Sagar Biswas :
With the advent of winter, the condition of Rohingya children — who are about 60 per cent of the 700,000 Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar since August 25 – is getting worse gradually due to harsh and insanitary conditions in the makeshift camps in Cox’s Bazar.
According to the Disasters Emergency Committee, more than 50,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are in dire need of proper food while approximately 145,000 are children under the age of five at risk of malnutrition. Of them, about 14,000 Rohingya children are already suffering from acute malnutrition.
There is widespread speculation that the ‘prolonged repatriation process’ of Rohingyas will deteriorate the overall situation in the future. Earlier, the incessant rains had hit hard the country, causing flooding and interruption of transportation and relief service to the refugees.
Most of the Rohingya women and girls have experienced sexual and gender-based violence, perpetrated by the Myanmar army. Many women whose sexual assault resulted in conception are reported to have sought out abortions after arriving in Bangladesh.
Last month, the UNICEF had planned to launch a US$76.1 million appeal for its emergency humanitarian response to the Rohingya refugee crisis covering the immediate needs of newly-arrived Rohingya children, as well as those who arrived before the recent influx. But the situation is not yet changed.
While talking to The New Nation, senior administrative and security officials posted in greater Cox’s Bazar area have expressed their concern about the overall situation due to lengthy repatriation process of the Rohingyas.
To improve the overall situation, the Cox’s Bazar District Administration is going to send a letter to the Home Ministry to set up at least five more police camps surrounding the Rohingya camps at Kutupalong and Balukhali under Ukhiya upazila.
“We are sending a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs requesting to set up at least five camps in Cox’s Bazar. At present, we’re selecting the places where it would be suitable to establish the camps. At the same time, we will also urge the ministry to increase the number of security forces,” Additional District Magistrate of Cox’s Bazar Khaled Mahmud said Thursday night.
“In the preliminary stage, the Rohingya camp was established only on 200 acres of land. Now, the area has increased to 3000 acres of land. It’s a vast area,” he added.
When contacted, Superintendent of Police in Cox’s Bazar Dr AKM Iqbal Hossain told The New Nation last night over phone, “We’re trying heart and soul to keep the law and order situation under control. We’ve taken many precautionary measures in this reagrd.”
About frequent movement of Rohingyas outside the designated camps, the SP said, “It is too hard to keep all the Rohingyas inside the camps. The number of police outposts has increased in this regard. At the same time, we’ve increased intelligence activities in the area. But it needs coordinated effort of all security agencies, including BGB, for a better supervision.”
Meanwhile, the Transparency International Bangladesh [TIB] on Wednesday claimed that some public representatives and politicians were taking bribe from the Rohingya families for building makeshift shelters taking advantage of prolonged repatriation process.
Not only that, some organisations were allegedly discouraging the Rohingyas from biometric registration, the TIB alleged.
Officials of Border Guard Bangladesh said the influx of Rohingyas was not yet stopped. Each and every day around 300 to 500 displaced Rohingyas are entering through different bordering points including Teknaf border. However, the flow has slightly reduced in the recent days.
“In the last 24 hours, about 500 Rohingyas entered the country,” Director of BGB Teknaf Battalion-2 Lieutenant Colonel SM Ariful Islam said last night over phone.
Echoing the same, BGB 34 Battalion Commander Major Manjurul Hasan Khan told The New Nation on Thursday night that some 1000 plus Myanmar nationals entered Bangladesh through Anjuman Para in the last 24 hours. “At present, nobody is waiting at no man’s land for entry,” he said.
Nearly 700,000 Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh following a brutal army crackdown in Rakhine State of Myanmar since August 25.
