international non-governmental organizations and humanitarian intervention in Bangladesh

273 Pages·2017·2.06 MB·English

University of Iowa
Iowa Research Online
Theses and Dissertations
Fall 2015
Making it matter: international non-governmental
organizations and humanitarian intervention in
Bangladesh
Michelle E. Quill
University of Iowa
Copyright © 2015 Michelle E. Quill
This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/5983
Recommended Citation
Quill, Michelle E.. "Making it matter: international non-governmental organizations and humanitarian intervention in Bangladesh."
PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2015.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.dpr3frut
Follow this and additional works at:https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd
Part of theAnthropology Commons
MAKING IT MATTER: INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS AND HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION IN BANGLADESH

by

Michelle E. Quill

A thesis submitted in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the
Doctor of Philosophy degree in Anthropology
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa

December 2015

Thesis Supervisor: Professor Ellen Lewin
Copyright by

Michelle E. Quill
2015

All Rights Reserved
Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

PH.D. THESIS

This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of

Michelle E. Quill

has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis requirement for the
Doctor of Philosophy degree in Anthropology at the December 2015 graduation.

Thesis Committee:
Ellen Lewin, Thesis Supervisor

Laura Graham

Paul Greenough

Meena Khandelwal

Sally Engle Merry
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply grateful for all the support I received as a graduate student, especially while I
was in the field and while writing this dissertation.
The biggest thank you goes to my advisor, Ellen Lewin and all my committee members:
Meena Khandelwal, Paul Greenough, Laurie Graham and Sally Merry. I also want to thank the
faculty, staff and students of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Iowa. All of
you have inspired me and helped me think about the world in new ways. I am lucky to have
terrific colleagues in graduate school, a big thanks especially to Brandi Janssen, Jill Davis, Nina
Ortiz, and Tony Pomales.
I offer my very sincere gratitude to the staff of Islamic Aid and the residents of Ukhia
Camp. I am so grateful for your trust, your stories and your willingness to teach me about life
and work in a refugee camp. Thank you to the many friends and colleagues in Bangladesh who
generously shared their time, their homes, meals, ricksha rides, cups of tea, long conversations
and insights with me. I hope to have done justice to them, but want to make it clear that all errors
and omissions are mine alone.
I am very grateful for the friends I make at the Bangla Summer Language Institute in
Dhaka, and our gracious hosts at Independent University, Bangladesh, especially Setu, Tania,
Mariam Ankhi, Atif, Sudipta, Ahmed Shamim, and Razima Selim Chowdhury. I especially want
to thank Nobuko Mizoguchi for being such a good friend and Tomomi Naka for always making
me feel at home. My fellow students and conversation partners made intense language learning
fun. The staff and faculty at the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies gave me a home away
from home: thank you to Tuhin, Jeba, Amena Mohsin and Shelley Feldman for being good
friends and sounding-boards.
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This work would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the
American Institute for Bangladesh Studies, the United States Department of State Critical
Language Scholarship program, a T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Research
Fellowship, a University of Iowa Graduate College Summer Fellowship and support from the
University of Iowa Crossing Borders Program.
I am lucky to have been supported by wonderful friends In Iowa and Minnesota,
especially the Bonham clan: Gretchen, David, Gabe, Shuli and Tom. Carolyn Bingham and
Debbie Scattarelli and all my pals from the Thursday night book club have been terrific
cheerleaders. Thank you also to Meredith Portnoff, for all the love, support, patience and fun.
I would like to thank Denis, Patrick, Carolyn, Katie, Owen, Aiden and Kevin for making
me laugh and reminding about the things that are most important in life (like reading books,
soccer games and visits to the Quack). And of course, a very big thank you to my parents and
siblings for all the years of love and support.

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ABSTRACT

The research outlined in this thesis explores the practice of providing humanitarian aid to
refugees and displaced persons in Bangladesh. This aid, offered in a limited way by international
non-governmental organizations (INGOs) is similar to aid provided to refugees in many other
parts of the world, however my research reflects the specificities of research in Bangladesh, the
particular conditions of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar (Burma) and the practices of aid work
in a Muslim-identified aid organization.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of this kind of
aid as a response to protracted refugee situations. Rohingya refugees, the recipients of this aid,
fled to Bangladesh in successive waves beginning in the 1970s, leaving villages in Myanmar
where they faced extreme levels of persecution, violence and discrimination. Although the
government of Bangladesh initially welcomed the Rohingya, in subsequent years, the
government has sought to return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. Approximately 28,000
refugees remain in two camps run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR), and another approximately 60,000 refugees (without official refugee status) live in
camps run by INGOs.
The bulk of my fieldwork was conducted between June 2011 and September 2012 using
participant observation, interviews and focus groups in one of these INGO-run camps.
Other research on humanitarian aid tends to focus on either the practical challenges of aid
work or the philosophical and ethical shortcomings of the system. In this thesis, I examine the
day-to-day practices of aid workers, the challenges they face, the contributions they make and
the conflicts that arise from their work. This dissertation argues that humanitarian intervention,
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as it is currently practiced in Bangladesh, while marked by inefficiencies, corruption and conflict,
does improve the material lives of the refugees it seeks to assist. I also argue that humanitarian
aid, as currently practiced, is fundamentally weakened by the premise that humanitarian crises
are short term and by the shared understanding that host countries can set extremely restrictive
limits on refugees and aid workers. One key contribution I make is to examine the experiences of
expatriate aid workers, situating their work as migrant laborers who cope with precarity and the
instability of humanitarian crises.

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PUBLIC ABSTRACT

This thesis explores the practice of providing humanitarian aid to refugees and displaced
persons in Bangladesh. This aid, offered by international non-governmental organizations
(INGOs), is similar to aid provided to refugees in many other parts of the world, however my
research reflects the specificities of research in Bangladesh, the particular conditions of
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar (Burma) and the practices of aid work in a Muslim-identified
aid organization.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of this kind of
aid as a response to protracted refugee situations. Rohingya refugees, the recipients of this aid,
fled to Bangladesh in successive waves beginning in the 1970s, leaving villages in Myanmar
where they faced extreme levels of persecution, violence and discrimination. Although the
government of Bangladesh initially welcomed the Rohingya, in subsequent years, the
government has sought to return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. Approximately 28,000
refugees remain in two camps run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR), and another approximately 60,000 refugees (without official refugee status) live in
camps run by INGOs.
This dissertation argues that humanitarian intervention, as it is currently practiced in
Bangladesh, while marked by inefficiencies, corruption and conflict, does improve the material
lives of the refugees it seeks to assist. I also argue that humanitarian aid, as currently practiced, is
fundamentally weakened by the premise that humanitarian crises are short term and by the
shared understanding that host countries should be allowed to set extremely restrictive
limitations on refugees and aid workers.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1
The
 Flawed
 Practices
 of
 Humanitarian
 Aid
 in
 Bangladesh
 ................................................................
 1

Outline
 of
 this
 Chapter
 .......................................................................................................................................
 2

Fieldwork
 in
 Bangladesh:
 Setting
 and
 Methods
 ......................................................................................
 7

The
 Political
 Economy
 of
 Protracted
 Refugee
 Situations
 .................................................................
 18

Regional
 Histories
 .............................................................................................................................................
 19

Connecting
 this
 Work
 to
 Other
 Scholarship
 ..........................................................................................
 29

The
 Problem
 of
 Humanitarian
 Aid
 in
 Bangladesh
 and
 around
 the
 world
 ................................
 36

CHAPTER 2: REPORTING SUCCESS: THE FLAWED DESIGN OF
HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION IN BANGLADESH ........................................... 49
Donors
 and
 INGOS
 in
 Bangladesh
 ..............................................................................................................
 49

Sexual
 and
 Gender-­‐Based
 Violence
 ............................................................................................................
 53

Women
 of
 Ukhia
 Camp:
 Everyday
 Concerns
 .........................................................................................
 63

Donors,
 NGOs
 and
 Aid
 Recipients
 ..............................................................................................................
 67

Corruption
 or
 Business
 as
 Usual?
 The
 Case
 of
 Roofing
 Materials
 ................................................
 71

Conclusion
 ............................................................................................................................................................
 81

CHAPTER THREE: THE TYRANNY OF PAPERWORK ............................................ 82
Control,
 Surveillance,
 Legibility
 and
 the
 Humanitarian
 Actor
 .......................................................
 83

Class,
 Status,
 Academic
 Qualifications
 and
 Employment
 .................................................................
 92

Precarity
 of
 Another
 Sort:
 Expats
 and
 Work
 Visas
 ...........................................................................
 104

Refugee
 “Family
 Books”
 ................................................................................................................................
 119

CHAPTER FOUR: POWER STRUGGLES .................................................................. 129
Micropolitics
 of
 Camp
 Life
 ...........................................................................................................................
 130

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