Dire straits: The refugees said living in camps fenced in by barbed wire and checkpoints guarded by policemen made it difficult to even move around within camps. — The Straits Times/ANN
In 2017, a brutal military crackdown forced over 700,000 Rohingya to flee from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
But severe movement restrictions, violence and extortion these Muslims now face in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps are making some so desperate that they are thinking about suicide, according to a report released yesterday.
Cox Bazar is a town in the south-east coast of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh hosts about one million Rohingya refugees who have dim prospects of returning home after a February 2021 military coup plunged Myanmar into turmoil.
Although the Rohingya were regarded by Myanmar as illegal migrants and subjected to systemic discrimination prior to their 2017 exodus, many now perceive living conditions in Bangladesh refugee camps to be worse than what they had left behind in Myanmar, the report by Youth Congress Rohingya (YCR), a refugee-led civil society organisation, and Fortify Rights, a non-governmental organisation, said.
The report was based on surveys of 241 randomly-selected refugees and 54 in-depth interviews with Rohingya respondents from 30 different camps across the Cox’s Bazar district, as well as four interviews with police officers.
Sixty-five per cent of respondents said they believed movement restrictions in Bangladesh were worse than what they had experienced in Myanmar.
The refugees said that living in camps fenced in by barbed wire and checkpoints guarded by policemen who imposed arbitrary restrictions made it difficult for them to even move around in the camps.
But shrinking levels of food rations have made the situation dire, as they try to find work outside the camps to supplement their income.
Meanwhile, a 6pm to 6am curfew – meant to maintain security in the camps – also prevents them from escaping from potential violence and criminal gangs that operate within these camps.
Among those surveyed, 81% felt “not at all safe” or just “a little bit safe” in the camps.
The vast majority of respondents – 86% – said that the restrictions on movement made them feel less safe in the camps. — The Straits Times/ANN
