Anisul Islam Noor :
The use of Bangladeshi mobile SIMs has been increasing in the Rohingya refugee camps despite the government asked the mobile phone operators and authorities concerned to make sure that Rohingya refugees cannot purchase SIM cards.
Bangladesh has restricted mobile phone operators from selling SIM cards to the displaced Rohingyas who have entered Bangladesh fleeing the violence in Myanmar.
As SIM cards cannot be sold without biometric registration, some local traders are allegedly using forged documents to sell SIMs to the Rohingyas.
Some re-charging centres have also been set up by a group of people who are doing this by taking money for charging.
The restriction has not stopped the Rohingyas living in Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas of Cox’s Bazar district from purchasing SIM cards to stay in touch with family members and relatives in Myanmar. The locals and Rohingyas staying in Cox’s Bazar claimed to have found network of Bangladeshi mobile operators even in Myanmar’s Maungdaw and adjoining areas.
The matter has been termed as a security concerns by experts.
State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim on September 23 said anyone found selling SIM cards to Rohingyas will be punished. The minister, however, said the displaced Rohingyas can use state-run Teletalk phone booths at the refugee camps for free to contact with other Rohingyas living in other camps.
Local people told this correspondent over cell phone that the Rohingya people are buying mobile SIM cards from local markets from a group of local traders for double or triple the prices.
An official of a mobile phone operator company in Cox’s Bazar not to be named told this correspondent, “There are more than 200,000 Bangladesh SIM card users between Kutupalong and Noapara.”
The official said, “Traders take fingerprints from unaware and illiterate locals saying their fingerprints had not shown up correctly in the previous documents and later use these to sell SIM cards to the Rohingyas at a high price.
“The Rohingyas also buy them because they have to keep contact with their relatives in Myanmar.”
The Rohingyas are compelled to break the law as the Teletalk booths are not for frequent use, one named Shahida Banu of Kutubpalon camp complained.
Cox’s Bazar Bachao Andolon’s General Secretary Advocate Ayasur Rahman expressed concern over the issue.
Cox’s Bazar Police Superintendent AKM Iqbal Hossain told The New Nation over cell phone, “We are strictly monitoring the matter. We take quick action as soon as we get any complaint.
Police have already seized around 250 illegal SIM cards and sentenced 20 people for illegally selling SIM cards, he said.
