Captain Hiram Cox in the late eighteenth century laid the foundations of what is now the tourist town of Cox’s Bazar. An officer of the British East India Company, Captain Cox arrived in Ramu in late 1798 or early 1799 to resettle Arakanese refugees. While the Company intended to relocate the displaced population to northern Chattogram, he chose the southern strip between the Bakkhali and Naf rivers instead. On the banks of the Bakkhali, at the site of today’s modern town centre, he established a market and settled the refugees. This settlement, initially named “Cox er Bazaar” in his honour, subsequently evolved into Cox’s Bazar.
Captain Cox’s mandate extended well beyond immediate refugee relief, encompassing forest cultivation, agricultural and revenue expansion, and the implementation of a defensive perimeter on British India’s eastern frontier to counter Burmese and hill raids.
More than two centuries later, Cox’s Bazar still reflects the legacy of that history. The triad of refugees, borders and security that originally defined its strategic importance endures, now compounded by Bay of Bengal geopolitics, human trafficking, narcotics smuggling and critical economic infrastructure like the Matarbari Deep Sea Port. The beach town of Cox’s Bazar now operates simultaneously as one of the country’s most sensitive borderlands and a prime zone of commercial potential.
The district already contains the world’s largest refugee camp, the longest unbroken sea beach and St Martin’s Island — a recurring flashpoint in regional geopolitics. It has also produced senior political figures including Salahuddin Ahmed, the incumbent home minister. Analysts note that the district’s role in regional and domestic politics has assumed an unprecedented dimension, transforming decisions regarding its administration into matters of national, rather than merely local, interest.
Recent domestic and regional developments have brought Bangladesh’s southernmost district to the spotlight following Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to China. Sources familiar with the trip state that Beijing proposed a transport corridor extending from Yunnan province through Myanmar’s Rakhine state to Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram.
According to sources, the proposed corridor would originate in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, and run to Mandalay. From there, the route would bifurcate, with one branch terminating at Yangon and the other reaching the Kyaukphyu Deep Sea Port in Rakhine. Road and rail links built outward from Rakhine would then connect the corridor directly to Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram.
Dr Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan, professor of international relations at the University of Dhaka, told Bonik Barta: “Cox’s Bazar’s coastal geography ties its geopolitical significance to two large frameworks — China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the US-centred Indo-Pacific strategy. China still relies heavily on the Malacca Strait for oil and trade, and India maintains a powerful naval and coastal presence there. The proposed corridor could therefore offer China an alternative trade and connectivity route, raising the Bay of Bengal’s strategic weight. As Chattogram and the surrounding coast become a competitive arena for regional powers, Cox’s Bazar, Matarbari and the wider coastal belt are bound to feel the effects.”
Alongside its geographical and strategic importance, the district’s economic profile is also expanding rapidly. The government has initiated several large-scale infrastructure projects designed to transition the tourist destination Cox’s Bazar into a commercial and energy hub. Power plants, an LNG terminal, a deep-sea port and an economic zone in the Moheshkhali-Matarbari area occupy various stages of development, with some facilities operational, others under construction and the remainder planned. Complementing these developments, the expansion of Cox’s Bazar airport continues, and the Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar railway has already entered service.
Its border location has concurrently maintained Cox’s Bazar’s status as a humanitarian and security flashpoint. The Bay of Bengal bounds the area to the south, while Myanmar’s Rakhine State and the Naf River lie to the east. The Rohingya crisis attracted intense international attention after 2016, when a violent military crackdown triggered a mass exodus across the border. More than 900,000 Rohingya entered Bangladesh over the subsequent two years. The latest figures from the Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner’s office quantify the total number of Rohingya sheltered in Bangladesh at 1,201,171. The initial large influx of roughly 200,000 arrived in 1978, shortly after independence, followed by periodic smaller waves. The migration of the past decade has surpassed all historical records, however.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited the Ukhiya camps on March 14, 2025, promising maximum international intervention to resolve the situation and prioritise the Rohingya for global assistance. The then-interim government’s chief adviser, Dr Muhammad Yunus, advanced a seven-point proposal urging more decisive international action. The administration subsequently appointed Dr Khalilur Rahman as high representative for Rohingya affairs and national security adviser to secure a swift, permanent resolution. Dr Rahman now serves as the foreign minister and was recently elected president of the UN General Assembly.
Beyond geostrategy and commerce, Cox’s Bazar’s influence has permeated national politics. Leaders from the coastal district have steadily accumulated power in Dhaka, a trajectory highlighted by the outcome of the 13th parliamentary election in February 2026. Salahuddin Ahmed, a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s national standing committee, emerged as one of the party’s most influential figures. The lawmaker representing Cox’s Bazar-1, which spans Chakaria and Pekua, is now the minister for home affairs. His influence over party policy was evident even before the cabinet took shape.
Other national political figures originating from the district include BNP’s national executive committee member Alamgir Mohammad Mahfuz Ullah Farid, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad and National Citizen Party (NCP) central joint member secretary and Chattogram division organising secretary ASM Suza Uddin.
This political weight has historical precedents. Two ministers rose to prominence from Cox’s Bazar during the British and Pakistani eras, both lawyers by profession. Khan Bahadur Moulvi Jalaluddin Ahmed, born in Harbang within Chakaria upazila, served in the Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1937 to 1945 and held the post of health minister for undivided Bengal. Moulvi Farid Ahmad, a native of Rashidnagar in Ramu upazila, served as Pakistan’s federal labour minister in 1957.
Despite this political and economic ascendancy, Cox’s Bazar faces persistent scrutiny as a locus for human trafficking and narcotics smuggling. The repercussions of these cross-border crimes extend far beyond the district boundaries. Police investigations and enforcement operations have repeatedly implicated politically influential figures alongside local syndicates. The current government has promised a rigorous enforcement response, while opposition leaders have committed to cooperating in suppressing the trade.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed told Bonik Barta: “Human trafficking is a major problem in border areas like Teknaf. The presence of a large displaced population from Myanmar has made it far more complex. Many within this community, seeking a better life abroad, fall prey to traffickers. We are monitoring this closely. Coordinated operations led by law enforcement agencies will be rolled out, replicating the model that proved successful in Chattogram’s Jungle Salimpur and elsewhere.”
St Martin’s Island, situated within the Cox’s Bazar district, has periodically triggered political friction as well. Prior to the 12th parliamentary election, the Sheikh Hasina administration asserted that leasing the island would guarantee its retention of power. It claimed Washington had requested the island and, following Dhaka’s refusal, applied diplomatic pressure regarding the election. The United States denied the allegation. Following the ouster of the Hasina government in 2024, the subsequent interim administration enacted a series of policy decisions regarding the island that renewed the dispute.
Over recent years, Cox’s Bazar has become increasingly central to national debates on politics, the economy, security and geopolitics. The convergence of the Rohingya crisis, border crime, human trafficking, the narcotics trade and major economic infrastructure projects has given the district a new significance.
Hamidur Rahman Azad, Jamaat-e-Islami’s assistant secretary general, told Bonik Barta: “Cox’s Bazar is a geographically vital region — sea, hills and beach come together here. The tourism potential is enormous. At the same time, major development projects centred on Matarbari are underway, including a deep-sea port, a power project, an LNG terminal and other infrastructure. These will make a big contribution to the national economy. Connectivity is improving. Taken together, Cox’s Bazar is becoming an important economic centre.”
He added that infrastructural growth alone remains insufficient: “If the drug trade, human trafficking, the Rohingya crisis, deforestation, hill-cutting, land grabbing and irregularities tied to various projects aren’t stopped, development won’t be sustainable. The administration, public representatives and political leadership must all work in a coordinated manner. Unless development and order proceed together, Cox’s Bazar can’t realise its full potential.”