Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Bangladesh. (Photo taken by John Owens/VOA)

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh refer to the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh.[1]

History

Rohingyas are a Muslim minority in Myanmar regarded by many Myanmar Buddhist as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.[2] The Rohingyas have lived in Myanmar for generations and Bangladesh government has called for Myanmar to take back the refugees.[3] They are denied citizenship in Myanmar and have been described as the world’s most persecuted minority.[4][5] Rohingyas are prosecuted in Myanmar by security forces and extremist buddhist.[6] Myanmar has denied prosecuting the Rohingyas.[7] Since the 1970s Rohingya refugees have been settling in Bangladesh, with an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 refugees in Bangladesh as of 2017. Most of the refugees are located along the Teknaf-Cox's Bazar highway that is parallel to Naf River which is the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar.[8] Most of the refugees are located in or near Cox's Bazar, a coastal area dependent upon tourism.[9]

Bangladesh believes the refugees would harm the tourism prospect of the area. They also blame the refugees for crime and 2012 Ramu violence in Cox's Bazar.[10] Bangladesh follows a policy of making the country unwelcome for Rohingya refugees.[11] The majority of the refugees are unregistered, with only 32 thousand refugees registering themselves with UNHCR and the government of Bangladesh. An estimated 200,000 plus refuges are living unregistered in Bangladesh.[12] Amnesty International report have stated that the Myanmar security forces are caring out the rape, extrajudicial killing, and burying homes belonging to the Rohingya in a December 2016 report.[13] Refugees have been displacing the indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.[14] They have also been blamed for importing the drug Ya Ba.[15][16][17]

Relocation

In 2015 the government of Bangladesh proposed a relocation plan for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to the remote Island of Thengar Char in the Bay of Bengal. The plan was pushed back following criticism by human rights activists and the UNHCR.

Between October and November 2016, about 65,000 Rohingya refugees arrived from Myanmar. The government of Bangladesh decided to revive the relocation plan.[18] Thengar Char is submerged during high tide and was formed in the 2000s by sediments from the Meghna River. It is not included on most maps,[19] and is located 30 kilometers away from Hatiya Island, the nearest inhabited area.[20] The Bangladesh Army has been tasked with making the island habitable for the refugees.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh face relocation to island". BBC News. 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  2. ↑ "Bangladesh wants to move Muslim refugees to an island to stop them ‘mingling’ with citizens". The Independent. 2017-01-31. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  3. ↑ "Bangladesh PM asks Myanmar to take back Rohingya refugees". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  4. ↑ "Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh to Be Relocated to Remote, Inhospitable Island - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  5. ↑ "Shining a light on Rohingya refugees - Global Journalist". Global Journalist. 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  6. ↑ Kullab, Samya (2017-02-23). "The Trouble With Thengar Char". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  7. ↑ "Myanmar army: Charges of abuse of Rohingya unsubstantiated". Herald-Whig. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  8. ↑ "A fight to survive for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh". aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  9. ↑ "Bangladesh resurrects plan to move Rohingya refugees to flooded island". Reuters. 2017-01-31. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  10. ↑ Diplomat, Sumit Ganguly and Brandon Miliate , The. "Refugees and Neighbors: Rohingya in Bangladesh". The Diplomat. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  11. ↑ "Exile island". The Economist. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  12. ↑ France-Presse, Agence (2015-05-27). "Bangladesh plans to move Rohingya refugees to island in the south". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  13. ↑ Hussain, Maaz. "Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh Vow Never to Return to Myanmar". VOA. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  14. ↑ "Rights group accuses Bangladesh of ethnic cleansing, pushing Buddhists out with Rohingya refugees from Myanmar". hindustantimes.com/. 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  15. ↑ "Bangladesh to ban cold pill chemical to fight meth surge | Dhaka Tribune". Dhaka Tribune. 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  16. ↑ "Myanmar Rohingya refugees sucked into booming Bangladesh drug trade". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  17. ↑ "Myanmar nationals among 8 held with yaba pills worth Tk24cr | Dhaka Tribune". Dhaka Tribune. 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  18. ↑ Sattar, Maher (2017-01-31). "Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh to Be Relocated to Remote Island". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  19. ↑ "Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh face relocation to island". BBC News. 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  20. ↑ "Bangladesh: Reject Rohingya Refugee Relocation Plan". Human Rights Watch. 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  21. ↑ Rahman, Shaikh Azizur; agencies (2017-02-02). "Plan to move Rohingya to remote island prompts fears of human catastrophe". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
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