Paper short abstract:

The paper focuses on Bhasan Char's dynamic coastal landscape, shaped by sediment and sand. It examines how the sea influences urban development, livelihoods, and the future of Rohingyas, with a specific emphasis on coastal protection infrastructures and maintenance work.

Paper long abstract:

The Bangladeshi government invested over 300 million dollars to convert Bhasan Char, a recently formed sedimented island in the Bay of Bengal, into the world's largest refugee camp for Rohingyas from Myanmar, currently residing in Bangladesh under ostensibly temporary conditions. Despite concerns over safety and the characterization as an 'open jail,' the government promises to enhance the Rohingyas' quality of life on this cyclone-prone island, emphasizing "climate-resilient infrastructure" and livelihood opportunities. The granular nature of sediment and sand provides a conceptual framework for interpreting Bhasan Char as a constantly shifting or uncertain urban landscape, actively shaped by material properties characterized by granularity and fluidity (Kothari & Arnall, 2020; Dawson, 2023). This paper explores the dynamic interplay of the role of sea on the space to elucidate influences on urban accumulations, livelihoods, and the Rohingyas' future on the island. With a focus on the Rohingyas' future within this precarious landscape, the paper centers on coastal protection infrastructures and the work of maintenance (Gupta, 2018; 2021). This focused inquiry aids in understanding the dynamic nature of the urban milieu adjacent to the sea and its intricate entanglements with human, non-human, and environment. Additionally, the study probes tensions and struggles in response to speculative futures in Bhasan Char, conceived as a camp city by the sea. Rooted in an ongoing ethnographic framework, this research forms part of a PhD project aims to unfold layered processes of politics, socio-ecological transformation, aesthetics, and governance in the intricate relations between Rohingyas and the Bangladesh state.