Food Assistance and the Social Construction of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

Abstract

Taking food assistance as its starting point, this article examines the underlying system of ideas that the Bangladeshi government and humanitarian organizations have about the term ‘refugee’. Through a consideration of refugee coping strategies, host government responses and humanitarian organizations’ operations on food assistance, I show that the provision of food aid is not just an apolitical act of assistance but also one which is embedded in relations of power that are continually (re)produced through laws, practice and discourse. In the conclusion, I offer some thoughts on the social construction of the term ‘refugee’ and its implications for the lives of refugees in Bangladesh.