BIDS Webinar on "Economic Impact of Rohingya Refugees: A Natural Experiment" Held

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) hosted an online- seminar titled “Economic Impact of the Rohingya Refugees: A Natural Experiment” on the 5th of August Wednesday at 3.30 pm. In this seminar Dr. M Emranul Haque from Department of Economics, University of Manchester presented research findings of a natural experiment done by his team to examine the impact of the sudden influx of Rohingyas on the food prices in the local areas.  

The baseline results of the study indicated that the sudden refugee influx increased the overall food prices of the host regions by 9 percent. The prices of protein food items increased by 8 percent and vegetable prices increased by 36 percent, however, aid-supplied food products like cereals didn’t have any significant increase in prices. Mr. Ashraful Alam, an officer under Bangladesh Civil Service and Dr.  Indranil Dutta, Faculty, University of Manchester were also involved in this study.

This on-line seminar was attended by researchers from Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) and BIDS. Dr. K.A.S Murshid, DG, BIDS chaired this webinar and Dr. Minhaj Mahmud, Senior Research Fellow, BIDS was the co-host of this seminar organized through zoom meeting.