The government has ordered a halt on operations of two NGOs in Cox’s Bazar for “secretly assisting” a Rohingya rally and “instigating” the refugees to not return to Myanmar.
The non-government organisations under the ban are Adventist Development and Relief Agency or ADRA and Al-Markazul Islami.
Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Kamal Hossain said he had received a Bureau of NGO Affairs letter entailing the orders to halt the two NGOs’ activities in the southeastern district bordering Myanmar.
“We will take action on behalf of the district administration as per the istructions,” he told this news agency on Wednesday.
The government also ordered a halt on bank transactions of ADRA and Al-Markazul.
They are accused of secretly helping the Rohingya to organise a rally in a camp area on Aug 25, the second anniversary of the Myanmar military-led operation dubbed “ethnic cleansing with genocidal intent”, Additional Deputy Commissioner Md Ashraful Afsar told bdnews24.com.
The two NGOs are also accused of instigating the refugees not to return to their homeland, he said, referring to the second botched attempt on Aug 22 to send the Rohingya back.
The Bureau of NGO Affairs on Aug 29 suspended six projects of an NGO, Mukti Cox’s Bazar, for allegedly making sharp weapons for Rohingya refugees. Some of the refugees were seen carrying sharp weapons in the rally.
The bureau had earlier halted operations of six NGOs working for the refugees. These are Islamic Relief, Islamic Aid, Muslim Aid, Small Kindness Bangladesh, Bangladesh Chashi Kalyan Samity, and Nomijan Asthabi Foundation.
On Aug 31, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the government had withdrawn a totsl of 41 NGOs from the refugee camps for “wrongdoings”.
The government has been accusing different NGOs working for the Rohingya Muslims of being involved in suspicious activities for quite some time.
Ministers, including Momen, have pointed the finger at the NGO activities in the Rohingya camps.
On Aug 22, the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs recommended identification of the NGOs that were allegedly impeding the repatriation as a second bid to start the process fell flat due to the refugees’ refusal to go back.
The speakers in the Aug 25 rally reiterated the same demands they had made for return during the recent repatriation attempt.
These include giving them citizenship, ensuring their security, returning their land and giving compensation for what they have faced in the crackdown that Myanmar said was a response to militant attacks on security posts.
