Cox’s Bazar, June 3, 2025 — All education activities in the Rohingya camps of Ukhiya and Teknaf have been suspended indefinitely following the mass dismissal of over 1,250 Bangladeshi teachers. The announcement came through an official letter jointly signed by Angela Karne, Head of UNICEF’s Cox’s Bazar Field Office, and Mohammad Golam Mostafa of Save the Children, addressed to the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) on Tuesday afternoon.
The suspension, declared by UNICEF and Save the Children, will remain in place until a resolution is reached regarding the employment status of the terminated teachers. The decision follows mounting protests from laid-off local teachers, who have been demonstrating against what they call discriminatory employment practices that favored Rohingya volunteers while terminating local educators due to funding shortages.
According to RRRC’s Additional Commissioner Shamsud Douza Nayan, the organizations operating under UNICEF’s education program had terminated the contracts of approximately 1,200 local teachers. In contrast, Rohingya volunteers working in the same educational facilities have not been dismissed, raising serious concerns among the local community and education sector workers.
Earlier on June 2, UNICEF warned during a press briefing that nearly 230,000 children in the Rohingya camps are at risk of losing access to education due to an ongoing funding crisis. As financial support dwindles, implementing NGOs such as BRAC, CODEC, Friendship, Mukti Cox’s Bazar, and JCF have begun cutting their teaching staff, primarily among Bangladeshi nationals.
The situation escalated Tuesday morning when dismissed teachers blocked the Cox’s Bazar–Teknaf highway, disrupting vehicular movement and causing major inconvenience to commuters. The protest was temporarily suspended after the Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Ukhiya assured the demonstrators of efforts to resolve the issue.
Teachers leading the protest allege that the dismissals were abrupt and unjust, particularly given that international organizations retained Rohingya volunteers while cutting off local livelihoods. Many see the move as a betrayal and have accused the education program managers of acting unfairly against local communities, deepening the divide and mistrust between aid agencies and host populations.
The RRRC has reportedly appealed to the United Nations to reinstate the laid-off teachers and to secure sufficient funding to keep education initiatives operational in the refugee camps. However, until such support is confirmed, the suspension of all NGO-led education services remains in effect, jeopardizing the academic future of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children.