Rohingya began fleeing Myanmar to Bangladesh decades ago, resulting in the Kutupalong refugee camp near the southeastern city, Cox’s Bazar. But the camp population has increased dramatically since August 2017 and additional camps have been set up. Almost a million people now live in Kutupalong – a city almost the size of Cologne, but lacking the infrastructure.

International flags were flying at the entrance to the Kutupalong refugee camp during the World Cup. Among the many Brazilian and Argentinian flags were also occasional German ones. Soccer fever was alive in other parts of the camp and in surrounding villages as well. The young community journalists were there to cover it, adding a touch of joy even in a time of crisis.

Coping with extreme weather conditions is one of the hardest challenges. Cyclones threaten the camp in the spring, torrential rains take over during the monsoon season. Community reporters of the “Palonger Hotha” program offer listeners vital information for survival. This includes where to find bamboo sticks to reinforce shelters, and areas that need to be evacuated due to potential mudslides.

Another goal of the radio program is to strengthen the way people see themselves, by taking their daily lives seriously. The reporter team, made up of young Rohingyas and local Bangladeshis, asks families, for example, how their lives are affected when they have to huddle together for hours, due to the weather conditions.

The reporters look for constructive ideas that can inspire the listeners. One reporter, Sajeda, reported on “hanging vegetable gardens”, where beans are planted as a way to increase the food supply despite limited space. The reporters also look at household remedies for curing illnesses that, due to hygiene issues, spread during the rainy season.

How can children learn to remember their way home? What can they do to not get lost in the refugee camp? And what are the challenges facing the camp’s Learning Centers? Education for the refugee children is of special concern to the reporter, Iqbal. There are so far no real schools for the children.

The refugee camp lies along the migration route for the Asian elephants. Several camp residents, however, were killed in early 2018 when they tried to chase the elephants away. In response, the United Nations held a seminar showing how people should act when elephants approach. “Palonger Hotha” reporters covered this for their program.

Unlike the new refugees, locals know from experience how to react if approached by an elephant: stay calm, don’t move, and the elephant will walk away on its own. DW Akademie trainer Andrea Marshall and translator Romana Akther Shanta learned this in July, on their way to the production of the 12th radio show.

Some local Bangladeshis have found work connected to the refugee camp, but also complain that food prices have risen in the region since the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya. Green hills have since been logged because the refugees need space and firewood. This is why it is so important that the community radio program also covers the views of locals.

Working together with local trainer Mainul Khan, the “Palonger Hotha” team learns how to deal carefully with potentially sensitive topics. The program does not cover politics. On the other hand, the UNHCR’s “Smart Card”, that is supposed to facilitate the (voluntary) return to Myanmar but which many Rohingya find suspicious, is well reported on.

Traumatic experiences also mark the first anniversary of the mass exodus that began August 25. But at the same time, many people say they are starting to face their trauma – slowly, step by step.

More than a million Rohingya Muslims live in refugee camps in the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh. The poor South Asian country has struggled to deal with the humanitarian crisis, and living conditions in the refugee camps are dire. UN agencies say they have received only a fraction of the billions of dollars of aid money needed to run their operations in the area.

150 Rohingya Muslims were meant to be repatriated to Myanmar on Thursday, but protests put a stop to the operation. Hundreds of people chanted "we will not go" at a demonstration near the Myanmar border, and Bangladeshi authorities acknowledged that none of the refugees who were meant to be repatriated showed up or wanted to return.

Bangladesh had agreed with Myanmar to repatriate a total of more than 2,200 people, including Sitara Begum and her son Mohammed. The move has been criticized by the United Nations and aid groups. UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said sending the refugees back would be like "throwing them back to the cycle of human rights violations that this community has been suffering for decades."

More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled army-led violence in Myanmar, mainly in the second half of 2017, are living in Bangladesh. The Rohingya refugees claim Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist civilians massacred families, destroyed villages and carried out gang rapes. UN investigators have accused the army of "genocidal intent."

Nurul Amin is on the first list of people to be repatriated to Myanmar. The 35-year old lives with his wife and family in the Jamtoli refugee camp, in the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh. "I will not go. My wife and other family members have gone elsewhere, they do not want to go," he said. Refugees refuse to go back to Myanmar out of fear for their safety.