Rohingyas
Cholera vaccination campaign inaugurated among Rohingyas on Bhasan Char
Under the leadership of the Communicable Disease Control (CDC) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), icddr,b, and the Civil Surgeon Office of Noakhali, launched a cholera vaccination campaign in Noakhali's Bhasan Char Monday.
About 30,000 forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (FDMNs), commonly referred to as Rohingyas, will be vaccinated using an orally-administered vaccine through this campaign.
Dr Mohammad Nazmul Islam, director of Disease Control and Line Director Disease Control Program at the DGHS, and Dr Firdausi Qadri, acting senior director of the Infectious Diseases Division of the icddr,b, were present at the inauguration of the vaccination campaign.
Dr Masum Iftekhar, district civil surgeon of Noakhali, was also present.
Since December 2020, almost 32,000 Rohingya people have been relocated to Bhasan Char. Unfortunately, a diarrhoeal disease outbreak took place in Bhasan Char in 2021 that affected 1,500 people and killed four.
To prevent a similar outbreak from happening, the CDC, DGHS, icddr,b, the WHO, and other development partners have taken the initiative to carry out an oral cholera vaccination (OCV) program in Bhasan Char.
At the inauguration, Nazmul said: "The government has been undertaking various initiatives to protect the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals from infectious diseases. In line with that, we are undertaking an oral cholera vaccination campaign to keep them safe."
Read more: Prolonged presence of vast Rohingyas in Bangladesh "not tenable" in any consideration, Momen says in New York
Firdausi appreciated the collaborative vaccination effort and said, "icddr,b along with the Communicable Disease Control of the DGHS, other government agencies and development partners have successfully administered around five million doses of oral cholera vaccine to the Rohingya population since they fled persecution in Myanmar and arrived in Cox's Bazar in 2017.
The effort possibly prevented large epidemics and saved many lives. Encouraged by the success, we extended our efforts to Bhasan Char, which is susceptible to infectious diseases like cholera. Bangladesh's exemplary efforts in humanitarian settings should serve as a model for other parts of the world."
Starting on Monday, February 27, the first dose of the OCV campaign will continue until Wednesday, March 1, from 8 am to 5 pm through 25 centres in Bhasan Char. The second dose of the vaccine will be administered, possibly on March 19.
The two-dose Euvichol-Plus Cholera vaccine produced by EuBiologics of South Korea, which is given at least 14 days apart, will be administered to those who are above one year of age.
This vaccine is prequalified by the WHO and can be given to all except pregnant women and those who have received other vaccines within the last 14 days.
Japan, UNHCR sign $4.5 million agreement to support Rohingyas in Bangladesh
The government of Japan and UNHCR have signed an agreement for the protection and assistance of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
The contribution of US$ 4.5 million [JPY 600 million] will be used for reinforcement of life-saving and life-sustaining services by improving the livelihood of refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar and on Bhasan Char.
An exchange of notes was signed on Wednesday by Iwama Kiminori, Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh, and Johannes van der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh, said the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Also Read: Japanese PM's special advisor for human rights issues visits Bangladesh
"This new contribution from the government of Japan for some of UNHCR’s essential protection and assistance programs as well as livelihood activities in the camps in Cox’s Bazar and on Bhasan Char comes at a critical time now that we are facing a looming funding crisis already manifest in reduced refugee access to food”, said Johannes van der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh.
He said Japan is once more at the forefront of supporting UNHCR programmes in Bangladesh. “We hope this contribution will also serve as a catalyst for other donors to follow suit”.
During his visit to Cox's Bazar last month, Ambassador Iwama said he was impressed by the use of information technology for the joint management of the registration for Rohingya refugees by the Government of Bangladesh and UNHCR.
“I was also delighted to witness strengthened livelihood assistance in collaboration with a Japanese company, where Rohingya women produce sanitary goods. We will continue to engage in the solution for a voluntary, safe and sustainable return , and will cooperate with UNHCR and other humanitarian partners to achieve better living conditions for refugees and host communities.” said H.E. Iwama Kiminori, Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh,” he said.
Also Read: Japan to provide grant aid for 2 projects
Ambassador Iwama expressed his hope that the support from the government of Japan would improve living conditions of both Rohingya and local communities.
“Also, I was profoundly touched by the tireless activities of the Government of Bangladesh, the UN agencies, and NGOs. I recognized the need for continuous support for them, and we will commit to that,” he said.
Since the large influx in August 2017, Japan has contributed over US$ 204 million to various interventions in Cox's Bazar as well as in Bhasan Char through international organizations and NGOs.
This assistance includes food assistance, healthcare, WASH, shelter, protection, and gender.
Help us in relocating Rohingyas to Bhasan Char: PM Hasina urges UN
Dhaka, Feb 20 (UNB)- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday urged the United Nations to help Bangladesh in relocating Rohingyas to Bhashan Char island.She made the plea while UN resident coordinator Gwyn Lewis called on her at her official residence, Ganabhaban.PM’s Speech Writer M Nazrul Islam told reporters that the prime minister mentioned that over one million Myanmar nationals, Rohingyas, are now a big burden for Bangladesh.“Their return to their homeland soon is uncertain, so I am requesting the UN to help Bangladesh relocate the Rohingyas to Bhashan Char,” she said.In this connection, she mentioned that the island has been organised and developed to provide better living condition for the Myanmar nationals.She said that it has a cyclone shelter, employment opportunities on limited scale and education facilities for the children in their mother language. Hasina said that the Rohingyas who are living in camps in Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar have already outnumbered the local people.“They have created problems for the living and livelihoods of the local Bangladesh people,” she said.She also said that some of the Rohingyas are involved in various types of anti-social activities like human and drug trafficking, internal conflicts and militant activities.“In this situation, as their scope to return to their homeland soon is uncertain, their living standard will be upgraded if they relocate on Bhashan Char island where they will get better environment to live,” she said.
The PM said that forcibly displaced Rohingyas are living in an inhumane condition in Cox’s Bazar amid uncertainty about their repatriation soon.
Read more: PM Hasina slams move to undermine Bangabandhu’s role in Language MovementBangladesh has so far moved about 30,000 Rohingyas to Bhasan Char to ease crowding in the camps in Cox's Bazar.The Rohingyas, the minority Muslims in Myanmar, fled to neighbouring Bangladesh mostly in 2017 to escape killings, arson and rape unleashed by the country's military junta.Diplomatic efforts at safe, voluntary and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homeland have so far failed.
The issues of UN-set MDGs and SDGs were also discussed during the meeting.
PM Hasina said that she herself attended the events during the adoption of the agenda of MDGs and SDGs where Bangladesh played a proper role. She said that necessary measures have been taken to implement SDGs and issues relating to Bangladesh have been incorporated in the country’s five-year and perspective plans.Pointing out a number of challenges in implementing the SDGs due to Ukraine-Russia war followed by sanctions and counter-sanctions, the prime minister said that the war after the Covid-19 pandemic situation has created some obstacles.But the government has been working to implement the SDGs, she said.She said the government has been continuing with the provision of free books, stipends and scholarships to students for promotion of education. School feeding programmers have also been introduced.Talking about women empowerment, she said that the present government has ensured female representatives on the local government bodies.Besides, job opportunities have also been created for the female to attract them to education, she said.She said that as a result now the parents are more interested to send their daughters to educational institutions.In this regard, the PM said that girls are now outnumbering the boys in schools, while almost cent percent enrolment has been achieved in the country.During the meeting, the UN resident coordinator highly appreciated Bangladesh’s stunning progress and achievements in socio-economic front as well as in women’s empowerment, girl’s education, and in achieving MDGs and SDGs, spokesperson Nazrul said.Gwyn Lewis assured that the UN will remain beside Bangladesh in the days ahead in overcoming various challenges like it had been in the past.
About child labor situation in the country Hasina said there is no such case in formal sectors as it has been almost abolished although there might be some in informal areas.
Referring to the climate change, the prime minister said that her government has undertaken adaptation and mitigation programmers to face its adverse impact and has constructed cyclone tolerant houses as well as created green belts along the coastal areas.
About measures to fight climate change the PM said they have taken adaptation and mitigation programme for making Bangladesh climate change resistant.
She said Bangladesh is building climate resistant houses and green belt along the coastal areas as measures to fight the climate change impacts.
She said Bangladesh set up a Climate Trust Fund with its own finance.
She however expressed dissatisfaction over the climate promises made by the rich nations.
"The rich countries are giving promises, but they are not complying with those," she said.
The Prime Minister and UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh spoke of the important cooperation between the UN and Bangladesh in responding to climate-related disasters and economic volatility, according to UN office in Dhaka.
They reaffirmed commitments to strengthen the UN-Bangladesh partnership on the Rohingya refugee response, despite funding shortages that forced cuts in food assistance for Rohingya refugees living in camps in Cox’s Bazar.
They also exchanged views on Bangladesh's economic growth ahead of the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha, Qatar, on 5-9 March.
President Hamid calls on Belgium to help repatriation of Rohingyas
President Abdul Hamid on Wednesday sought the cooperation of Belgium for a safe, peaceful and dignified repatriation of the displaced Rohingya people to their homeland in Myanmar.
The president sought the support during the meeting with the visiting Belgium Queen Mathilde at Bangabhaban in the evening.
President's press secretary Md Joynal Abedin briefed reporters after the meeting. Welcoming the queen, he said Bangladesh deeply values its relations with Belgium,
Recalling with gratitude that Belgium was one of the first European countries to recognize Bangladesh in February 1972, he said since then, Belgium has been a steady supporter and partner in "our socio-economic developmental journey."
Belgium has been providing continuous assistance to Bangladesh and this assistance is increasing day by day, the Hamid said.
He referred the completion of 50 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Belgium in 2022 as a landmark occasion.
"It gave us the opportunity to explore avenues to further widen and deepen our cooperation for the benefit of our two peoples," he said.
Raising the Rohingya issue he told the queen that for the last five years, Bangladesh has been sheltering more than 1.1 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (Rohingyas) who fled Myanmar due to persecution by the Myanmar military and security forces.
Read more: Belgian Queen Mathilde to visit Rohingyas camps in Cox’s Bazar Tuesday
"Not a single Rohingyas could go back to their country yet as the Myanmar government has done nothing to create the appropriate conditions for their return," the president said, calling the Rohingyas a big burden for Bangladesh.
He called upon Belgium and international development agencies to take appropriate steps so that the Rohingyas can return to their country in a dignified manner.
During the meeting, Queen Mathilde praised the socio-economic development of Bangladesh. She said Bangladesh has undoubtedly shown humanity by sheltering the forcibly displaced Rohingyas.
Information and Broadcasting Minisater Hasan Mahmud, Belgian ambassador to Bangladesh Didier Vanderhasselt, secretaries concerned to the Bangabhaban and the ministry of foreign affairs were present.
Queen Mathilde’s visit to help Rohingya repatriation: Info Minister
The visit of Belgium's Queen Mathilde to Bangladesh will aid in the repatriation of Rohingyas, said Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday.
"Her visit will be beneficial in getting a better response from the international community. Repatriation is the only solution to the Rohingya crisis. The Queen's visit will also help with the repatriation process," he told reporters on Tuesday.
The minister said that het visit will also play a vital role in developing Bangladesh-Belgium relations.
UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advocate Queen Mathilde visited Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar district on Tuesday.
Hasan Mahmud along with others accompanied the Belgian queen during her visit to the camps.
She visited a learning centre, participated in a session with women working on preventing gender-based violence, interacted with women learning new skills, joined a short briefing on the work on mental health, and spoke with mental health volunteers.
Read more:Queen Mathilde's visit highlights "heightened importance" of SDGs, showcases Bangladesh’s dynamism: UN
Queen Mathilde ascended to the throne in 2013.
She is the honourary president of both Child Focus, a foundation for the missing and sexually exploited children, and UNICEF Belgium.
In 2001, Queen Mathilde established the Princess Mathilde Fund (now the Queen Mathilde Fund) to promote the care of vulnerable people. As an SDG Advocate, she is particularly focused on mental health.
Funding gaps in joint response plan for Rohingyas concern UNHCR; app $876mn to be sought in 2023
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, together with the Bangladesh government will soon launch the Joint Response Plan for 2023 to appeal to donor partners for funding to meet the needs of Rohingyas in Bangladesh and the local communities hosting them here.
“We shall appeal for approximately $876 million in all relevant sectors, of which some $67 million would be required for our operations on Bhasan Char,” Johannes van der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh, told UNB in an exclusive interview.
As in the past, he said, they do not expect this budget to be funded to the full, but the gap is expected to be much larger in the coming year.
“We therefore need to redouble our efforts to mobilize resources and notably development funding, to be used in a flexible manner, as humanitarian aid budgets are no longer available,” said the senior UN official.
At the same time, Klaauw said, they are prioritizing funding needs more than before — focusing on the most vulnerable and addressing the most critical gaps.
Read more: Vulnerable Rohingyas: US to consider resettlement recommendations from UNHCR
UNHCR continues to appeal for further investments by the international community in refugees’ education and skills development, including vocational training and other forms of capacity-building for adolescent and adult refugees, and opportunities to put the acquired learning and skills into practice through livelihood projects.
Rohingya refugees should be allowed to become self-reliant, to purchase part of their daily food, cooking gas, household items, as general distribution of these commodities will no longer be possible as a result of a reduction in financial support from the international community, said Klaauw who leads UNHCR’s response for the Rohingya refugees hosted in the country.
This will allow the refugees to support their communities and live with dignity while in exile in Bangladesh, and above all to prepare them for rebuilding their lives when they can voluntarily and safely return to Myanmar, he said.
'PM Hasina should get Nobel prize for hosting Rohingyas'
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should get the Nobel prize for her humanitarian and responsible policy in hosting the Rohingyas, the speakers said during a discussion Wednesday.
They were addressing the discussion "Rohingya's: Victims of Genocide and Looking for Answers" organised by the Entrepreneurship Economics Program of the Dhaka School of Economics.
The speakers also urged the international community to play a strong role in the repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh.
Munshi Faiz Ahmad, former ambassador of Bangladesh to China and former head of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, said Rohingya repatriation should get utmost priority now.
Read more: Hasina breaks down in tears while talking about everyday ordeals of Rohingyas
"More international pressure must be applied on Myanmar to overcome the Rohingya crisis. Considering world peace, Rohingyas must be resettled in their country for long-term results," he added.
Faiz also highlighted the importance of the five-point proposal placed by Hasina at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly session to solve the Rohingya crisis.
Muhammad Mahboob Ali, professor of Dhaka School of Economics and Coordinator of the Entrepreneurship Economics Programme, said: "Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should get the Nobel Peace Prize for the generosity she showed in sheltering the Rohingyas."
Read more: UN asked to resolve Rohingya crisis: PM
Also, as the chief guest of the programme, Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation, urged more people to get admitted to Masters of Entrepreneurship Economics or postgraduate diploma in Enterprise Development at the Dhaka School of Economics to get proper knowledge and skill.
Video of Nur’s top aide Tarek threatening to “arm Rohingyas” draws criticism on social media
A video containing threatening statements from Bangladesh Gono Odhikar Parishad leader Nurul Haque Nur’s top aide, Tarek Rahman, to “arm the Rohingyas” is doing the rounds on social media and drawing attention.
“We will train them and arm them” is what Tarek is being heard saying.
Two gruesome killings in Rohingya camps just days after the video — containing threats from Nur’s accomplice Tarek — surfaced led netizens to question if his threat is an instigation, with many calling for investigation.
Two Rohingya community leaders were recently killed inside camps.
Read: Second Rohingya community leader killed in 12 hours
Tarek has recently become vocal on social media in defense of his leader Nur, amid a sedition complaint filed against him over “holding a secret meeting with an individual named Mendi N Safadi, apparently an agent of Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).” “It seems that Nur has been involved in a conspiracy to unseat the elected government in Bangladesh,” the complaint added.
Earlier, Tarek also drew criticism following communal remarks against the country’s Hindu minority community, using obscene language to describe their religious scripture.
Why hasn’t the UN recognised 1971 Bangladesh Genocide yet?
Seventy-five years after the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide came into force, one of its glaring failures has been not recognising the 1971 Bangladesh genocide and the 2017 genocide against the Rohingyas in Myanmar.
This not only saddens us in Bangladesh, it also upsets many who have followed large scale massacre of human beings in various parts of the post-colonial world.
Polish Jewish refugee lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the word “genocide” in 1943 to describe the killing and destruction of people. The word is derived from the Greek “genos” (people, tribe or race) and the Latin “cide” (killing) against the backdrop of the Holocaust, that Winston Churchill said was a “crime without a name”. But Churchill’s double-standards remained the enduring feature of Western standpoint on how they look at a genocide or large scale engineered deaths.
Churchill, the British “hero” who guided the Allies to victory in World War II and who attacked Hitler and the Nazis over the Jewish Holocaust, has been held responsible for triggering the Bengal famine that led to 3 million deaths in what was then undivided Bengal, the largest province of British India.
Read more: 'Recognising the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971': ICSF welcomes US Congress initiative
Madhusree Mukerjee, whose “Churchill’s Secret War” created waves and rattled many a British colonial apologist, has gone on record to equate Hitler’s extermination of 10 million Jews with Churchill’s presiding over the death of three million Bengalis through a famine orchestrated by policies linked to the British war effort.
On December 9, 1948, the international community formally adopted a definition of genocide within the 1948 Convention – essentially enshrining the message of “never again” in international law.
Rachel Burns of the York University questions whether the convention has achieved what it set out to do and focused on three of its key areas of failure.
· First, the very application of the term “genocide” is applied too slowly and cautiously when atrocities happen.
· Second, the international community fails to act effectively against genocides.
· Third, too few perpetrators are actually convicted of their crimes.
Read more: Declare Pakistan army action in 1971 ‘Genocide’: US congressmen introduce resolution
Burns points to the many genocides that have occurred since the 1948 Convention and its ratification in 1951, and then points to the only three that have been legally recognised – and led to trials – under the convention: Rwanda in 1994, Bosnia (and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre), and Cambodia under the 1975-9 Pol Pot regime.
Burns refers to the widespread killing and displacement of Yazidi by IS and of Rohingyas in Myanmar which are ongoing and recognised by the UN as a whole, but are yet to be officially recognised as genocides by some individual states. Similarly, 13 years after atrocities took place in the Sudanese region of Darfur, criminal investigations continue but no official charges of genocide have been made under the convention.
Political scientist Adam Jones names the genocides committed under Saddam Hussein against the Kurds in 1988-91 in Iraq, and the genocide committed by West Pakistan forces against Bangladeshis in 1971.
“And the list of ‘genocides’ that might fall under the UN definition is frighteningly long. The International Criminal Court is investigating several states in which human rights violations and war crimes ‘may’ have occurred,” says Rachel Burns.
Read more: 1971 genocide: Need to work together to get recognition from UN, says DU VC
As a passionate and patriotic Bangladeshi, I would like to argue that the UN should prioritize recognising the 1971 East Pakistan genocide against Bengalis for three reasons:
· The number of people killed in then East Pakistan by Pakistani forces (regular army and collaborators) between March and December 1971 far exceeds the numbers of victims of the three genocides recognised by the UN. Nearly 3 million Bengalis of all faiths were massacred by the Pakistani forces. In comparison, 1.5 to 2 million deaths occurred at the hands of the murderous Khmer Rouge but these deaths were over a four year period between 1975 and 1979. Between 500000 to 650000 Tutsis were massacred by Hutus during the Rwandan civil war between April and August 1994. And the Balkan genocide casualty toll never crossed six digits.
· The genocide in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was not just limited to random killings but involved both targeted murders (of intellectuals to leave behind a brain deficit) and also largescale rapes (nearly 300,000) of Bengali women as well as arson.
· This genocide was carried out by the Pakistan army – and not by militias – which has since been designated by US and NATO as an “useful ally in the war against terror”.
Read More: Chitra erosion threatens mass grave of 1971 in Magura
A recognition of the 1971 East Pakistan genocide by the UN is not only important for the global body to regain its credibility and effectiveness but also to expose a military institution which is seen as of much strategic value in the West.
The West has been fooled, somewhat willfully, into believing that the Pakistan army is useful in fighting terror in Afghanistan. There is enough evidence now to suggest that the Pakistani generals were always running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. They were allowing US and NATO a springboard for anti-Taliban operations but were also allowing Taliban safe shelter, training and weapons in Pakistan, without which the Taliban would have never survived, let alone emerge victorious to take over the country.
The least the West, especially the US (which is very vocal about human rights violations in Bangladesh now), can do is to take the initiative to officially recognise the 1971 East Pakistan genocide. They should stop fooling their own citizens and taxpayers about the role of the Pakistani army in the war against terror. By recognising the 1971 genocide, they can hold the Pakistan army accountable for denying Bengalis the right to life during the Liberation War. Recognition of both 1971 East Pakistan genocide and the 2017 Rohingya genocide will help call out and expose two evil military institutions who threaten democracy and dignity of life in our part of the world. It is high time the West stops chasing phantoms and does its bit to punish mass murderers in our region. Otherwise, their sermons on human rights just ring hollow.
Read More: Brave Women Freedom Fighters of Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War
Seventy-five years after the UN Convention, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s “never again” for genocide remains “a prayer, a promise, a vow” but also a frequent reality. And their frequent recurrence owes much to how many genocides have gone unrecognised and unpunished.
Tarana Halim, an actress and lawyer, is a former Bangladeshi minister. She is now president of Bangabandhu Sanskritic Jote, a front for cultural movement against radicalism. She is also a member of Awami League central committee.
Vulnerable Rohingyas: US to consider resettlement recommendations from UNHCR
The United States has said it will consider recommendations, to resettle vulnerable Rohingyas, submitted by the UNHCR (the UN refugee agency).
The United States announced the establishment of a resettlement program for vulnerable Rohingya refugees in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Read more: Italy contributes €3mn to UNHCR for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
This program, which will be part of the global US Refugee Admissions Program, is one element of a broader comprehensive response to the Rohingya refugee crisis with the main focus on preparing the Rohingyas for voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return to their homeland in Myanmar, said the US Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.
“The United States is proud of our long-standing support for displaced Rohingya, who have suffered genocide and crimes against humanity at the hands of Burma’s military, and we have provided more than $1.9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees from Burma in Bangladesh and the region, those affected by ongoing violence in Burma, and communities hosting refugees from Burma,” said the spokesperson of the US Department of State.
The United States is also supporting efforts to hold the perpetrators of the genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingyas accountable and to ensure justice for the victims of these atrocities.
Read more: More Rohingya female teachers need training for increasing literacy among their community
Resettlement of the most vulnerable Rohingyas from Bangladesh reflects the United States’ long-standing leadership on refugee resettlement in the face of an unprecedented displacement crisis as record numbers of people around the world have been forced to flee war, persecution, and instability, it said.
The US thanked the Government of Bangladesh for being a generous host to the Rohingya refugees and for their support of this important resettlement initiative.