San Thai Shin is a Rohingya researcher and volunteer teacher in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. In his essay, San looks at how restrictive policies suppress refugees’ economic potential, forcing many into a situation of dependency rather than allowing them to contribute to the societies they live in.  The New Humanitarian aims to amplify the voices of refugees, asylum seekers, and people affected by conflict and disaster - placing them at the centre of the conversations about the policies and events that shape their lives.