A Muslim Rohingya woman sits outside her temperary shelter at a village in Minpyar in Rakhine state on October 28, 2012. PHOTO: AFP
Eight-year-old Shariful Alam has a growth in his neck and chest. Partially paralyzed, he has been unable to leave the makeshift shelter his eight-member family has called home for the last four months. Paramedics recommend that he be taken to a hospital but Alam’s family is one of the thousands of unregistered Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh who are not allowed to leave the camps they live in.
“This is the second time a tumor has popped up,” Abu Bakar, Alam’s father, said to The Express Tribune. Alam was treated in Yangon, Myanmar’s capital, the last time this happened. “I can arrange money [unlike most Rohingya refugees] but the police will arrest me if I try to take my son to the hospital.”
The family was one of the last refugee families to arrive at the camp at Madham Charpara, a village located some 52km east of Cox’s Bazaar. About 8,000 unregistered refugees live here.
Ethnic riots in Rakhine in Myanmar forced Rohingyas to cross the border into Bangladesh in 2012. Most of the residents here in Madham Charpara are unregistered Rohingyas who managed to flee Myanmar with great difficulty, and with almost nothing but their lives.
Since 1992 the Bangladeshi government has denied permission to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to register Rohingya refugees. They are still considered illegal migrants and are not entitled to food, healthcare or education provided by the UNHCR and its partner organisations.
With no resources of their own and no help from the state, the refugees are faced with enormous hardships.
According to a survey conducted by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), 40% of deaths in unregistered camps are caused by diarrhea. There is only one toilet for every ten families.
“The unhygienic life these refugees are leading here is the main cause of their illnesses,” said Professor Pran Gopal Datta, vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
“When someone is exposed to such extreme contamination, even minor cuts and bruises can develop life-threatening infections.”
Sixteen-year-old Belal has lost sight in one eye due to an infection he contracted at the camp. No access to proper treatment or even basic healthcare has increased his chances of losing his eyesight completely. Emran Hosain, 12, has an untreated fracture in his leg. His knee has swollen to twice its size.
There are many like Alam, Belal and Hosein in almost every unauthorised refugee camp in the Cox’s Bazaar and Teknaf districts.
“These cases are most likely going to be lethal or could cause irreversible physical damage if not treated at the earliest,” Professor Datta said after going through photographs of Alam, Belal and Hosein.
“This is sheer inhuman treatment,” said Bill Frelick, director of Human Rights Watch’s refugee programme in Bangladesh. He added that unregistered refugees cannot get healthcare facilities outside their camps, and the aid agencies with better medical treatments are not allowed to reach them either.
In late July 2012, the Bangladesh government ordered three international aid organisations—MSF, Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger) and Muslim Aid – to cease assistance to Rohingya refugees living outside registered UNHCR camps.
“This is a cruel policy,” remarked Frelick, strongly urging the Bangladeshi government to let aid organisations provide life-saving help to these unregistered refugees. “It is creating an even worse situation than what these people have escaped from.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2013.
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