Bangladeshs Rohingya camps - promise or peril? ----------------------------------- Bangladeshs announcement that it will move two camps housing some 30,000 officially documented Rohingya refugees has heightened anxieties among the Muslim minority, who fled persecution in neighbouring Myanmar. Observers applaud the possibility of improving camp conditions, but are concerned the move could also increase insecurity. On 6 November, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a meeting with the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, said the camps would be moved to a better location, which was later described by her press secretary as a larger space. The prime minister reportedly acknowledged that the current camp conditions were inhumane. But in the two registered camps jointly administered by the government of Bangladesh and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) - Kutupalong and Nayapara - details remain murky and distrust high as resident Rohingyas have faced decades of ill-treatment in Bangladesh. We are worried and confused about the government move to shift the camps, Mohammad Ismail, secretary of Kutupalong refugee camp, told IRIN. If the relocation is to better places, we welcome the move as we are leading a miserable life here. But we cant be sure. UNHCR says there are 200,000 to 500,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh, of whom only 32,355 are documented and living in the two camps, both within 2km of Myanmar. Most live in informal settlements or towns and cities in what Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) described as deplorable conditions. Source :IRIN Asia
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 05:29:04 +0000
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