Home ›› 25 Aug 2021 ›› Opinion
With the latest flare-up in the Rohingya crisis in late August 2017 in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, signs began to emerge that Bangladesh would bear the brunt as people in their thousands poured across the border fleeing persecution.
Bangladesh, already one of the most densely populated countries in the world, opened its border to let the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (FDMN) in, initially apprehending that they would go back once the situation stabilised in their homeland. It had done so in the past, sheltering thousands of FDMN since the ‘70s. A very negligible number from among them went back to their motherland.
More than 7,50,000 Rohingyas came to Bangladesh since August 2017. They are living in camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, a river island located around 40km off Noakhali. The government and the international community have been spending millions of dollars to meet their basic needs. Bangladesh spent over $350 million to develop Bhasan Char.
Who are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya are a Muslim-majority ethnic minority in Myanmar. They constitute a very small part of the Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s population. They are denied basic rights and many of them are forced to live in squalid camps in apartheid-like conditions.
State-sponsored discriminations against them stretch back decades.
The Rohingya have their own language and culture and have lived in Myanmar for centuries. But they were left out of the 2014 census. Myanmar sees them as ‘illegal immigrants’ from Bangladesh and often refer to Rohingya as “Bengali” or use the pejorative term “kalar”.
Members of the minority have migrated to other countries since the 1970s in large numbers. Before the 2017 crisis, thousands of them had fled the country to escape persecution or abuses by the security forces.
Often described as “one of the most discriminated people in the world”, members of this ethnic minority have previously come to Bangladesh in 1978-79, 1991-92 and 1996 for similar reasons.
The influx
Myanmar’s Rakhine state, home to most of the Rohingya, is rich in natural resources but remains one of the country’s most impoverished states.
In August 2017, Myanmar claimed that it was responding to insurgent attacks on its police posts and an army base.
People feeling the violent crackdown reported murder, rape, torture, loot and arson – charges the Myanmar authorities denied. But the UN described the violence as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing with genocidal content”. Aung San Suu Kyi, once a human rights icon, repeatedly denied allegations of genocide.
Human Rights Watch analysed satellite imagery and noted that at least 288 villages were partially or totally destroyed by fire in northern Rakhine state after August 2017.
More than 7,50,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh at that time. They joined around 3,00,000 people already in Bangladesh from previous waves of displacement, according to Unicef.
Last year, Save the Children said 76,000 babies were born in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps in three years.
Solidarity, unprecedented welcome
As the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals started pouring in, the residents of coastal district Cox’s Bazar welcomed them with open arms. People from all over the country and various volunteer groups raised funds to feed the Rohingya people.
As the ‘world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis and a major humanitarian emergency’ unfolded, the locals of Cox’s Bazar provided them shelter and shared meals. People sympathised with their plight and were significantly involved in helping the Rohingya even before the aid agencies and the government engaged in the humanitarian operation.
At the height of the crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided to open the border to let the Rohingya in. Her bold initiatives saved the lives of thousands and earned her the title ‘Mother of Humanity’.
“If we can feed 160 million people, we can also feed an additional 5,00,000 to 7,00,000 people at their time of distress,” Sheikh Hasina said. “If necessary, we will have one meal a day and share another meal with these distressed people. After all, we are human beings and we stand for humanity.”
“We are not that rich but we have the heart. They are human beings (and) we cannot throw them out into the Bay of Bengal,” she said.
Bangladesh has been extending humanitarian assistance solely on the humanitarian ground despite numerous challenges to the economy, ecology and security.
Dreams sprout in cramped camps
The Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh picked up whatever they could and fled across the border leaving behind everything else. Before the government and aid agencies formally joined the humanitarian efforts, they had no place to sleep and barely anything to eat.
The forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals had since been kept in cramped camps, the world’s largest.
Facilities here are limited. The overwhelming number of Rohingya make it nearly impossible to arrange all facilities for them. A number of NGOs are working with the government to give the persecuted Rohingya a better life.
But these are all temporary arrangements as Bangladesh looks towards repatriation.
Most of the Rohingya who came here are children, many of them school students. There have been demands for arranging proper education for them.
The government is allowing Rohingya children to get school education through the provision of the Myanmar curriculum. Children older than 14 years will get skills training. The goal is to keep Rohingya childrens’ hope for the future alive.
Hundreds of informal learning centres have been set up by international agencies and Rohingya leaders. The opportunity to learn and improve skills is something these children were never offered back in Myanmar.
A large number of madrasas have also been set up in the camps providing religious teachings to the children.
With repatriation a far-flung thing, the educational opportunities are keeping the hopes and dreams of the Rohingya children alive.
Local environment destroyed
Setting up camps for the overwhelming number of Rohingya was a massive challenge for Bangladesh. Cox’s Bazar, a coastal hilly district known for its natural beauty and long sandy beaches, is very different now.
Thousands of acres of forestland had been cleared to set up the camps, inflicting billions of taka in damage. The Rohingya people cut off trees for fuelwood, further depleting the already fragile forest resources.
The FDMNs have cleared thousands of acres of reserve forests to build makeshift shelters and firewood.
A UNDP assessment identified 28 risk factors threatening biodiversity and human security.
The environmental impacts include ground water depletion; ground water contamination; poor indoor air quality; poor management of sewer sludge; removal of soils and terrain; and changes in terrain.
Impacts on ecosystems with high associated risks include deforestation and forest degradation; encroachment onto and resource extraction from protected areas; changes in land cover; rapid biomass reduction; loss of species; loss of wildlife habitat and shrinkage of wildlife corridor; and mortality risks for wildlife.
Areas previously inhabited by wild elephants are now barren. The migratory routes of the elephants have been disrupted leading to a dramatic escalation of encounters between humans and elephants.
The environmental consequences of this massive influx will last for years.
Local economy affected
Aid agencies began to crowd Cox’s Bazar to respond to the Rohingya crisis. This influx pushed up housing and living costs in the district. Although some were benefited, such as hotels, restaurants and house owners, others were heavy losers.
A rise in living costs made the lives of the low-income people hard. There are instances where the Rohingya take up jobs at a much lower cost, elbowing out the local workers. The presence of a huge number of Rohingya meant less work for local workers.
A 2018 UNDP report said the Rohingya situation caused a 14.3 per cent wage reduction of labourers among the host community in Teknaf. Last year, the Joint Response Plan report by the Bangladesh government and UN organisations acknowledged the competition for opportunities for informal work as day labourers, which led to a reduction in wages.
The Rohingya crisis also affected the local tourism industry negatively, bringing down the number of tourists to the district.
The initial solidarity and sense of sympathy have dried up, replaced by anger, frustration and hopelessness as repatriation is nowhere in sight.
Locals said they are bearing the brunt but have remained largely ignored by the government and aid agencies working in the district.
Bangladesh spending millions on Rohingyas
The government has been spending millions of dollars for the Rohingyas stuck in Bangladesh. In 2019, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told the media that the government’s monthly expenditure was $300 million on the Rohingyas and some parts of it came from international agencies.
Initially, the government arranged food and accommodation for the Rohingya before the aid agencies joined the humanitarian effort. Bangladesh spent a huge amount to make roads, construct culvarts, arrange electricity in the camps.
Thousands of law enforcement and civil service holders are also working in the camps.
Bhasan Char
Bangladesh spent $350 million to develop Bhasan Char river island, planning to relocate 1,00,000 Rohingya in phases from the cramped camps until their repatriation.
Prime Minister Hasina said the government prepared Bhashan Char to provide the Rohingya with better facilities with the scope of earning their livelihoods.
The island has modern amenities, something largely absent in the cramped camps, but there have been debates and concerns raised by the international agencies. More than 18,000 Rohingya have been relocated to the island so far.
Replying to a question on shifting Rohingya to the Island, Hasina at a press briefing at the Ganabhaban said although the Rohingya people wanted to go there, there are many agencies that do not want to shift them to the island.
A UN delegation visited Bhasan Char in March this year and expressed a positive attitude to the project and made some recommendations.
On a collision course
The government has been saying that the presence of this huge number of Rohingyas is posing a major challenge not just to the security of Bangladesh but also the whole region.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has previously expressed apprehension about diverting the unemployed Rohingya youths to militancy.
Many Rohingya people have gotten involved in crimes such as murder, extortion, abduction and narcotics smuggling into the camps. In 2019, 263 criminal cases were filed against them. Law enforcers say a large number of crimes within the camps go unreported. Illegal drug trade is believed to be responsible for a large share of the crimes.
As crimes increase, locals become more apprehensive. Earlier this week, locals formed a committee to ‘resist Rohingyas’, showing the extent of discontent among residents of the area.
Thousands of them even went abroad using Bangladeshi passports and got involved in crimes, tarnishing the image of Bangladesh in the process. There is no specific data on their number.
Solution lies in Myanmar
Bangladsh has done all it can. Now it’s the international community’s turn to get to work. In the four years since the latest chapter in the crisis unfolded, hardly any progress has been made.
Bangladesh provided Myanmar with a list of Rohingya but the latter did little to initiate the repatriation process as they have failed to win the trust of Rohingya by creating a conducive environment for their dignified return to their homeland.
At the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2017, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presented a 5-point proposal for a permanent solution to the protracted crisis. The following year, she placed a 3-point proposal to resolve the crisis.
Bangladesh always believes that a durable solution in the sustainable return of the Rohingya to their place of origin with safety, dignity and assurance of livelihoods, restoring their civil, political and economic rights. Bangladesh continues to remain engaged with the Rohingya through UNHCR and other UN agencies to encourage them to return voluntarily.
The international community needs to intensify its engagement with Myanmar for creating a conducive environment in the Rakhine State and help secure a durable and just solution to this protracted crisis.
“If the situation does not improve and the Rohingya don’t go back to their homeland,” a local NGO official told me, “then one might need to conduct a census to find out the number of locals in the influx-hit areas.”
The writer is a Deputy News Editor at The Business Post
