Home ›› 24 Oct 2021 ›› Editorial
The gruesome incident at the Rohingya camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar – which left as many as seven people killed and several other injured – is a chilling reminder of deteriorating law and order situation in the Rohingya refugee camps. This horrific incident – which resulted in the most fatalities involving feuding Rohingya groups – is the latest in a series of violent events which have sent shockwaves among the common Rohingya refugees as well as members of the local community. Just a few weeks back On September 29, 2021, Mohibullah, 46, head of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar. It is an open secret now that several groups are vying for power in these camps and they are becoming increasingly violent. According to a recent report published in a vernacular daily an astounding 108 people were killed in different Rohingya camps in the last four years. It is believed that more than a dozen armed groups are active in these camps desperate to assert their supremacy.
Understandably the Bangladeshis living in the region are quite alarmed at the situation. As repressions in Myanmar on the Rohingyas became intolerable many Rohingyas were compelled to leave their ancestral homes. Bangladesh magnanimously opened its borders on humanitarian grounds and started accommodating these people in the specially created camps. However, if attacks like this continue, the patience of Bangladeshis may run short and tensions may rise. It is the common Rohingya refugees who are being considered as guilty by association.
The authorities concerned have issued warnings to the criminal elements at the Rohingya camps involved in these nefarious activities at regular intervals. However, these diktats are yet to yield positive results. Media reports suggest that illegal arms trade and drug peddling has become rampant in the region, with different Rohingya criminal gangs at the forefront of these activities. Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen in a strong message to those indulging in terrorist activities in the Rohingya camps have warned of dire consequences to them. The state can and should be a coercive force when the situation demands. And the situation at various Rohingya camps bears all signs of getting out of control.
Where there is a huge sum of money involved, in all likelihood there would be trouble. The money factor has mainly to do with contraband drug and illegal arms trade. There are also cases of abductions–involving Rohingya camp dwellers– related to unpaid money brought in through hundi. As stated earlier, elements among the Rohingya community are believed to be at the forefront of dealing in yaba – the highly addictive stimulant which is a mix of methamphetamine and caffeine. It has to be said that before the arrival of Rohingya refugees there was yaba trade in Bangladesh. However, it spiralled totally out of control when the criminal elements among the Rohingya got involved. However, local partners in the yaba trade should also face the music. Things couldn’t have come to such a pass if local vested quarters were not in cahoots with these Rohingya gangs.
Today, more than a million have taken shelter in Bangladesh. A significant number live in bleak conditions in overcrowded camps, rife with sanitary woes and at risk of dangerous landslides during torrential rains. These ghetto-like situation are breeding grounds for criminal activities and often also safe havens for gangsters of different hues.
Four years after the influx of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, crimes like murder, abduction, extortion and narcotics smuggling are burgeoning at the world's biggest refugee settlement in Cox's Bazar. These criminal activities are having a seriously adverse impact not only on the struggle of Rohingya refugees for greater rights and protection in the refugee camps, but also their efforts to safely return to their homes in Myanmar. Bangladesh authorities should urgently investigate the killings along with other attacks in the camps. We urge the authorities to beef up security in these camps. The international community must recognise that Bangladesh has done enough and they must hold the Myanmar authorities responsible and convince them to create an environment that will allow the Rohingyas to return safely. The longer the current atmosphere persists, the more crimes will occur in the camps, and more Rohingya lives will continue to be lost.
