UK minister visits Bangladesh camps to support Rohingya
Here’s what to know first. The UK’s Minister for International Development, Jenny Chapman, is in Bangladesh on 13–14 November 2025 to meet Rohingya women and girls, visit UK‑funded programmes that prevent violence, and confirm new support. The visit sits alongside a £27 million aid package announced in September for food, health, water and protection services.
Quick explainer for your notes: the Rohingya are a Muslim minority from Myanmar who have been denied citizenship. More than one million people now live in the Cox’s Bazar camps in Bangladesh, with additional families relocated to Bhasan Char island. This is the world’s largest refugee settlement, and most residents are children and women.
You’ll hear the phrase “safe, voluntary and dignified return.” It means refugees should only go back to Myanmar by choice, with protection and rights guaranteed. Bangladesh says Myanmar has confirmed 180,000 names as potentially eligible, but previous repatriation attempts failed because people feared persecution. Conditions in Myanmar still make large‑scale return uncertain.
Why is Violence Against Women and Girls high on the agenda? In crowded camps, risks of abuse rise when privacy, income and services are thin. UNFPA reports that in 2024 more than 384,000 women and girls accessed integrated protection services, 534,000 people joined prevention activities, and adolescent pregnancy dropped from 18.4% in 2018 to 7% in 2024 thanks to targeted programmes and midwifery support.
Funding pressures shape daily safety. The UN’s 2025–26 appeal asked for $934.5 million to support refugees and host communities, yet money is tight. In April, food vouchers fell to about $6 per person per month, and aid groups recorded a sharp rise in dangerous sea journeys as families looked elsewhere for survival. When you track this story, watch both the pledges and the pipeline.
What the new UK money pays for matters to learners. The September package channels funding via WFP for food, UNHCR for documentation and legal help, UNICEF for safe water and healthcare, UNFPA for sexual and reproductive health, and NGO partners for education and disability support. The UK says it has contributed over £447 million to the Rohingya response since 2017.
There’s also climate support tied to this visit. The UK will add £30 million to its Resilience and Adaptation Fund, with £4 million for Bangladesh. The plan includes skills for climate‑resilient farming designed to cope with floods and cyclones, aiming to reach tens of thousands of households. For young readers: this is adaptation-helping communities live more safely with climate shocks.
Why climate skills are part of refugee protection: heavy monsoon rains and landslides keep damaging the camps. In June 2025 alone, over 1,400 shelters were hit across 33 sites and one person died; earlier seasons saw multiple deaths and thousands affected. Bangladesh loses an estimated $3 billion a year to extreme weather, with more than 6.3 million people affected annually.
Diplomacy sits behind the field visits. Chapman is due to meet Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman, and Ashik Chowdhury, who heads the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority; she’ll also join a roundtable on irregular migration. Knowing who’s who helps you follow decisions on borders, jobs and aid.
Media‑literacy check for your class: government news pages tell you the UK’s aims; UN updates and independent outlets test how those aims play out. As you read, ask three questions-who benefits first, what changes this month, and which numbers are independently verified. You can then assess whether promises are turning into safer lives.
What this means in practice for women and girls is straightforward to track. If prevention is working, you’ll see stable food support, functioning women‑friendly spaces, access to midwives and legal help, and safer routes to report abuse. If money dries up, risks rise-especially for adolescents and single‑headed households. UN agencies have warned clearly about that squeeze this year.
The timeline is immediate. Chapman’s visit runs 13–14 November. Look for updates on whether funds move quickly to partners, whether monsoon‑season repairs and protection services are scaled up, and whether talks on migration and future returns produce clear safeguards. We’ll keep watching the outcomes with you, not just the announcements.