A
vendor selling ‘Paan,’ a preparation combining betel leaf with areca nut, looks
for customers along a street in Dhaka. (AFP)
Updated 19 sec ago
January 05, 2022 23:53 158
- Bangladesh hosts over 1.1 million
Rohingya who fled neighboring Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017
DHAKA: Rohingya
refugees said on Wednesday they had lost their sources of income and daily
necessities in Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee settlement, as
Bangladeshi authorities demolished over 2,000 of their “illegal” shops.
Bangladesh hosts over 1.1 million Rohingya who
fled neighboring Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017. Most of them live
in dozens of camps in Cox’s Bazar, a coastal region in the country’s east.
Some makeshift shops serving the refugee
community have been closed down by law enforcement for various reasons,
including the trade of illegal products, but such operations were limited until
last month.
Over the past few weeks, more than 2,000 shops
were bulldozed, as authorities in Cox’s Bazar say they are trying to clear the
way for new homes as the number of refugees continues to increase.
“Works are underway in the vacated land for
building homes and health centers for the Rohingyas,” Shamasud Douza,
additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told Arab News, adding
that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other groups are already
supplying the community with aid.
“The Rohingyas are not allowed to run any shops
and conduct business here,” Douza said. “The demolitions of these illegal shops
are a part of our regular activity which we have been doing (from) time to time
since 2018.”
This is the first occasion, however, that so many
shops have been removed by the authorities in one go.
Mohammad Alamin, who used to have a shop in Ukhia
camp, said he was left with no means to support his family.
“We receive 13 kg of rice for each member of the
family in addition with edible oil, lentils, salt, sugar, onion, etc. But the
family needs many other things to survive, for which we need some cash. Without
having any livelihood scopes, how can we survive?” he told Arab News.
“I used to run a small shop selling tea, cookies,
betel leaf, etc. But it was bulldozed on Dec. 8. I used to make a daily profit
of around $3 per day which was a big support for my seven-member family.”
HIGHLIGHTS
- Authorities in
Cox’s Bazar say they are trying to clear the way for new homes as refugee
numbers rise.
- Demolition raises
concerns over pressure on Rohingyas to relocate to controversial Bhasan
Char island camp.
Nobi Hossain, whose vegetable shop was also
demolished, said that without local stores, staple items were not available to
the community.
“There are many daily necessities which we need
to buy. If we can’t run these small shops, from where we will source it?” he
asked. “This type of initiative by the authorities will only increase our
miseries.”
The recent demolition push has also raised
concerns over the pressure it may create on Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar to
relocate to the controversial camp on Bhasan Char, a flood-prone island some 68
km from the mainland.
To take pressure off Cox’s Bazar, the Bangladeshi
government has, since December 2020, sent 20,000 refugees to the island, with
plans for 100,000 in total. Authorities say refugees have more opportunities to
earn a livelihood on Bhasan Char, where they can engage in farming and fishing.
“This initiative may create some sort of pressure
on the refugees, which (will) ultimately drive them … to the island,” prominent
Bangladeshi human rights activist Nur Khan Liton said. “If thousands of
Rohingyas live there, naturally they will require some sort of small things. If
they are not allowed to run small shops within the community, it will put them
in trouble.”
“We should keep in mind that these Rohingyas are
refugees here and their issue should be dealt with a more humanitarian
perspective, until they make a safe repatriation to their homeland with due
dignity and honor.”
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