which pass with symbolic power (Morrice, 2011). The transformation of one form of capital to another and into symbolic capital is a collective process which takes place in the social field (Naidoo, 2009). The interplay between structures or objective

conditions and the agency or subjective position generates the situation under which capitals are recognized. As Bourdieu argued; the collective appreciation, denial, and misrecognition

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might disguise the vested interests of the powerful in sustaining the relations of social inequality or cumulative disadvantage for one social group in comparison to the other (Naidoo, 2009 and Morrice, 2011). In the refugee context, these might take the form of insider versus outsider. Both direct violence and symbolic violence through discrimination can be distributed, creating a doxa about the subliminal and subordinate position of refugees, which is reproduced through the structures of social values and cultures, and represents their position as natural (Morrice,2011).

For Bourdieu, habitus and field work together and reinforce each other in ways that should be understood in the context of refugees. To get an in-depth understanding of the individual agency and the phenomenologies of individuals, these have to be localized in the respective analyses of the fields. For refugees, an analysis of the field includes an understanding of the extent to which refugees’ social and cultural capital is valued and can be converted to bring about economic or educational achievements (ibid,2011). In order to gain access to these resources, individuals utilize strategies or everyday practices (i.e. “have a feel for the game”) to manage the field (e.g. obtain recognized certificates) using their social resources and their skilful abilities that are embodied in them over the time period in Bangladesh. As most of the refugee students are born in Bangladesh and their families have been living in the camp for a long time (Ahmed, 2010), they are culturally well informed about the adjacent society and know how to maintain social ties and to adopt with the outer society.

Nevertheless, unplanned and forced migration involves movement to a new social space where the capital accumulation might not be recognized as legitimate and may not have exchange value (Morrice, 2011). Still, the refugees who are born and brought up in a particular area might have the similar habitus as local inhabitants. So their embodied

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students, which might give them the agency to negotiate with their own identity as well. Here, Goffman’s (1959) understanding about presentation of self in everyday life as

embodied practice for maintaining and saving face is noteworthy. As an individual will avoid some situations voluntarily and stays away from the places, topics and time where his is unwanted and feel uneasy to save his face (Lemert and Branaman, 1997). This is an

embodied performance as “the presentation of self in everyday life”(ibid,1997, p.20). These embodied practices of upholding and representing identity depend on access to structural resources and possession of traits and attributes of the society (ibid, 1997, p.xlvi). Without embodied experiences no one could hide their identity and pretend to be same as a native. This identity negotiation is a conscious and mindful process of shifting ones cultural behaviours through cultural contacts (Jackson, 2002). The notion of consciousness,

performance and embodied experiences merges with Bourdieu’s idea of habitus and cultural capital as resources embodied in individuals through socialization.

In the field of education as a field of struggle, refugee students are strategically improvising their position through identity negotiations with embodied practices for accessing education. Thus they learn ‘rules of the game’ of the education system in Bangladesh and how to manage local leaders and authorities to maintain their strategies for education. Thus this social game is translated into habitus as the second nature (Maton:2008).

2.7 Conclusion:

From the above discussion, it is clear that refugee and asylum seeker students are desperately searching for education with all available means yet economic, social and cultural barriers are present in the host societies. The perception of the value of education and the role of

education is well known to refugee students. That is why RAS, being marginalized, poor and discriminated against, are willing and eager to access education. To achieve education, they

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are involved in actively constructing their habitus, which eventually might bring them other forms of capital. The navigation and strategies for education applied by the refugee students and the investment in their futures creates value for their individual lives, as well as for their whole community. The struggle for education and the related everyday practices of the RAS students might provide knowledge about the transformative nature of habitus.

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CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction:

This chapter will deal with the methodology that I have used during my fieldwork and the data collection process. Firstly, I will discuss the research design and strategies of data collection that I have used in my research. Secondly, I will discuss the sampling and unit of analysis. Thirdly, I will talk about the method that I used during my field visits in collecting data from my respondents. Finally, I will discuss the ethical considerations and the

limitations of the study along with my own reflection.

3.2 Research Design:

Qualitative methodology has been adopted as the research design for this study. It is assumed that to understand subjective meaning, experiences, everyday life and context specific

knowledge during the research process, a qualitative design is more suitable than quantitative methodology (Mason, 2002). In addition, the role of the researcher as an instrument, active observer and exploring reality with lived experience in addressing research problem is also crucial (Creswell, 2002). According to Creswell (2002), in studying the research problem

“Qualitative researchers use an emerging qualitative approach to inquiry, the collection of data in a natural setting sensitive to the people and places under study, and data analysis that is both inductive and deductive and establishes patterns or themes. The final written report or presentation includes the voices of participants, the reflexivity of the researcher, a complex description and interpretation of the problem, and its contribution to the literature or a call for change” (Creswell 2006, p.44).

I have adopted this design as the main goal of the study was to explore and obtain a complex and nuanced understanding of the educational struggle of the Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh.

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3.2: Research Strategies:

To investigate the research question, I have reviewed research journals, articles, reports and books related to refugee education in general and Burmese/Myanmar refugee education in particular. As there are only a few published research papers related to Burmese refugees and their educational experiences, I had to rely on other sources related to education of refugees in UK, USA, Australia, Canada and other parts of the world. Afterwards, I collected data from various actors involved in refugee education, such as refugee students and their parents, local schools, and camp school teachers.

During my summer visit in 2014, I came to realize that this issue is very sensitive and political in nature. Some teachers from a local NGO, Village Education Resource Centre (VERC), financed by UNHCR, with the approval of the GOB, are involved in refugee education programs in the camps up to grade six in the Bangladeshi national curriculum. Though, officially refugee students are not permitted to attend formal schools outside the camps, some of them managed to get access into these schools for junior and higher levels of education. Hence, the refugee parents and family members always remain skeptical about informing or talking about this issue with outsiders. However, I had the scope to meet with and talk to them in the local market place during that visit. I made some initial contacts with NGO workers and refugee parents who are currently sending and/or sent their children to schools outside the camp for formal education. These initial contacts with gatekeepers helped me greatly in gaining access to the field (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007). I tried to explain my research objectives and become as friendly as possible with them by meeting them on a daily basis and also maintaining telephonic contact with them after summer vacation and upon my return to Dublin.

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Furthermore, during my fieldwork, I got the opportunity to talk to the UNHCR head of the sub-office, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh who introduced me to the UNHCR community officer who in turn helped me to get initial support from various NGOs. Moreover, after getting the official approval from RRRC, I had the chance to visit the camps, which also helped me in building rapport with the refugee students, their families and school teachers.

I was there in January-February 2015 for my fieldwork, when the camp schools’ teachers were busy collecting government allocated books for their students in the camp, as on the 1st of January every year the GOB distributes free books for all the students in Bangladesh up to grade-9. The classrooms in the camp were full of students eagerly waiting to get the new books being distributed. As I was an outsider in the camp, an insider from Bangladesh, and a student in Europe for the last 1.5 years, I was able to see the situation from a new perspective. This is a common sight in every school in Bangladesh in the month of January where classes are full of students due to distributions of new free books. The condition of the schools in the camps and their accessibility is better than the local schools in Bangladesh. Moreover, the camp schools were distributing pens, pencils, bags and school uniforms, which are not available in the local schools in Bangladesh. From my visits and informal talks with the teachers, I came to realize that the schools in the camps are regularly supervised by NGO staff and frequently monitored by UNHCR, RRRC and CIC officials as well, which leads to the difference in quality of education between local schools in Bangladeshi villages and schools in refugee camps. In addition, training for the instructors also contributes to their regular and better performance in the camp schools. I have also visited the formal schools outside the camp to be introduced with teachers in local schools and to build rapport with them in order to seek appointments for my interviews.

To address the research problem in mind, I spent my time in observing respondents, their everyday interactions, living places, educational institutions, parents’ business

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establishments, etc. as to understand behavior within their own settings. I also interviewed the respondents using their oral narrative to gain knowledge of their educational trajectory

minutely. Following Hennink, et.al, 2011, it can be said that the observation was a direct and moderate observation but not participatory observation.

3.3 Accessing the Field:

The registered Rohingya refugees are living in two camps of Bangladesh: Nayapara and Kutupalong. I purposefully selected Kutupalong because it is located near a town called Ukhya, Cox’s Bazar. The main highway to access the nearby town is also close to the camp. In Kutupalong there are 11 schools where as in Nayapara there are 10 schools (UNHCR, 2013).Kutupalong has a higher population than Nayapara, as well as more students going to high school; it is also in closer proximity to educational institutions in the local area, which is why I chose it over Nayapara. In Kutupalong17,547 people reside (as of 2011) in a 3 km2 area (UNHCR, 2013). The distance of the camp from Cox’s Bazar is 37 km and from the Bangladesh- Myanmar border it is 10 km away (Akhter and Kusakabe, 2014).

From my previous summer visit, I came to know the formalities and procedures to obtain official access to the refugee camps. My intention was to volunteer with UNHCR and work in the camp schools to conduct my research with an insider’s perspective. Towards this end, I had collected reference letters from my MISOCO advisor and my thesis supervisor

addressing the RRRC and the head of UNHCR sub office, Cox’s Bazar. After submitting my reference letters to the respective authorities, I had to wait a week for their decision. For a government office such as RRRC, it is entirely normal to wait for higher authority approval to obtain access to the camps. My social connection with one of the government civil servants helped me to gain access to the field. Moreover, my own occupational position as a faculty

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member of a well-known government university also helped me to gain access to the field and garner support from other NGOs in the field. I had to meet with the respective officials to describe my research objectives there. One of the officials was not satisfied with my research topic and objectives. He questioned my choice of topic, asking that despite the plethora of research issues available what had led me to choose this research area.

Furthermore, he informed me that the Rohingya are getting education in Bangladesh from qualified teachers and staff supported by many amenities from UNHCR, UNICEF and other international agencies. He also said that the refugees were getting basic education after arriving in Bangladesh and were deprived of the same in Myanmar. However, he showed dissatisfaction that these refugees were “not grateful” to the GOB and were “always

complaining” to UNHCR about government officials, NGO staff and other people who were working with them. He told me that the refugees have only one goal in mind, which was neither to go back to Myanmar nor to stay in Bangladesh, but to go to a third country, whether it be in Europe, America or Australia. The officials were concerned about the future of the Rohingay refugees, and the political unrest in Myanmar which causes and increasing influx of refugees to Bangladesh. According to them, if anyone were to be selected for resettlement in a third country, there would be rumors in Myanmar that more than hundred people are going abroad from Bangladeshi camps, which would lead to a new influx from Myanmar. He also mentioned that development activities in the camps or adjacent areas work as pull factor to attract more refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Finally, I was granted official permission to conduct my research within a week, which meant that I had to plan carefully for the number of interviews that would be feasible. The field observations and building initial rapport with my potential interviewees was my priority. To do this, I visited the camp, refugee homesteads, and playgrounds every day and observed their regular

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activities in an attempt to be familiarized with the refugee parents, students and school teachers.

After being granted an appointment with the head of UNHCR, sub office of Bangladesh, I received more assistance from him in getting information about the field and other working NGOs in the camp. UNHCR did not accept me to volunteer in the camp school, as my scope was very limited. My own reflection about the process of appointment is that it is very complicated and time consuming. I thought that getting permission from the government office would be more difficult than getting permission from the UNHCR, but it took one week for me to meet the head of sub office and seek his help in getting the chance to volunteer in the camp. There were no replies to the emails I sent to the UNHCR office. I came to realize that bureaucratic systems are not only present in government offices but also more visible in international organizations. It is more complex in some cases to get an appointment with the official staff just to inform them of my intentions and submit a reference letter for volunteering.

Meanwhile, I continued to make phone calls to enquire about the status of my application and to obtain an appointment to meet the head of UNHCR sub office. I also visited areas close to the refugee camps. I went there daily to purposefully talk with the local people and try to understand their attitude to the Rohingya refugees, the refugee shop owners, and to the common people in tea stalls and restaurants. I did all of this throughout the day, during my lunch and also during my travel from the city to the camp by bus and auto four-wheeler that I shared with others.

3.4 Sampling and Unit of analysis:

To fulfill my research objectives, I used purposive sampling to begin with (Small, 2009), and later applied the snowball sampling technique to identify respondents who are students of

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formal schools and their parents. Initially I have identified the first respondent purposefully and requested to introduce me to someone who was going to school to study. Moreover, I applied the same procedure to identify parents of the students who were sending their children to schools outside the camp. My sample teachers in the schools were also selected purposefully who agreed to an interview with me. Finally, NGO teachers were also selected on the basis of their engagement with educational programs in the camp schools.

I selected respondents from different levels of involved persons. Firstly, as the main

respondents of my research, I have included three refugee students who are attending formal schools outside the camps and who are above 18 years of age in order to maintain the ethics of the research. I was interested in their educational experiences, the barriers in accessing formal education, their daily life in schools and their motivation along with the strategies that they follow to pursue educational careers in Bangladesh. Most of the students were born in Bangladesh with the refugee status and are registered with the UNHCR as refugees. All of their families are in possession of refugee registration cards, which ensure their food and ration along with official permission to stay in Bangladesh.

Secondly, I selected two parents who are currently sending their children to schools. I tried to understand their perception about education, family sacrifices, and strategies in managing the expenditures and family practices related to education. Thirdly, I selected two school teachers from the local area as it is commonly known that there are many refugee students studying in the local schools, in order to get their perspective about the value of education and

educational awareness among the refugee students and their families. In addition, I also selected two teachers who are working inside the camps to facilitate education in the camp schools.

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3.5Ethical considerations:

Maintaining research ethics in refugee context is much more complex than other contexts. In Bangladesh the Rohingya refugees have been living in a dire situation since 1992. However after a long time of refugee life, there is little hope of repatriation or resettlement or of solving their problems in Myanmar. The effect of trauma and psychological problems were not that evident among the students, as most of them were born in Bangladesh or moved to Bangladesh in early childhood. This did not have a visible impact on the students due to their long stay in the host country.

I started the discussion with one of the parents whom I had met during summer. He helped me to find parents and student respondents who were going to schools. No visual aids were used to respect their privacy, as I visited them in their living rooms and work places. While talking to them, I also came to understand their frustration and feelings about living in such places in the refugee camp, which further added to my decision to not take any images there. From an ethical point, I thought taking photos might create insecurity among them and that it might make it difficult for them to trust, welcome or permit future researchers. For our discussion, we were generally seated in their living room or their own shop or in a suitable place nominated by the respondents to avoid crowds. The medium of communication was Bengali as for both the respondents and the interviewer it was easier to communicate in Bengali rather than any other language. However, I felt that if I could have spoken their local Chittagonian dialect it might have been very useful in digging deep into the issues and that they would have discussed their feelings more comfortably. Most of them speak the Bengali language very well and are surprisingly fluent in describing their issues in standard Bengali. They were open to me and discussed their issues in detail. Therefore, I can describe them as

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open respondents (Weiss, 2004), who helped me to learn more about their educational voyage in Bangladesh.

I was careful to ensure that my presence would not influence the free flow of discussion, but when the respondents were talking only about their problems again and again or gossiping about other issues, I respectfully guided them towards my research interests (Hennink, et.al.2011) and tried to discuss the particular issues relevant to my research question. At the same time, I remained very sensitive about their privacy and issues of legality or illegality and did not ask any question that might make them feel bad or insecure or indicate that my research may cause them any harm (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007; and Bryman, 2011). Before starting the interviews, I met my respondents several times and built rapport with them. At the time of interviews, I took both written and verbal informed consent from the respondents and recorded the interviews with due permission

3.6 Limitations:

Due to the nature of current research a small number of respondents were interviewed and saturation has not been achieved. So it would be difficult to draw any kind of generalization for whole Rohingya refugee community living in Bangladesh. In fact in qualitative research the number of respondents depends on various circumstances that are very specific to the researcher, availability of resources and time, and importance of number for reaching significant level of the research objectives. In addition, drawing a small number of

respondents does not indicate inability to bracket the live experience of the issue under study and understand the complexities of the phenomenon. To identify the problems and barriers of accessing education and refugee students’ strategies used to negotiate their access to the formal schools in Bangladesh, the research mainly focused on student respondents and their parents along with local school and camp school teachers.

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3.7 My own reflection:

During my numerous visits, both in summer and during my field work, I observed the movements of the people in and out of the camp. I did not observe any difference between a village path in Bangladesh to access the main road and the main street to the refugee camp. The refugees were going into the camp after their daily shopping and some of them were going out of the camp to the nearby city. This was not in accordance with my expectations, stemming from various reports and research literature; I had believed that the refugees were not permitted to go outside the camp. However, from my daily visits and after talking to the refugees and local people, I came to understand that the official law is ‘out there’ but in practice there are no visible restrictions on entering and leaving the camp. For me, the camp was similar to a village in Bangladesh. However, the villages are not as organized as the refugee camps and do not have proper water supply and sanitation facilities, or police guarding the entrance.

Moreover, available facilities in refugee camps are more plentiful than any poor village in Bangladesh as some local villagers informed me during informal discussions. Nonetheless, the problem is that refugees always have to be cautious about their movements while going to the city or distant areas but not while going to their everyday work, shopping or other

necessary tasks in the adjacent areas. If any conflict arises with the local people, it becomes very difficult for the refugees to travel to the city, nearby areas and schools. During my visits, I observed the camp schools, refugee homesteads, playgrounds, women training centers, computer training school, reproductive health units, etc. which gave the impression that ‘the refugee village’ is more organized than a common village in Bangladesh. After several visits, it became natural for me to get in to refugee camp as the staff and officials were aware of my presence and purpose of visiting the camp. I realized that I also could go to the camp without

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