From Grievance to Threat: The Security Implications of Rohingya Refugee Displacement in Bangladesh

This study examines the relationship between youth-specific grievances among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and the broader discourse on security risks. Drawing on 200 structured surveys and 35 semi-structured interviews conducted in camps in Cox’s Bazar, the research investigates how experiences of marginalization, restricted mobility, educational exclusion, and gendered insecurity shape perceptions of future prospects and social belonging. Rather than assuming a deterministic progression from grievance to radicalization, the study adopts a mediated analytical framework grounded in grievance theory, relative deprivation, and securitization theory. Findings indicate that while deep frustration and identity-based exclusion are widespread, pathways toward violent extremism remain contingent upon enabling conditions such as political opportunity structures, organizational presence, and governance gaps. This article argues that unresolved grievances generate vulnerability rather than inevitability, and cautions against securitizing refugee populations while acknowledging that prolonged precarity may create exploitable conditions.