Construction of social Infrastructures for the Rohyngia Refugees

Kutupalong Refugee Settlements, Bangladesh

Emergency Architecture for the Refugees

The security operations in Northern Rakhine State in Myanmar in response to the attacks on police and military posts launched on 25 August 2017 by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) triggered the largest and swiftest refugee exodus witnessed in the region in recent decades. With numbers at times reaching 20,000 people per day, over 500’000 Rohingyas have sought safety in Bangladesh, principally in Cox’s Bazar District, between August and December 2017.

The camps and sites are saturated and available basic services stretched to the very limit. Within the UNHCR shelter and site planning team, Mikhail Broger was specifically in charge of the establishment in the camps and settlements of communal facilities such as health facilities, schools, community centers, accesses and other infrastructure.

The high demands from all sectors led to the development of a standardized modular system able to adapt to changing programmatic needs, highly flexible and with a high potential for replication. Thanks to the standardized approach and the use of locally available material and ressources, these bamboo structures could be erected within 2 to 3 weeks. Between November 2017 and april 2018, over 100 structures of this type have been build across the camps.

project details


Location: Kutupalong Refugee Settlements, Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh

Year: 2017-2018

Program: construction of community infrastructures: Schools, Health posts, Community centers, Child Friendly Spaces, Women Friendly spaces

Client: UNHCR, Protection, Health & Education sectors

Author: UNHCR shelter and site planning team, Mikhail Broger. Collaboration with Wafiq Alam Architect

Cost: about 2500 usd/structure

Pictures: Mikhail Broger