Bangladesh bans foreign charities helping Rohingya
France's Doctors without Borders (MSF) and Action Against Hunger (ACF) as well as Britain's Muslim Aid UK have been told to suspend their services in the Cox's Bazaar district bordering Myanmar, local administrator Joynul Bari said.
"The charities have been providing aid to tens of thousands of undocumented Rohingya refugees illegally. We asked them to stop all their projects in Cox's Bazaar following directive from the NGO Affairs Bureau," he told AFP.
Bari said the charities "were encouraging an influx of Rohingya refugees" from across the border in Myanmar's Rakhine state in the wake of recent sectarian violence that left at least 80 people killed.
The charities have provided healthcare, training, emergency food and drinking water to the refugees living in Cox's Bazaar since the early 1990s.
MSF runs a clinic near one of the Rohingya camp which provides services to 100,000 people.
Speaking a Bengali dialect similar to one in southeast Bangladesh, the Rohingyas are Muslims seen as illegal immigrants by the Buddhist-majority Myanmar government and many Burmese.
They are viewed by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.
Obaidur Rahman, country head of Muslim Aid UK in Bangladesh, confirmed to AFP that his group had stopped its Rohingya project following the order.
The government says some 300,000 Rohingya Muslims are living in the country, the vast majority in Cox's Bazaar, after fleeing persecution in Myanmar. About 30,000 are registered refugees who live in two camps run by the United Nations.
In recent weeks, Bangladesh has turned away boats carrying hundreds of Rohingya fleeing the violence in Myanmar despite pressure from the United States and rights groups to grant them refuge.
Myanmar security forces opened fire on Rohingya Muslims, committed rape and stood by as rival mobs attacked each other during the recent wave of sectarian violence, New York-based Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.
The authorities failed to protect both Muslims and Buddhists and then "unleashed a campaign of violence and mass roundups against the Rohingya", the group said in a report.
COMMENTS (48)
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Of course the refugees in this context will go to Bangladesh - in situations wherein there is a risk to personal security, people (being necessarily self-preserving animals) gravitate towards the most proximal border that they can to escape the conflict.
Having worked in Bangladesh for several years, I can assert that Bangladesh is insular, rife with corruption, completely irrational and reactionary from an international policy standpoint, and in general horrendously inefficient at all levels of their bureaucracy.
The government of Bangaldeshs' action to block NGOs from supporting the refugees under the auspice that 'the NGOs are providing an incentive for the refugees to cross the border' IE the refugees are less concerned with their personal security and well-being and more concerned about free food and medicine is typical narrow-minded idiocy that helps contribute to that country's persistent societal regression and inability to evolve from a patriarchal neo-autocracy fueled by petty jealously (BNP vs Awami - what a joke!), xenophobia, and sexism (this is the 21st century).
The humanitarian aid should be encouraged, not spurned - the rationale suggesting that 'Bangladesh can't manage their own refugees (think migrant workers stuck in Libya and all over the ME during the Arab Spring), how can they help with another country's?' is fallacious and moot. The UN and other NGOs have been helping stranded Bangladeshis when they have needed the assistance in the past (RECENT past too) - it is time for Bangladesh to realize that hypocrisy in policy and international interaction are inappropriate and unacceptable.
Bangladesh should appeal to the UN for help, if it can't cope with he influx of Muslim Rohingyas from Myanmar. Denying these wretched and stranded refugees help from outside is as cruel as what the Burmese armed forces had done to them.
Concern for Muslim brothers is least for Pakistani Govt. They are only after money. They know they wont get any aid from Burma or Bangladesh, so they raise their voice against the refugee problems. They wont do so against China, which offers them million dollar aid and most importantly some cheap missile technology.
@Akshay not only should they take them in, money should be charged from them for using Indian naval/air space used during the transit ;D
@BruteForce
I am helpless. I have to take the beating. Appearances are deceptive, often with a purpose. Read between the lines.
Bangladesh did the right thing. If Pakistanis love Burmese Muslims so much, they should take them in.
The bad fortune for Burma Mulsims is that they are living with the borders of India, Indians future energy interests are involved with Burma. that is why Manmohan Sing has facilitate Burma in developing its infrastructure, and just after couple of months violence against Muslims in Burma started.
@Zaikam: Why dont you invite them all in Pakistan we have alot to give already . first improve Habits of one to its own fellow Pakistanis who need help then look at other countries
@Cynical:
OMG, a lot of self-righeteousness at work here.
I wonder why that self-righteousness disappears for the poor Uighur Muslims under attack from China. Is it because China gives money and weapons to Pakistan?
These Rohingyas are far, but the Uighur Muslims are right adjacent to Pakistan. Surely, Pakistan must support them, help the Mujahideen among them to fight a force determined to wipe them off and subjugate them!
While these “infidels” NGO’s of the west are serving these refugees what are the several dozen rich Islamic countries doing? Why should only a poor country like Bangladesh take all these refugees? BD is already one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Why don’t the other countries accept some of these refugees in their own countries? The truth is we use the slogan of Islam only when it suits us otherwise we do not care about the poor refugees.
Where is Zaid Hamid now? Muslim Ummah much?
Paki : They used to hang Jinnah's photo and Zia's photo. And they have learnt the "Two nation theory". Had they hung Gandhiji's photo, may be they would have stayed with you.
@Paki: Yes, that would not be such a bad idea. The apostle of peace in lieu of a Hafeez Saeed, your most-popular killer wanted by the free world outside Pakistan. The irony, dear Paki, is that the Bangladesh of today had the face of Jinnah on their currency once upon a time. Thankfully, that was once upon a time. Glory to Bangladesh which, since its independence (by that I mean from the oppressive rule imposed by West Pakistan) it has made much more rapid progress than today's Pakistan.
@Hasib: Something has obviously gone wrong within these brethens as they are not sure even if they trust each other !
@Altaf Hussain, Mumbai: I agree with your view but I think one part of your comment is factually incorrect that says Nepal has a similar problem, with people crossing over to India at will, again due to porus borders. Same with Bhutan.
We don't have porous border with Nepal, we have open border. Indians and nepalis are legally allowed to simply walk into other country. I have not heard of any nepali refugee problem. Some local resentment in Nepal against Indian economic dominance is understandable but Nepal being small country theoretically even if half of Nepal were to migrate to India, they will simply get dissolved in larger population and no one would even bother to notice. Bhutan is such a tiny, peaceful and prosperous kingdom that there no question of even theoretical possibility of such problem . Even Bangladeshi migrants would have gone unnoticed if they all came through legal means or were in smaller numbers. problem is illegal migration, especially in the already ethnically sensitive north-east to such a large extent that it is causing demographic change in some parts of India in addition to communal problems.
@Bangladeshi I respect your comments. Good that you have your position clear. Yes, as a Nation, Bangladesh has the right to think about its national interest. As for Burmese muslims, you should put persuade other Muslim nations to apply diplomatic pressure on Burma,massive diplomatic pressure. That is the ONLY SOLUTION. All this Military Intervention and liberation are all fairy-tales. Bangladesh is moving forward, and should not interfere in anything that would stop its progress, unlike Pakistan, who has a habit of calling itself citadel of Islam, but is nowhere close to being a good Islamic and tolerant state itself.
At least they have stopped short of joining hands with those who are murdering these MUSLIMS !! Is this what Islam has taught ??
It is time Pakistan call Bangladesh ambassador and issued demarche, impose trade embargo and even downgrade diplomatic relationship too. This is a litmus test of Pakistan's claims and responsibility of saving the Islamic world. It may be unsuccessful in case of Kashmiri Muslims, but should it fail Rohingyas too?
Hello, As a bangladeshi i believe i needs to clear our position.rohingyas are people who are being racially abused by burma. Eveb though rohingyas living in burna mire than 300 years and historians are still not syre if their anchester migrated from bangladesh or india burmise racist people are claiming they migrated from bangladesh and therefore they are not burnese. This is total racism. Only solution is a separate arakan state which can only be done by military invasion.
People of bangladesh demands to help rohingya refugees as we have our own refugee past. During 71 10 millions of bengalis took refuge in india to escape genocide committed by pakistan. So we wanted rohingyas to be given refuge too. But when we looked at the bigger picture we have seen there are already 3 hundred thousand rohingyas already in bangladesh and burma doesnt want them back and no nation including UN dont even talk about it, to us it seems burmese strategy is to attack rohingyas so they cross into bd they know none would ask burma to take them back.
So we bangladeshis are angry at the world and decided we also have our own problems. Now its a conflict situation. Dont blame bangladesh. We did enough for them. We cant do more. Because we know world dont wana help burmese muslims.
Now if we just ignore rohingyas then their cry may reach to world, we need a solution. And ee need it quick.all bangladeshis ready for a war .. However our government policy does not encourage war..
I dont expect anything from muslim Ummah.. Because it doesnt exist.
so when is Pakistan gonna send their navy and bring Rohingya muslims to pakistan ?
now that Bangladesh also has washed their hands from his ?
shame on the Bangladeshi govt!!
@Altaf Hussain, Mumbai: " Bangladesh has a problem with India for millions (me included) crossing the porus borders and dispersing all over, to places as far as Bombay. Nepal has a similar problem, with people crossing over to India at will, again due to porus borders. Same with Bhutan. India keep pressuring Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to take back their people but to no avail, causing political friction at the social levels. " There are already hundreds of those Rohingyas in Hyderabad, India. More are on the way. As far as Burma goes, one can understand their reluctance to absorb such a large illegal immigrant population. The remedy, as someone has pointed out, is the establishment of a caliphate by uniting all the Islamic countries, with a constitution like Israel's whereby all Muslims have a birthright of claiming citizenship of such a caliphate. For all the big talk of Muslim "Ummah", however, there is hardly any cohesion amongst Muslims. But that should not deter the world. Let them have their caliphate and sort out their problems amongst themselves in all possible ways they can, including extermination which they have practiced over their history!
@Hasib: You have a right to disagree but India is certainly the biggest of them all, when it comes to taking in refugees. My family was a part of the million strong refugee that poured into Calcutta in 1971. We were not only given food and shelter but efforts were also made to ensure that the young ones did not lose out on their studies. We had to flee Dacca in a hurry when in class X but I completed my Higher Secondary (class XI) next year from a local school near Calcutta. I was allowed to sit for an entrance examination for the IIT-s and succeeded in getting into IIT-Delhi for a 5 year Bachelors Degree Course in Mechanical Engineering. I had mates who had similar stories to tell and also some who had crossed over from Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim (an independant country then) and even Burma, all of whom were allowed to take the entrance tests of IIT. Even today, scores of people pour into India from these countries and, baring a few reactionary politicians, the rest of India just accept them as a part of the diaspora. Coming back to your point of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, I would urge you to also study how Indian refugees of Bangladeshi origin have prospered all round in India, be it in science, engineering, medicine, movies, music, politics, et all. By the way, the revered Late Jyoti Basu was a Bangladeshi refugee but nobody objected to his being the Chief Minister of West Bengal for 20 long years. The last Left Front Government of West Bengal had eight muslim ministers, all refugees from Bangladesh.
@Ansari: Now it is all the more practical , since we lit enough fires in our own countries.
@Altaf Hussain, Mumbai: You said it Sir !
@Hedgefunder: As an Afghan who lived in Islamabad, Pakistan, I respectfully disagree with your assessment. Dollars were not the reason, the scale of the human disaster was the reason. And I think even if $$ were reason, Pakistan sacrificed more in return. We were and always will be thankful to ppl of Pakistan in how they supported us. No other country in world, India included, takes as many refugees at once that too at the cost of national security. I think india can never be compared to Pakistan as far as hosting Afghan brethren is concerned. I like Pakistan but india is not in same league sorry.
Shakeel
This is not true. I have visited Burma along with several other countries in that part of the world. They are prejudiced against Bengalis, Biharis and South Indians, not Pakistanis and Sikhs.
Actually Bangladesh is not the problem, problem lies in Burma. Muslim countries should pressurize Burma to give these people their due rights. If Bangladesh accommodates all muslims that are expelled, this will encourage all countires nearby to surpress muslims and any other unwanted minorities expecting some other country will accomodate it. Look at Philpines and China, surpressing their muslim minorities.
@Ansari
Agreed. But re-establishment of one universal Islamic state will take some time. Meanwhile the Burmese Muslim should ask for a partition 1947 style.
@vasan
'Thank god India is not going to be blamed. Or have I commented too early ??'
Indeed you commented a bit early. India is as responsible as the govt. of Myanmar and Bangladesh. Without India's help Bangladesh would still remain a part of nuclear powered Pakistan and in that case Myanmar wouldn't have dared to push the Rohingyas back into Pakistani territory. Also Pakistan would never denied the Rohingyas entry, food and shelter as Bangladesh is doing against the opinion of the ummah.
@Falcon: Whatever people say about Pakistan, at the least the nation had a heart big enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees during Soviet war.
Rest assure it was not about heart ! But about $$$$ and god knows Pakistan tapped every source possible to that effect ! No favours were done by Pakistan to their Muslim Brothers here !
@Falcon: Not to mention US paid Pakistan very well for that accomodation.
Muslims need a state, their own state, with no concept of nation states, i.e. The Caliphate as caliphate is the only way to have Muslims as one Ummah, under one banner, one Caliph, one land, one Deen and one Lord. This situation of Burma Muslims tells us how crucial is the re-establishment of Islamic state.
@Embarrasment: Thank God that these Bengalis seperated in 1971. Good riddance!
They did not separate , you lost half of the Nation in war ! Get the facts right, please !
Thank god India is not going to be blamed. Or have I commented too early ??
@ Awans This racism pure and simple. No ands if or buts. The Burmese are doing this because they loathe dark-skinned Rohingas. They don't like people with round eyes, straight noses and dark skin. They don't like anyone South Asian whether he is Pakistani or Bangladeshi or Indian. Tehrik-i-Taliban are badly damaging the cause of Rohingas by making it a Muslim issue. We should cooperate with Indians on pressuring the Burmese to stop. Actually most Burmese have migrated from China centuries ago.
@Zaikam: Not true what you say. That Lady you refer to to is anything but a hate monger. The problem lyies in the genesis of the region. Bangladesh has a problem with India for millions (me included) crossing the porus borders and dispersing all over, to places as far as Bombay. Nepal has a similar problem, with people crossing over to India at will, again due to porus borders. Same with Bhutan. India keep pressuring Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to take back their people but to no avail, causing political friction at the social levels. Now a reverse osmosis has started with Rohingyas flowing in and Bangladesh trying to contain the refugee flood. By all means these refugees need to be provided succour but to expect a country like Bangladesh to bear the brunt is not fair. Why don't countries that champion the muslim cause, viz, RSA, Pakistan, Turkey, UAE, Malaysia, Iran, etc. take charge. Pakistan can additionally 'walk the talk' by taking back the 300,000 people in Bangladesh that still call themselves Pakistanis and speak in urdu! To call Shaikh Hassina a hate monger is extremely unfair as she is the one who is bringing properity to a country that was till recently divided on communal lines.
Muslim Ummah !
BAD MUSLIMS!
but intelligent bangladeshis...
they know that it pays to be pragmatic in such cases, even if it means at thousand of corpses. they themselves are quite poor, and then supporting hundreds and thousands of refugees, would kill their economy, and all work that they have done till now. only thing that comes into mind, is whether bangaladesi public is supporting their decision, or not.
nationalism and religiosity head-to-head.
and the way it is unfolding, is really very very sad.... for the rohingyas.
Hard realities & strain on resources to take care of big influx of Rohingya is the reason and practical step Bangladesh has chosen which is sad and shows the insensitivity ( economics beat religion and other factors in majority of countries including Bangladesh) Sizable numbers of Bangladeshi have entered Assam illegally and the local Assamese people are protesting it, sometimes violently too.Myanmar & Bangladesh both countries should show some respect to humanity. .
bangladesh should be expelled from OIC
That's really sad. Whatever people say about Pakistan, at the least the nation had a heart big enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees during Soviet war.
Well why Blame Bangladesh when the whole World Community especially all Muslim countries are silent on this issue. Arab Countries are totally silent on this issue because Arabs dont consider Dark Skinned people as Real Muslims and Arabs are more racist than other people. In Arab States any Dark Skinned person is treated differently and i am sure that is the case this time. The so called Islamic Ummah now proved to be a myth and also champions of human rights Europe and America's truth is show to the world that it is the reality of the world that Humanity infact dont exist in any part of the part and that is how things are shaped in this world. CNN, BBC and all European News Agencies are now completely silent on this issue and that is the reality of truthfulness in this world.
Where would these people go. How civilized have we become? As far Bangladesh's government and the lady that rules, the acts are self explanatory. Hate is all what she knows.