Reading Refugee Narratives from Rohingya Camps of Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar through Humanitarian Visuality

Marked by the forced mass displacement of Myanmar nationals from the Rakhine State, the Rohingya crisis has drawn significant attention globally. Focusing on how the narratives of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) living in the Rohingya camps of Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, are visually represented and circulated through social media platforms (mostly Facebook and LinkedIn), this paper seeks to understand the interplay between humanitarian discourse and digital media in shaping public perception. Acknowledging the influence of a distant iconographic repertoire, the paper will include interviews with Rohingya refugees and analysis of selected social media posts to identify recurring themes and narratives. Taking into account humanitarian visuality’s primary aim of eliciting empathy and prompting action for distant suffering, the paper will shed light on how instrumental this has been in shaping policies surrounding the Rohingyas. It is to be noted that, the present political situation in Bangladesh is critical for policy making and (re)shaping of these narratives as the current interim government arguably takes a greater interest in humanitarian affairs than the former Prime Minister who was forced to resign and flee on August 5, 2024. However, exploring the differences in humanitarian visuality reflected on social media during the two different regimes can help to shed light on possible interventions in shaping the public perception and policies on FDMNs. By foregrounding the humanitarian visuality of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, the paper can help to better understand the strategies employed to foster empathy, encourage acceptance, and mobilize resources for forcibly displaced populations.