Understanding Countering Terrorism Policies in Global South: A Case Study of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

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Although primarily developed in the West, grounded upon Western principles and adjusted to Western contexts, counter-terrorism (CT) and anti-radicalisation policies are increasingly translated and applied in the Global South, with little consideration of the social, economic, legal, and political implications upon their targeted communities. This project explores this transfer and its implications for the lives of vulnerable individuals and communities through a descriptively rich case study of counter-terrorism measures in the Rohnigya refugee camps in Bangladesh: Kutupalong camp (world's largest refugee camp) and the camps in Teknaf. Rohingya camps in Bangladesh are frequently termed a "breeding ground for terrorism" or a "threat to national security" by policymakers, security officials, and Bangladesh mainstream media (Rashid, 2019). Yet, such narratives are often deployed without justification and in the absence of scientific research on terrorism, radicalisation or violent extremism (VE) in the camps. My research will centre the lives and experiences of Rohingya people within the Bangladesh camps, many of whom lack refugee status and associated protections, to understand the social and political implications of their securitisation through counter-terrorism and counter violent extremism (CVE) measures. It asks two questions: (i) How are CT and CVE measures implemented in the Rohingya refugee camps? (ii) How do individuals and communities living in the camps perceive and experience these measures and their implementation? My research will employ a 'vernacular' approach, deploying discourse analysis, ethnographic observation and interviews to explore the everyday understandings and experiences of refugees, staff and others living in the camp. Access to these is made possible via three years of professional experience: one year working in the camps within the Protection monitoring staff, and two years as a preventing violent extremism (PVE) researcher at the UK diplomatic mission in Bangladesh. The research will contribute to contemporary work within critical security and critical terrorism studies (CTS) (i) empirically - through primary research into an underexplored case study; (ii) analytically - through centring the experiences of non-Western subjects of counter-terrorism policy; and (iii) theoretically - through retheorising counter-terrorism policy and its implications following completion of my empirical research.