Nowhere else to go: A general view of the sprawling Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh. — AFP
ROHINGYA refugee Noor Kamal found a sympathetic welcome in Bangladesh when he fled the soldiers rampaging through his village – but five years later, the hostility he now faces has left him pondering a dangerous return home.
Much has changed since he and 750,000 other members of the stateless Muslim minority escaped neighbouring Myanmar, the survivors of a horrific crackdown now subject to a United Nations genocide probe.Back then, thousands of Bangladeshis, outraged by the anti-Muslim violence across the border, trekked from across the country to distribute food and medicine to the shell-shocked arrivals.
But public attitudes have hardened after years of fruitless efforts to negotiate a safe return for the Rohingya, with media outlets and politicians often slamming refugees as drug runners and terror threats.
“There is so much hatred among local people and the press here that I worry it may trigger violence at any time,” Kamal said from his home in Bangladesh’s sprawling border relief camps.
“It’s better we return home, even if it means we have to face bullets. If we die, at least we will be buried in our motherland.”
While there is financial aid from the UN refugees body and other humanitarian groups, Dhaka still faces huge administrative challenges in hosting the camps.
Last year’s military coup in Myanmar has made the prospects of a wholesale return more remote.
Last month, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the Rohingya camps had become both a deep burden on her country’s economy and a threat to its political stability.
Resentment is widespread among Bangladeshis living near the camps.
“They are bringing shame to Bangladesh,” Ayasur Rahman, the spokesman of a local civil society group campaigning against the Rohingya’s presence, said.
“They should be sent to Myanmar immediately,” he added, accusing refugees of “snatching our jobs (and) stealing our passports”.
Refugees acknowledge that violence and criminal activity exist within the Kutupalong camp network, though it is the Rohingya themselves who are its chief victims.“Out of a million people, there are a handful of bad apples, but that doesn’t justify calling the entire refugee community criminal,” Rohingya refugee Abdul Mannan said.
“It is very hurtful how we are being portrayed.” — AFP
