Another 379 more Rohingyas reached Bhasan Char from the Chattogram’s Patenga Boat Club today under the supervision of the Bangladesh Navy.
Earlier, they reached Patenga from Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhia Balukhali camp and left for Bhasan Char with two naval ships around 10 am today after an overnight stay at a temporary transit camp of BAF Shaheen College.
“About 1 lakh Rohingyas are being kept in Bhasan Char,” said Rear Admiral Mozemmel Hoque, Chattogram region commander of Bangladesh Navy.
The Rohingyas reached Bhasan Char around 1:45 pm today. Before boarding the ship, they were given tokens and keys of the allotted shelter homes after various data entries, Hoque added.
ALSO READ THIS: RED CROSS WARNS OF ‘SERIOUS PROBLEMS’ WITH REMOTE BANGLADESH ISLAND HOUSING ROHINGYA REFUGEES
A senior Red Cross official warned that “serious problems” remain with a remote island off southern Bangladesh housing Rohingya refugees, as officials prepared to ship thousands more people there this week.
He said the government has provided infrastructure of 120 cluster villages on the 13,000-acres of char land at a cost of Tk 3,095 crore with its own fund to accommodate more than 1 lakh Rohingya people.
The first group of 1,642 Rohingyas reached Bhasan Char on December 4.
Realising the growing importance of economy and security, the US is moving away from its old idea of Bangladesh and is looking to chart the next 50 years of relationship between the two countries in a new way, a top US official has said.
Ambassador Kelly Keiderling said traditionally Bangladesh was known as a garment manufacturer and a poor LDC. Now the US is has a modern idea of Bangladesh being a vibrant economy and a major contributor to world security in terms of UN peacekeeping.
“Bangladesh keeps watch on the international transnational crimes, along with human and drug trafficking along the Indian Ocean rim. These are also elements of global security.”
Keiderling, South and Central Asian affairs bureau deputy assistant secretary for public diplomacy and Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, said Bangladesh is also providing software products to the international cyber world and it is important for the US to interact with Bangladesh on the topic.
ALSO READ THIS: ARSA PRESENCE AT ROHINGYA CAMPS: EVERYBODY KNOWS FEW DARE SPEAK
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today hoped that Myanmar will take back Rohingyas gradually as the pressure on that country will be mounted following the recent adoption of a resolution in the United Nations.
“I believe the pressure will be mounted on Myanmar as the resolution has been passed by consensus,” he told reporters after paying tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Tungipara of Gopalganj.
Dr Momen said Myanmar did not say they will not take back their people. “We hope Myanmar will create a conducive environment for the voluntary return of the Rohingyas.”
The Foreign Minister said every country wants a peaceful solution to the Rohingya crisis. “It’s great news for us that all the countries want the Rohingyas to go back to their country,” he said.
Dr Momen said Myanmar has said they will take back the Rohingyas and they have signed an agreement with Bangladesh.
ALSO READ: MYANMAR WILL TAKE BACK ROHINGYAS GRADUALLY, HOPES FOREIGN MINISTER MOMEN
He said Myanmar needs to create a conducive environment so that the Rohingyas can go back to their country on a voluntary basis. “But it’s the 5th year and they didn’t pay any heed to their words”.
Bangladesh has decided to relocate some Rohingyas from Kutupalong camp to Bhasan Char in a bid to reduce the deaths caused by natural disasters, said the minister.
Responding to a question over border killings, the Foreign Minister said it a shame for India as the two countries agreed to stop border killings.
“I say it’s unfortunate for us and it’s shameful for them,” Dr Momen said.
Somalia has agreed to a Bangladesh’s proposal on joint contract farming in the African country for better use of its unutilised cultivable land.
Visiting State Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Somalia, Balal Mohamed Cusman, agreed to the proposal made by Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister.
All the 34 Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar have become hubs of organised and cross-border crimes. And it is the Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army (ARSA) that is behind it all, say Rohingyas and intelligence sources.
Out to make the refugee camps its stronghold, the armed group is cashing in on lax law enforcement and the misery of the refugees.
After the killing of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah and the six Rohingya men in October, the ARSA tightened its clutches even further, and the camp dwellers appear to have resigned themselves to fate: Fear and plight are not going to cease stalking them anytime soon.
“ARSA operatives are engaged in a wide array of crimes in the camps. They take absolute control of the camps at nighttime. The Rohingyas know their faces but they are too afraid to say anything publicly,” Habib Ullah, brother of Mohib Ullah, told The Daily Star.
ALSO READ THIS: UN RESOLUTION ON ROHINGYAS ASKS MYANMAR TO ADDRESS CRISIS
Echoing him, Noor Mohammad, another refugee, said the ARSA controls everything, from drug trafficking to extorting to hoarding relief goods. “There is no one to confront them and now they have established a tight grip on the camps.”
However, the government and law enforcers maintain that the Rohingya insurgent group does not exist in Bangladesh and that some criminals might have falsely identified themselves as ARSA operatives to intimidate the general refugees.
“There is no ARSA presence in the camps. Those who say otherwise should be identified. It’s a blatant lie. They have an evil agenda to portray the Rohingyas as criminals,” said Naimul Haque, commander of 14th Armed Police Battalion (APBn), which is in charge of law enforcement at a portion of tRohingya camps.
The Rohingyas need to go out of the camps for medical purposes and to receive relief goods, he said. “Some of them take advantage of this and engage in drug dealing.
Mohammed Ali, 28, is a Rohingya refugee who has been working as a plantation guardian for the past three years, helping to green the world’s biggest refugee camp.
His tasks include watering and caring for seedlings, replanting trees ripped out by landslides, and raising awareness in his community about the need to protect the forests in this lush corner of southern Bangladesh.
The sprawling, densely populated camp is home to some 900,000 refugees, the majority of whom arrived in 2017 after fleeing violence and human rights abuses in Myanmar. In response to the influx over a period of just a few months, the Bangladeshi government allocated a 2,500-hectare sweep of protected forest to expand an existing settlement.
Vegetation was cleared to make way for shelters and infrastructure. Lacking alternative cooking fuels, refugees cut many of the remaining trees for firewood. What had been a sanctuary for wildlife, including endangered Asian elephants, quickly became a bare, hilly tract of bamboo and plastic-roofed shelters that was prone to flooding and landslides in the monsoon season.
The risks from such events are on the rise. Bangladesh has always been buffeted by tropical storms and flooding, but climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of cyclones that threaten both Bangladeshis and the Rohingya refugees living in the hastily constructed settlements in Cox’s Bazar District.
Between June and October, torrential rains batter the camps, collapsing hillsides, submerging makeshift shelters, and displacing the refugees once again. This year alone, some 24,000 refugees were forced to abandon their homes and belongings and 10 refugees lost their lives during particularly heavy rains in late July.
To reduce these risks, UNHCR and its partners set out in 2018 to restore the forest ecosystem and stabilize hillsides through a project to plant fast-growing indigenous species of trees, shrubs and grasses. More than 3,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees have received training on how to manage tree nurseries, plant and care for seedlings, and protect the young trees.
The airport in Delhi is a few kilometers away from the millennium city of Gurgaon, and just 50 kilometers from the millennium city is the district of Nuh (Mewat). Despite its proximity to Delhi, the district has the dubious distinction of being the only backward district of Haryana; the callousness now extends to security matters. The district has been witnessing a continuous, rising influx of Rohingya immigrants in the last few years, yet the district administration, while being aware of this influx, is limited in its action and can do little to prevent it.
There is a perception about the district built by the administrators in Gurgaon—that it is a den of criminals. This baseless perception has done immense harm to the development, and even to the security, of the district. The national media also picks up selective stories about the district based on this perception.
The Nuh district is dominated by a backward population of Meos, a native tribe also referred as Khanzade, as they converted to Islam in the 17th century. The area is hardy, scarcity of water is endemic and overall development on all parameters is low. The demographic change being ushered in by the entry of Rohingyas will push the district towards an abyss. Whether this is happening because of the Tablighi Jamaat or is being facilitated by them is not known. The Tablighi Jamaat, which was founded in Nuh, has been expanding its presence globally and maybe facilitating the entry and settlement of the Rohingyas in the area.The congregation of the Rohingyas along with the Tablighi Jamaat followers does not augur well for the security of the NCR. The rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan looking for ideological continuance in the region will also find resonance with the Rohingyas. Their entry into the border areas with Bangladesh has already created a nuisance. Moreover, a base so near the NCR creates a security nightmare for the country.
COX’S BAZAR: Bangladesh police arrested at least 16 Rohingya refugees in a series of raids on camps in Dhaka after the murder of a top Rohingya community leader last week, officials said Sunday.
Rights advocate Mohib Ullah was gunned down ten days ago by unidentified assailants outside his office at Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee settlement in Bangladesh’s southeast.
His family and fellow community leaders have blamed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) — a militant outfit behind a series of attacks on Myanmar security posts — saying Mohib Ullah’s growing popularity had enraged the group. ARSA has denied any involvement in the murder.
The 48-year-old had become one the most respected moderate voices advocating for Rohingya refugees after nearly 800,000 people fled Myanmar for Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district following military crackdowns on their villages in 2017.
ALSO READ THIS: 80,000 ROHINGYAS TO BE RELOCATED TO BHASAN CHAR IN 3 MONTHS
“We have arrested 16 people in the past three days as part of a special drive we have launched after the murder of Mohib Ullah,” said Naimul Huq, the police official in charge of the raids.
But Huq added that those arrested were not “involved in the murder of Mohib Ullah” and ARSA does not operate in the camps.
The arrests signal a wider law enforcement crackdown on the camps, coming a week after five others were apprehended in connection with the murder and local media reported that one of the men had confessed.Rohingya community leaders and rights activists have repeatedly said members of the militant outfit are active in the refugee settlement and Mohib Ullah’s family had told AFP last week that they were afraid of leaving their homes.
“ARSA has created a reign of terror in the camps,” a senior leader of the slain leader’s rights group told AFP, asking to remain unnamed.“Since Mohib Ullah’s murder, I haven’t been able to go to my home. I’ve been hiding since the murder. ARSA members are following us and threatening us. I am helpless.”
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief, Dr Md Enamur Rahman, today said that another 80,000 “forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals” will be relocated to Bhasan Char in next three months.
“With the help of some local and international NGOs, humanitarian assistance is being provided to their relocation to Bhasan Char,” he said.
The state minister was speaking at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between the country’s disaster management and relief ministry and the UNHCR at the Secretariat as the chief guest.
The MoU was signed to establish a common protection and policy framework for humanitarian response to Rohingya in Bhasan Char, said an UNHCR press release.
ALSO READ THIS: DIAL DOWN TENSIONS IN THE ROHINGYA CAMPS
The recent assassination of Mohib Ullah, chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, has increased apprehension within the Rohingya refugee camps where tension was already high. The Rohingya have been living in fear due to a combination of unrestrained crimes, rivalry between different groups operating in the camps as well as lax security. Mohib Ullah’s murder has only worsened the situation, with many refugees believing the state of security in camps has gone from bad to worse in recent times.According to a report published by this newspaper on Thursday, armed gangs belonging to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) have created a deep sense of fear in the camps
The MoU is a further expression of the government and people of Bangladesh’s generosity and support toward the Rohingya population until they can return safely and sustainably to Myanmar, it added.
Enamur said that as per recommendations of the Technical and Protection Sub-Committee formed in 2018, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief constructed a total of 1,440 houses and 120 cyclone shelters in Bhasan Char for the accommodation of one lakh forcibly displaced Myanmar citizen under the Ashrayan-3 project.
From December 3, 2020 to April 4, 2021, some 18,846 “forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals” from 4,724 families were relocated to Bhasan Char, he added.
The recent assassination of Mohib Ullah, chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, has increased apprehension within the Rohingya refugee camps where tension was already high. The Rohingya have been living in fear due to a combination of unrestrained crimes, rivalry between different groups operating in the camps as well as lax security. Mohib Ullah’s murder has only worsened the situation, with many refugees believing the state of security in camps has gone from bad to worse in recent times.
According to a report published by this newspaper on Thursday, armed gangs belonging to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) have created a deep sense of fear in the camps. Law enforcement agencies have alleged that at least 10 Rohingya groups are engaged in about 12 types of crimes, including killing, abduction, rape, drug trafficking and robbery.
ALSO READ THIS: MOHIB ULLAH KILLING WON’T IMPACT ROHINGYA REPATRIATION: FOREIGN SECY
Since August 2017—when the largest Rohingya influx in history took place amidst a deadly crackdown by Myanmar’s military—more than 226 Rohingya individuals have been reportedly killed, and some 1,298 cases have been filed against 2,850 individuals, mostly in connection with possession of drugs and firearms.Amidst such a situation, we believe that having three armed battalions of police maintain law and order in the refugee camps, sheltering over a million Rohingya people, is not nearly enough. The number of battalions has to be increased for the police there to be effective, and in the aftermath of the Mohib Ullah killing, the number one priority should be to dispel fears and rumours in the camps with effective communication and de-escalation strategies, including through increased surveillance and presence of law enforcement personnel.
It is also vital that the authorities engage with the Rohingya representatives and members of the international community. Through closer engagement and collaboration, they should try and calm the nerves of refugees and give them the assurance that security will be beefed up and that they should have nothing to fear.
The killing incident of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah will not make any impact on repatriation of Rohingya people to their homeland Myanmar, said Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.
“Five persons have been arrested over Mohib Ullah killing. The government is taking into account the incident with due importance,” he told journalists at the Cox’s Bazar airport after visiting the Kutupalong Rohingya camp at Ukhia in the district today.Momen said they have talked with the family of Mohib Ullah and the government is also giving importance to provide security to the family. Any kind of irregularity in the camp will not be spared, he said.The foreign secretary said different initiatives are underway for initiating the repatriation process while the United Nations also joined the process of shifting Rohingya people to Bhashan Char.
ALSO READ THISL: BANGLADESH PLANS TO MOVE 81,000 ROHINGYA TO ISLAND AFTER DEAL WITH UN
Some 19,000 of the Muslim refugees from Myanmar have already relocated from crowded camps on the mainland to Bhashan Char island, despite doubts raised by aid groups, officials said.
Bangladesh refugee commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayat said that tens of thousands more would go once the monsoon storms that batter the Bay of Bengal each year end in November.
“We are aiming to relocate some 81,000 (Rohingya) to Bhashan Char by the end of February to complete the 100,000 quota,” he said.
The government has spent about $350 million building shelters on the 53 square kilometre (20 square mile) island which was formed by tidal silt deposits about 20 years ago.
A four-member delegation of Foreign Ministry led by the foreign secretary visited Kutupalong Lambashia camp today. The delegation reached Cox’s Bazar on Friday on a two-day visit.
They talked with slain Mohib Ullah’s brother Habib Ullah. Besides, they also talked with other Rohingya people.
On September 29, Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Ukhia Rohingya camp in the district.
