Trapped in Statelessness: Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

Abul Hasnat Milton 1, Mijanur Rahman 1, Sumaira Hussain 2, Charulata Jindal 1, Sushmita
Choudhury 3, Shahnaz Akter 4, Shahana Ferdousi 5, Tafzila Akter Mouly 6, John Hall 7 and Jimmy T.
Efird 1,8,*
1

Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB), School of Medicine and Public Health, The
University of Newcastle (UON), Newcastle 2308, Australia
2

Mercycorps, Pak Palace, Murree Road, Rawal Chowk, Islamabad 45510, Pakistan
3

Newcastle Law School, Faculty of Business and Law, The University of Newcastle (UON); Newcastle
2308, Australia
4

School of Medicine and Public Health, the University of Newcastle (UON), Newcastle 2308, Australia
5

WentWest Limited, Western Sydney Primary Health Network (WSPHN), Sydney 2148, Australia
6

Centre for Health and Development (CHAD), Dhaka 1219, Bangladesh

7

School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney
2052, Australia
8

Center for Health Disparities (CHD), Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University (ECU),
Greenville, NC 27834, USA
*
Correspondence: Tel.: +1-650-248-8282
Received: 8 July 2017 / Accepted: 19 August 2017 / Published: 21 August 2017

Abstract
:
The Rohingya people are one of the most ill-treated and persecuted refugee groups in the world, having
lived in a realm of statelessness for over six generations, and who are still doing so. In recent years, more
than 500,000 Rohingyas fled from Myanmar (Burma) to neighboring countries. This article addresses the
Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh, with special emphasis on the living conditions of this vulnerable
population. We reviewed several documents on Rohingya refugees, visited a registered refugee camp
(Teknaf), collected case reports, and conducted a series of meetings with stakeholders in the Cox’s Bazar
district of Bangladesh. A total of 33,131 registered Rohingya refugees are living in two registered camps
in Cox’s Bazar, and up to 80,000 additional refugees are housed in nearby makeshift camps. Overall, the
living conditions of Rohingya refugees inside the overcrowded camps remain dismal. Mental health is
poor, proper hygiene conditions are lacking, malnutrition is endemic, and physical/sexual abuse is high.
A concerted diplomatic effort involving Bangladesh and Myanmar, and international mediators such as
the Organization of Islamic Countries and the United Nations, is urgently required to effectively address
this complex situation.
Keywords:
Rohingya refugee; statelessness; Bangladesh; Myanmar

1. Introduction
The global refugee crisis is an ongoing concern, with the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) reporting a sharp increase in forcibly displaced populations from 59.5 million in 2014
to 65.3 million in 2015 [1]. Under international law, a refugee is defined as someone who lives outside his
or her country of nationality or usual residence, who is able to show a well-founded fear of persecution
on specific grounds, and who lacks protection from their country [2]. The definition of displaced
individuals as a result of persecution overlaps considerably with that of stateless persons, who are
described as individuals not considered as a national by any state [ 3]. Accessing basic rights such as
healthcare, employment, education and freedom of movement is often impossible for stateless people [ 4].
Lack, denial or loss of nationality underlies the exclusion of affected individuals from membership in the
community, to the point of instigating discrimination and oppression in certain cases. There are
approximately 10 million stateless people [4], and approximately 1.5 million people who are refugees in
addition to being stateless [5].
Rohingya in Myanmar are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. The majority are not
considered to be citizens by the Myanmar Government, and live in a condition of statelessness. Rohingya
are a Muslim ethnic minority situated primarily in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State and are estimated at
1 million people [6]. They have been fleeing Myanmar in large numbers, often to nearby developing
countries—particularly Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand—to avoid conflict and persecution [ 7].
Correspondingly, the refugee crisis in Bangladesh has reached critical levels, with the number of
unregistered Rohingya refugees estimated to range from 200,000 to 500,000 people [8].
The plight of the Rohingya dates back two centuries. Rohingyas’ history can be described in three
categories: precolonial, colonial and postcolonial. In precolonial times, the independent kingdom of
Arakan (currently known as the Rakhine state), was populated by Muslim Arabic sailors from 788 to 810
AD, and afterwards by Bengalis from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries [9]. During precolonial
times, the Rohingyas and Arakanese (the remainder of the population in Arakan) lived in harmony. This
changed after colonization by the British following the first Anglo-Burmese war in 1825. The rift
deepened during the Second World War, when the Rohingyas declared their loyalty to the British, while
the Arakanese sided with the Japanese [10]. During the Japanese occupation of Burma (including
Arakan), the Rohingya population was targeted jointly by both the communalist (Buddhist) Rakhine and
the Burma Independence Army, killing 100,000 Rohingya and exiling a further 50,000 towards the border
to East Bengal [9,11]. After Burma received independence in 1948, the anti-Rohingya campaign persisted,
marked by discrimination and denial of their citizenship rights. Around this period between 1940 and
1947, Buddhist fundamentalist extremism was on the rise.
Eventually, in 1978, the amassed anti-Rohingya sentiment culminated in the military junta operation to
purge Burma of illegal inhabitants, which comprised harassment, violence and arrest. This led to the
flight of 250,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh [11]. Faced by pressure from the international community, a
repatriation agreement was struck with Bangladesh the following year, resulting in the majority of
Rohingyas being returned to Burma. However, just three years later, Burma passed the 1982 Citizenship
Law that denied citizenship to Rohingyas, decreeing an estimated 800,000 Rohingyas in North Rakhine
stateless. Rohingyas are not recognized as a national race by the Burmese government, even if there is
evidence that they were born in the country, instead identifying them as “Bengali” illegal immigrants
[12,13]. During military junta rule in 1988, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
established a number of new military cantonments in the Rakhine state, focusing on the north where
Muslims were situated. Land was forcefully taken from the Muslim inhabitants without compensation, so
Rohingyas became ‘homeless’ in addition to ‘stateless’. Branded as illegal residents, they experienced
basic human rights violations including denial of access to education, healthcare, employment, freedom
of movement, religion and even limited rights to get married or have children [ 1,13,14]. The ongoing anti-
Rohingya campaign and extreme circumstances resulted in a persistent exodus of Rohingya to safer
neighboring countries, where they reside as stateless refugees.
Bangladesh has been the preferred destination for the majority of asylum-seeking Rohingyas, because
of the initial recognition of their humanitarian needs along with close proximity and matching religion. In
1991–1992, there was another influx of around 250,000 Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh, owing to
military crackdown in Myanmar following the failed democratic election in 1990. Although the majority
of refugees were repatriated to Northern Myanmar during the following decade, many of these sought
their way back to Bangladesh [13]. After 1992, Rohingyas entering Bangladesh were not officially
recognized as refugees by the Government of Bangladesh (GOB). However, large numbers of Rohingyas
arrived once again in Bangladesh during late 2016, following a massacre in Myanmar where hundreds of
Rohingyas were murdered, faced sexual violence and thousands of houses were burned down.
With more than twenty years of continuous camp settlements, the current Rohingya refugee situation
in Bangladesh has become one of the most protracted in the world. In the absence of a specific refugee
policy in Bangladesh and politicization of the refugee situation, integration of Rohingyas has always been
a challenge. Recently in 2014, GOB announced its national policy for managing the Myanmar refugees,
which is comprised of five elements: (i) preparation of a list of unregistered refugees; (ii) provision of
temporary basic humanitarian relief; (iii) strengthening of border management; (iv) diplomatic initiatives
with the government of Myanmar; and (v) increasing national level coordination. There are currently two
government-led refugee camps for Rohingyas in the Cox’s Bazar area. However, socioeconomic
conditions of the host communities in Cox’s Bazar, one of Bangladesh’s poorest districts, has further
complicated finding a durable solution for the Rohingyas in the area. Whether living in camp or non-
camp areas, the Rohingya refugees have been subject to miserable living conditions marked by
inadequate access to basic needs, exposure to violence, restricted movement, local hostility, and various
forms of discrimination. In this review article, we focus on the current situation of Rohingya refugees in
Bangladesh, with special emphasis on living conditions.

2. Materials and Methods

For this article, we reviewed 18 documents pertaining to the Rohingya refugee crisis
[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18], visited a registered refugee camp located in Teknaf, and
conducted 20 case studies. Additionally, meetings were held with representatives from various key
stakeholder groups including (1) the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC); (2) UNHCR;
and (3) Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Forum for Public Health. Written permission and
consensus were obtained from RRRC and UNHCR for the data presented in Table 1, Table 2, Table
3 and Table 4. RRRC granted visitation rights and approval for the refugee camp interviews.

Table 1. Current information on refugees and undocumented persons from Myanmar currently in
Bangladesh, RRRC, Bangladesh, 2015 [15].

Table 2. Age and sex distribution of Myanmar refugees, RRRC, Bangladesh, 2015 [15].

Table 3. Camp information on morbidity and mortality, UNHCR, 2015 [16,17].

Table 4. Access to healthcare, water and sanitation, UNHCR, 2015 [16,17].

Rohingya is a generic term for the Muslim inhabitants of Arakan, the border region of Myanmar’s
western coast that was officially designated as the Rakhine state in 1989. Presently, concern is greatest for
the population from three northern regions of the Rakhine State: Maungdaw, Buthidaung and
Rathendaung, which are currently facing conflict. As a result, approximately 400,000 to 500,000 Rohingyas
have left Myanmar to take refuge in Bangladesh [2].
To provide shelter to the Rohingya refugees, GOB constructed twenty camps in 1992. Currently, there
are only two camps for documented Rohingya refugees—“Kutupalong” in Ukhia (sub-district) and
“Nayapara” in Teknaf (sub-district)—from the Cox’s Bazar district located on the Bangladesh’s
southeastern coast. There are several makeshift camps in the surrounding area that house unregistered
Rohingya refugees, for example Leda Camp. Without registration, however, these camps are not
conferred legal protection. As a result, refugees there are at higher risk of violence, physical and sexual
abuse, arrest, and detention. Furthermore, registered refugees receive support in terms of shelter, food
assistance, education, water, sanitation, health and nutrition from GOB, UNHCR, international NGOs and
local NGOs, whereas unregistered refugees living in makeshift camps have limited access to shelter,
water, sanitation and health services, and are not entitled to food assistance by mandate of GOB [ 15].

3. Results
Of the 400,000–500,000 Rohingyas living in Bangladesh, 33,131 are registered as refugees living in two
camps (Ukhiya and Teknaf). However, there are 63,000–80,000 undocumented refugees living in nearby
makeshift camps.
There are schools and medical facilities (in-patient and out-patient) available for registered refugees in
the camp (Table 1). However, access to education remains partial and ad hoc, with no entitlement to
education for non-camp Rohingya children. Table 2 illustrates the distribution of the registered Rohingya
refugee population based on age and sex. Children comprise one-fourth of the camp population, and
most were born in the camp.
The morbidity and mortality status of the registered Rohingya refugees are presented in Table 3. Both
camps have clinics for providing a basic level of healthcare free of charge, which includes limited referrals
to specialists in the Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong districts. Overall mental health conditions, as well as
epilepsy/seizures, are a concern in both camps. Psychotic disorders are also prevalent, although precise
data are unavailable for Nayapara.
Table 4 presents information on access to healthcare, water and sanitation. Access to antenatal care,
antenatal tetanus vaccination and birth attendance is a key focus of the clinics. However, access to clean
water remains a problem, particularly in Nayapara, owing to shortage of groundwater. In the camps,
rainwater is channeled into a basin, cleaned and then pumped to distribution points twice daily for two
hours.
Case Studies
In 2012, one of the co-authors (SC), a member of the Bangladesh National Human Rights
Commission’s (NHRC) fact-finding team, conducted the Rohingya refugee case studies on-site, each
lasting approximately 90 min. Participants were equally distributed by sex. These observations revealed
important findings such as unavailability of education facilities for undocumented refugees. The camp
refugees do not have freedom of movement and need to obtain special permission to go outside the camp.
Anti-Rohingya sentiments prevail among the local Bangladeshi population, particularly owing to uneven
competition in the local job market. Living conditions in the unregistered camps are destitute and often
plagued by basic human rights violations. A representative example is summarized below:
“A pregnant woman aged 30 lived in the Rakhine state with her husband. In this region, Rohingya
women often are forced to abort their fetus if they fail to disclose their pregnancy to the Nay-Sat Kut-
kwey ye (NaSaKa) group and gain permission from them to have the baby. After getting apprised of the
pregnancy, NaSaka soldiers burned down her house and slaughtered her husband with a sharp weapon.
She said, ‘it felt like I got stuck in a horror story’. She wanted to save her child and live a life without this
type of spine-tingling exploitations. Hence, her cousin put her in a fragile boat and led her to leave
Myanmar. In the dark of night, they succeeded to deceive the coast guards and arrived in Bangladesh.
She is now living in the shabby corner of an unregistered Kutupalong Makeshift Camp, which is known
as a breeding zone for mosquitoes. During her pregnancy, to feed herself, she had to work 18 h a day
with nominal wages. She gave birth to a baby girl, but was restrained to seek help from hospitals by the
local police. Owing to the lack of proper treatment, her baby died after two days. She burst into tears
while she was sharing her story. She told that ‘although I have no roof over my head and my heart turned
blue due to the demise of my child, at least there is no-one here like the NaSaKa group, who can start
vandalism and shatter my life in a moment. Sometimes it seems that there is no one in the world who can
welcome us and treat our emergency’.”

4. Discussion
There has been a regular influx of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh over the past century, owing to
violent repression by Myanmar’s security forces, Buddhist extremism and discrimination against
minority ethnic groups [3]. Most Rohingyas entering Bangladesh are granted temporary legal refugee
status by the government, as a stopgap measure towards their eventual repatriation to Myanmar or
resettlement to a third country (e.g., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden or United Kingdom). A
steady stream of Rohingya continue to seek refuge in Bangladesh, despite the unfavorable conditions of
unofficial refugee camps (which are considered to be preferable to the harsh reality faced in Myanmar).
UNHCR, along with other national and international agencies, are providing GOB with coordinated
assistance for the refugees. In the two official Rohingya refugee camps there has been considerable
improvement in the quality of shelter since 2006. Although the majority of huts have been rehabilitated,
the space available per person is still inadequate, with limited privacy. There is a scarcity of potable
water, which worsens during the dry season. The food basket that has been provided to the refugees at
the registered camps since 2001 contains limited fresh goods, and lacks key vitamins and minerals. Each
registered refugee receives around 2220 kcal of food each day, with 10.6 percent of this energy being
provided by fat, which is less than the recommended 17 percent of energy [ 2]. Furthermore, following
years of confinement under repressive camp conditions, mental health disorders continue to pose an
ongoing concern and a challenge for humanitarian aid workers.
The position of GOB regarding Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh has focused more on providing
transitory humanitarian relief rather than long-term integration into Bangladeshi society. There has been
minimal action regarding improving living conditions, to deter influx of additional refugees. The
repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar has been hampered by the Myanmar
government, which fails to address the Rohingya crisis and often perpetuates an environment of violence
and persecution. While repatriation would be the preferred option of GOB for dealing with the Rohingya
refugee crisis, the situation remains politically delicate.
GOB has adopted an increasingly reluctant stance towards the Rohingya issue. This has been
attributed to two main reasons: (1) the government’s limited capacity, and (2) the complex Bangladesh-
Myanmar border. A similar view was expressed during discussions with various stakeholders in
Bangladesh. With a population of approximately 162.9 million [18], Bangladesh is one of the most densely
populated countries in the world. The ongoing refugee influx creates a further strain on the poverty-
stricken nation. Rohingya refugees are causing friction in the local community, as they are competing in
the local job market and willing to work for less pay. They make up a significant portion of the local
workforce in several industries, including construction, agriculture and salt production, and are involved
in precarious jobs such as deep sea fishing. There is also concern about environmental degradation, for
example by deforestation caused when they collect firewood for cooking. Additionally, there is an
environment of instability in the nation, as some of the Rohingya refugees are involved with Islamic
extremists and drug-traffickers. A few militant groups such as Rohingya Patriotic Front, Arakan Rohingya
Islamic Front, Tehrek-Azadi Arakan and Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) are active at the border
area of Myanmar and Bangladesh. These Islamic organizations are demanding a separate Islamic state are
further complicating the Rohingya refugee crisis. Accordingly, GOB is cautious regarding the legal
registration of Rohingya refugees entering Bangladesh.

5. Conclusions
GOB is facing mounting pressure from UNHCR and other international agencies to devise a more
realistic strategy for managing the Rohingya refugee crisis. Dialogue between the governments of
Myanmar and Bangladesh needs to be strengthened to jointly address the issue. However, as evidenced
through Myanmar’s continued failure to address the problem, bilateral discourse is insufficient, and
involvement of the global community has become imperative. It is the moral responsibility of the global
 community to address the plight of the Rohingya refugees by taking necessary measures to improve the
situation of the Rohingya population within Myanmar. GOB may wish to enhance the screening of
Rohingya refugees in terms of communicable diseases and criminal records. However, further assistance
from private philanthropic organizations and international relief agencies will be needed to facilitate the
timely humanitarian acceptance of this at-risk population into Bangladesh. Increasing levels of
international aid will also help to curtail religious radicalization and criminal activity in this region.
Through the combined efforts of the Myanmar government, GOB and international mediators—such as
the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) and United Nations—action can be taken towards a lasting
solution to the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis. Furthermore, culturally appropriate interventions are
needed to address the debilitating mental health issues, such as chronic anxiety, grief, depression and
posttraumatic stress, which are ubiquitous in this refugee population. Such future efforts, in tandem with
appropriate political actions, will be key to finding a meaningful and sustained solution to this ongoing
crisis.

Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge support from the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,
University of Newcastle, Australia.

Author Contributions
Abul Hasnat Milton, Mijanur Rahman, Sumaira Hussain and Jimmy T. Efird conceived the manuscript.
Abul Hasnat Milton, Sushmita Choudhury, Shahnaz Akter, Shahana Ferdousi and Tafzila Akter Mouly
visited the study setting, conducted case studies, and held meetings with stakeholders. All authors
contributed to the writing of the manuscript and approval of final version. The study was supervised by
Jimmy T. Efird and John Hall.

Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References
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2. Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Refugee Convention; United Nations: Manhattan, NY, USA,
1951.
3. Article 1 of the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention ; United Nations: Manhattan, NY,
USA, 1954.
4. Retrieved from Ending Statelessness; UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency): Geneva,
Switzerland, 2016.
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England, 2016.
7. Albert, E.; Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from the Rohingya Migrant Crisis.
Available online: http://www.cfr.org/burmamyanmar/rohingya-migrant-
crisis/p36651 (accessed on 20 August 2017).
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Bangladesh, 2014. [Google Scholar ]
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York, NY, USA, 2000.
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York, NY, USA, 2015. [Google Scholar ]
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Situations; Its Impact and Role in Bangladesh: A Mixed Method Impact Evaluation ; UNHCR &
WFP: Rome, Italy, 2012.
14. Crimes against Humanity in Western Burma: The Situation of the Rohingas ; Irish
Centre for Human Rights: Connacht, Ireland, 2010.
15. Brief on Myanmar Refugees & Undocumented Myanmer Citizen in Bangladesh ; Office
of Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Government of the Peoples’s Republic of
Bangladesh: Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2015.
16. Site Report: 2015, Kutupalong Bangladesh; UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency):
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Switzerland, 2015.
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2017).

Rohingya exodus: Tales of suffering and

misery
Scores of Rohingya Muslims are fleeing violence and discrimination in Myanmar.
Unscrupulous traffickers are cashing in on their misery. Two Rohingya refugees living in
Thailand tell their heart-wrenching stories to DW.

Salim carefully kneads dough in a big white plastic tub in front of him. The 20-year-old squats on the floor
wearing a T-shirt with "Save Rohingya Muslims" written on it. His tiny apartment, somewhere in northern
Bangkok, has almost no furniture. But Salim has no complains about it, as in Thailand he doesn't have to
fear for his life.
"At home (in Myanmar), I was unable to sleep," Salim told DW. "Because I feared they would come to set our
houses on fire."
Salim actually goes by a different name, but he doesn't want to be identified, fearing repercussions as he
came to Thailand illegally. Salim is a Rohingya Muslim from Myanmar's western Rakhine state close to
Bangladesh. A year and a half ago, Salim fled his country because he could no longer deal with the
discrimination and persecution, not only by local gangs, but also by government officials. "When I would go
to the fields to work, they would beat me with fists and sticks. At school they would tell us, 'You don't belong
here, this is not your country, and you are foreigners here,'" said Salim.

Salim regrets fleeing Myanmar, but says he had no other choice

Rohingyas have been a vulnerable ethnic minority in Myanmar for decades. The country stripped them of
citizenship rights in 1982. But the situation exacerbated in 2012 when some 200 people were killed and
more than 100,000 were displaced in sectarian riots. According to the United Nations, some 120,000
Rohingyas have fled Myanmar since then.
Running away
In October 2013, Salim, who was still a teenager, decided to run away with money that he stole from his
house. Not far from his hometown, in the coastal city of Maungdaw, Salim was put on a small boat with some
50 other fugitives and was taken to the deep sea where they were transferred to a bigger vessel. The ship was
used to smuggle timber but was now crammed with hundreds of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
"The guards gave us only small portions of dried rice and salty water to drink," Salim recalled, "and they beat
us all the time. They wanted us to be weak, so we could not rebel," he added.
"At night, they separated the women and put them in another room. Then we would hear their screams."
DW RECOMMENDS

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Malaysian authorities have discovered mass graves near the Thai border. Experts say the corpses in the graves are
likely of refugees fleeing Myanmar and Bangladesh, who were killed by smugglers for failing to pay money.
(25.05.2015)

'An important initial step' - shelter pledge for migrants hailed

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In Bangkok, Salim lives next to his older brother Rafik's home. Rafik and his wife, Hamida, are also
Rohingya refugees. Nineteen-year-old Hamida has a two-month-old daughter. She too left Myanmar on
boat, using her most valuable possession - a golden necklace - to pay for the trip, unaware that the price
would be much higher.
Once off the boat, she was sold to an elderly Malaysian man, who was probably in his 60s. He locked her
inside in a small room. It was only with the help of the relatives that she could eventually be freed.
Hamida doesn't want to speak about what happened to her in those two months. When asked if her captor
hurt her, she simply nods.
'Death' camps
For Salim, things took a different turn. The traffickers took him to a camp located somewhere in southern
Thailand. "We were forced to sit on wet ground," Salim said. "It rained incessantly, and if we moved, the
traffickers would beat us."
Many of the refugees did not survive this harsh treatment. "I saw one or two people die every day," Salim
recalled. The stronger ones would bury the dead bodies.
Salim doesn't know if the camp where he was kept was one of those discovered by Thai authorities a month
ago, but he says his didn't look much different.
The traffickers kept Salim and others in the camp to extort ransom from their families. "They said if they
didn't get the money, they would let me die," Salim said.
Salim's parents eventually paid 60,000 Thai Baht, roughly $1,745, to traffickers. But they had to sell
everything they owned - a small piece of land and two cows - to save their son's life. "I cannot describe my
guilt. My family lost everything because of me. Now my younger brothers have to work as laborers so that my
family can get at least some food."
Life in Thailand

When asked if her captor hurt her, Hamida simply nods

In the afternoon, Salim will go out with his push cart and sell the bread he made from dough. The deep-fried
bread with banana and sweet condensed milk on it is a popular snack in Thailand and is the only source of
income for most Rohingya refugees in the country. With the money Salim makes from selling these 'rotis,' he
can barely make ends meet. At the end of the month, he is left with no money which could send to his family
in Myanmar.
Salim is pretty clear about who is to blame for the Rohingya plight: "It is the fault of the government. It
should give us back our rights, our citizenship, and stop discriminating against us," he said.
 But the reality is very different from Salim's demands. Just last week, Myanmar's government passed a law
that allows the authorities to enforce family planning measures and make it mandatory for women to wait
for 36 months before bearing another child. Critics fear this law could be used to target the Rohingya
minority, thus aggravating their predicament
Myanmar’s War on the Rohingya
By THE EDITORIAL BOARDNOV. 21, 2016
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Photo
 A family outside a market destroyed by fire, in a Rohingya village in Myanmar, in
October.CreditSoe Zeya Tun/Reuters

Myanmar has long persecuted the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority, denying it basic
rights to citizenship, to marry, to worship and to an education. After violence unleashed
in 2012 by Buddhist extremists drove tens of thousands of Rohingya out of their homes,
many risked their lives to escape in smugglers’ boats; more than 100,000 others are
living in squalid internment camps. Now, a counterinsurgency operation by Myanmar’s
military is again forcing thousands of Rohingya to abandon their villages.

Over the weekend and on Monday, according to Reuters, hundreds of Rohingya Muslims
crossed from Myanmar into Bangladesh seeking shelter from the escalating violence. An
official from the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, told
the news agency that he had seen more than 500 people enter its camps in the hills near
the border. Meanwhile, Reuters also reported fighting between security forces and rebels
on Myanmar’s border with China.

The military’s counterinsurgency operation began as a response to an attack on Oct. 9 by

armed assailants that left nine police officers dead in Rakhine State. It is not clear who
the assailants were, and theories range from drug gangs to Islamist terrorists. Since then,
more than 100 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by the military. Satellite
images published by Human Rights Watch indicate that at least 430 homes were burned
in villages in northern Rakhine State between Oct. 22 and Nov. 10.

There are credible allegations of soldiers looting, killing unarmed people and raping
women. The government denies this. U Aung Win, the chairman of a Rakhine State
investigation into the Oct. 9 attack, said soldiers would not rape Rohingya women
because they “are very dirty.”

Continue reading the main story

The Oct. 9 attack may have been set off by an earlier government announcement that it
planned to destroy illegal structures in the area, including more than 2,500 homes, 600
shops, a dozen mosques and more than 30 schools. “That was saying we have to reduce
the population of Rohingya,” said U Kyaw Min, a Rohingya who is the chairman of the
Democracy and Human Rights Party.

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 One year ago, after a historic election, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the longtime democracy
champion and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, became head of a new democratic
government, inspiring hope that she would bring an end to the Rohingya’s suffering. In
September, the Obama administration eased remaining economic sanctions on
Myanmar, citing, among other achievements, the new government’s focus on bringing
“respect for human rights to its people.”

That call now appears to have been premature. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyiherself insists on
underlining the Rohingya’s foreignness by referring to them as “Bengalis” and argues that
the government’s response to the attack is based on “the rule of law.”

Meanwhile, most humanitarian assistance has been cut off to the area. Unicef has warned
that thousands of malnourished children are in danger of starving and lack medical care.
The government must immediately allow aid to reach those in need. The United Nations
and the United States are calling for an impartial investigation into the violence, and
Human Rights Watch is urging the government to invite the United Nations to assist. If
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi wants to defend her reputation as a human rights champion, she
needs to extend that invitation now.

A new wave of atrocities is being committed against Rohingya Muslims

in Burma’s Rakhine state.
By
Phil Robertson

Source:
Quartz
16 MAY - 4:45 PM UPDATED 16 MAY - 10:02 PM
0

The burned-out mosques in Sittwe, the capital of the Rakhine state in western
Burma, loom as silent reminders of an atrocity, hiding behind overgrown
bushes and cement walls amid the daily port city bustle. But approach these
mosques with a camera, and the policeman on guard 24 hours a day scuttles
out of a booth like a blue-helmeted crab, waving the curious away. The ethnic
Rohingya and Kaman Muslims who used to pray there are nowhere to be seen;
they are confined behind barbed wire and checkpoints in internally displaced
camps outside of town. Or they have fled with their families to Bangladesh.

During four days in June 2012, mobs of ethnic Rakhine militants torched
houses and attacked Muslim families with swords and other weapons as the
police and military stood by, prompting an exodus of thousands of Rohingya
out of Sittwe. No one was ever held accountable for the ethnic cleansing and
crimes against humanity that Human Rights Watch found were perpetrated
against the Rohingya in Sittwe and other parts of Rakhine State in June and
October 2012
years later, in northern Rakhine State townships of Maungdaw and Buthidaung,
attacks on the Rohingya have happened again. After an assault on border
police posts by a group of Rohingya militants killed nine officials on Oct. 9,
2016, the Burmese army reacted with fury against Rohingya villagers. Military
and police ejected United Nations agencies and international humanitarian
organizations working in a wide swath of territory, and prevented media and
human rights monitors from observing what the army euphemistically called a
“clearance operation,” ostensibly to find the attackers and recover weapons
seized during the raid.

With independent observers barred, the army launched a literal scorched earth
campaign, targeting residents in military sweeps that laid waste to villages
throughout the area. Human Rights Watch’s analysis of satellite
imagery revealed that security forces burned to the ground at least 1,500
houses and other structures between Oct. 9 and Nov. 23. Interviews with some
of the estimated 69,000 Rohingya who have now fled to neighboring
Bangladesh, paint a chilling picture of collective punishment and brutalization.
Witnesses provided credible accounts that the army and police shot fleeing
villagers, detained and summarily killed men, women and children, sexually
abused and raped women and girls, often in front of other family
members, burned people alive in their homes, beat and tortured people in
custody, sometimes to death, and arbitrarily detained hundreds. More than 450
Rohingya are being held in Buthidaung prison on charges linked to the attacks
on the border posts. A report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR), based on interviews of refugees, provided equally
detailed accounts of atrocities and concluded that the abuses “seem to have
been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very likely commission
of crimes against humanity.”
o far, the Burmese government has responded with waves of denials. First, the
State Counsellor Office Information Committee, created by Aung San Suu Kyi,
denounced without basis the satellite imagery and claimed accounts of sexual
violence in Rakhine State were “fake rape.” The government set up a national
investigation commission that lacks both independence and credibility. Led by
vice-president Myint Swe, a retired general, and composed of current and
former government officials, the commission promptly announced military
clearance operations had been conducted lawfully, denied all rape allegations,
and rejected claims of malnutrition cases from the aid cut-off. Another
commission of state-level officials revealed its racist bias when its chair, a
Rakhine member of parliament, told the BBC that no soldier would rape
Rohingya women because they are “too dirty.”
Last week, Myint Swe and his commissioners conducted another supposed
investigation, racing through 17 villages in three days, raising fundamental
questions of basic research methodology and protection of victim
confidentiality and assurances of non-retaliation. At the same time,
commissions established by the army and the police to examine the conduct
of their own personnel were also in the area at the same time, further raising
the fear quotient among already traumatized Rohingya villagers.

The best way forward is to launch a credible, independent, international

investigation into the situation in Rakhine State, both recent events and the
2012 abuses, and an inquiry into underlying factors, notably successive
governments’ repression and discrimination against the Rohingya, that
perpetuate a de facto system of internment for tens of thousands of people.

Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma, called this
week for the establishment of a commission of inquiry at the UN Human
Rights Council session in Geneva. Council member states should not wait for
further abuses but promptly establish such an independent, international
commission that can have some hope of stopping atrocities in Rakhine State.
A year into its fledgling democracy, many in Burma fear the political
freedoms and peace Aung San Suu Kyi brought to the country are
already under attack.
By
Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Airdate:
Tuesday, May 16, 2017 - 21:30
Channel:
SBS
0

In November 2015, after years of military rule a civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi was elected
in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

Hopes were high at the time, but many in the country now fear the peace and freedom they were promised
is already slipping away.

Earlier this year, the shaky foundation of Myanmar’s new democracy was revealed in a brutal way, when a
close adviser to Suu Kyi was murdered.

While waiting for a car outside Yangon airport, U Ko Ni was shot in the back of the head twice, at almost
point blank range, while holding his 3-year-old grandson. He died instantly.
Myanmar’s government called the killing a terrorist act, carried out with the direct purpose of undermining
the country’s stability. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) said it was aimed at the
party’s policies.
Many in Myanmar believe Ko Ni was killed as a result of his opposition to the military’s continued control
of the country’s defense, home affairs and border security – and that the hit was ordered by a former
military officer.
In this week’s Dateline, human rights lawyer Robert San Aung tells reporter Krishnan Guru-Murphy he
suspects Ko Ni’s murder was an act of vengeance from prominent figures in military intelligence.
“They want to get their power back – former military intelligence officers are unhappy that they were
defeated,” he said. “They can’t forget that they were against Aung San Suu Kyi their whole lives.”

Ko Ni’s murder symbolises the simmering tensions in Myanmar between a pro-democracy movement led
by Suu Kyi and the nation’s military. It also serves as another example of the persecution and danger faced
by the country’s’ Muslim population – Ni, a Muslim, publicly condemned a law that stripped the minority
Rohingya population of citizenship.
While many in the country have vocally condemned Ko Ni’s killing, one noticeably absent voice is that of
Suu Kyi.

Despite the country’s new government and democracy, the military still holds substantial sway – people are
jailed for criticising them.

NLD official Myo Yan Naung Thaung is currently imprisoned for comments he made about the
commander-in-chief of the Army on Facebook. His wife told Dateline the days of being jailed in Myanmar
for your political views are far from over.
“We understand that some of the parts are not changing,” she said. “Especially concerning the military and
the judiciary system.”

Suu Kyi has also received criticism for her silence on the continued persecution of Myanmar’s native
Muslim population, the Rohingya, who are based in Rakhine State on the country’s west coast.
A UN human rights report from October last year concluded killings,
disappearances, torture, rape and other atrocities committed against the
Rohingya population “seem to have been widespread as well as systemic”.
It also suggested treatment of the Rohingya may constitute crimes against
humanity.

During Dateline’s reporting, a Rohingya source who wanted to remain

anonymous shared video of what he said is the body of a Rohongya man killed
on his way home from the grocery store.
He then showed vision of another man’s beaten face, adding, “He was killed by
extremists. The police were informed but no action was taken.”

The source believes Aung San Suu Kyi, as leader of the country, has been
negligent in defending the Rohingya population.

“Nothing has been done so far,” he told Dateline. “She’s a Nobel Peace Prize
winner, she could have looked at this from a human rights perspective but she
hasn’t.”
U Ye Naing, a military spokesperson, says much of the reporting from the
Rakhine crisis is “fake news” and claims restrictions on international media
entering the region are because it is “dangerous for the journalists”.

Ye Naing, who admits to formerly working for the military as a propagandist,

denies the current government uses propaganda to control its message around
domestic conflicts.

A senior level adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, and former political prisoner, U Win
Thein, admits many activists in Myanmar believe Aung San Suu Kyi has
betrayed the cause, but says it’s not the case; “If she grabs a political
objective for the future she never abandons or loses sight of that objective,”
he says.

In other words she’s playing a long game to slowly wrest control of the
country from the military.

But this doesn’t change the harsh reality – while new freedoms and liberties
have been celebrated in Myanmar over the past year, for many in the country,
not much has changed.

Watch the full story at the top of the page.

 Myanmar
Myanmar may be trying to 'expel' all
Rohingya


FILE - In this June 24 2014, file photo, Rohingya children gather at the Dar Paing camp for
Muslim refugees, north of Sittwe, western Rakhine state, Myanmar. (AP)



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1/

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A UN rights expert says Myanmar may be seeking to "expel" all ethnic

Rohingya from its territory, and is pushing for a high-level inquiry into
abuses against the Muslim minority community.
Source:

AFP

14 MAR - 4:32 PM UPDATED 16 MAY - 10:02 PM

The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee

Lee, said a full purge could be the ultimate goal of the institutional
persecution and horrific violence being perpetrated against the Rohingya.

The evidence "indicates the government may be trying to expel the Rohingya
population from the country altogether," Lee told the UN rights council.

The army launched a bloody crackdown against the Rohingya in October in the
northern Rakhine state following attacks by militants on several border posts.

UN investigators say that during the military operation women were gang-
raped by soldiers and Rohingya babies were slaughtered.

Dateline: Burma's Broken Dream

Lee wants the rights council to establish the UN's highest-level probe, a
Commission of Inquiry (COI), to investigate that crackdown as well as violent
episodes in 2012 and 2014.

The council could set up the commission before its session ends later this
month, but key players including the European Union have not yet backed
Lee's call because of concern that a damning UN investigation might threaten
the country's fragile democracy drive.

Speaking to reporters after her council appearance, Lee said she believed
support for a Commission of Inquiry was tepid, including within the EU.

Countries "won't say they are not going to support your call, but I do hear ...
(countries) say that maybe Aung San Suu Kyi needs more time," Lee said,
referring to the Nobel peace laureate who leads Myanmar's civilian
government.

Suu Kyi's government, which took charge last year after decades of
oppressive military rule, has rejected Lee's bid to set up a Commission of
Inquiry and insisted its own national probe can uncover the facts in Rakhine.

Lee conceded to reporters that a full international probe "could have a

destabilising affect" in that it may implicate the military in crimes against
humanity, but she insisted it was in the government's interest to get the facts
out.
I Just Knew To Run To Save My Life': Nearly 125,000
Rohingya Flee Myanmar
September 5, 20176:30 PM ET

COLIN DWYER
Twitter

Enlarge this image

A Rohingya woman rests for a moment with her children Tuesday after crossing into Bangladesh. She
says she lost several members of her family in Myanmar, where a new spate of violence has sent
more than 100,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing what they describe as certain death.
Bernat Armangue/AP

In a span of less than two weeks, rampant violence has driven nearly 125,000 members of a Muslim
ethnic minority from their homeland. And as the Rohingya cross the border from Myanmar into
Bangladesh, they have borne little but the clothes on their backs and their brutal stories of the
systematic rape, murder and arson they escaped.

"My husband was shot in the village. I escaped with my son and in-laws," a 20-year-old Rohingya
named Dilara told the human rights agency at the United Nations, which released its estimates on
refugees Tuesday. She had made it to Bangladesh with her toddler after a three-day walk, hiding
occasionally to escape the gaze of Myanmar security forces.
"I don't know where I am," she said. "I just knew to run to save my life."

Since a Rohingya militant group launched a short-lived assault on Myanmar military posts on Aug.
25, reports of the military's violent reprisals on Rohingya civilians have streamed out of the country.
Observers fear the assault, which was condemned by the U.N., merely exacerbated existing
prejudices against Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are viewed as
outsiders without citizenship despite long roots in the country.

In the border state of Rakhine, home to roughly 1 million Rohingya, Human Rights Watch
says satellite evidence suggests whole Muslim villages have burned to the ground.

Enlarge this image

Smoke and flames in Myanmar are seen from the Bangladeshi side of the border on Sunday.
Bernat Armangue/AP

"The brutality is unthinkable. They're killing children. They're killing women. They're killing the
elderly. They're killing able-bodied men and boys," Matthew Smith of the human rights group Fortify
Rights told reporter Michael Sullivan earlier this week. "It's indiscriminate."
At the same time, international groups have protested that the Myanmar government is stymieing
efforts to supply aid to the region.

"The Muslims are starving in their homes. Markets are closed and people can't leave their villages,
except to flee," one humanitarian official said in an Amnesty International statement Monday. "There
is widespread intimidation by the authorities, who are clearly using food and water as a weapon."
Enlarge this image

Rohingya refugees from Myanmar's Rakhine state walk the border with Bangladesh on Monday.
K.M. Asad/AFP/Getty Images

Taken together, there are "clear signs that more [refugees] from Myanmar will cross into Bangladesh
before [the] situation stabilizes," Mohammed Abdiker, director of operations and emergencies at the
International Organization for Migration, tweeted Tuesday.
Of those who are crossing the border, Abdiker says "many are vulnerable" and most are "women,
children & the elderly."

Follow

Mohammed Abdiker

✔@AbdikerM
 Most people crossing into Bangladesh from Myanmar are women, children &
the elderly, many are vulnerable
10:16 PM - Sep 5, 2017

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The IOM has put out a plea for support, saying the settlements receiving refugees in Bangladesh are
already reaching a crisis point.
"The new arrivals are putting immense strain on the existing support structures. These need to be
immediately scaled up to ensure lives are not put at risk," Sarat Dash, chief of the IOM's mission in
Bangladesh, said in a statement released Tuesday.

The group estimates roughly 400,000 undocumented migrants from Myanmar now live in
Bangladesh, about half of whom are living in makeshift settlements in the border city of Cox's Bazar
alone.
Enlarge this image

A Rohingya Muslim helps his elderly family member and child as they arrive at a refugee camp on
the Bangladesh side of the border Tuesday. The man said he lost several family members in
Myanmar.
Bernat Armangue/AP

Myanmar's military, for its part, maintains that Rohingya militants are responsible for the burned
villages — and that they are plotting terrorist attacks and bombings later this month. According to
The Associated Press, a statement posted on the military commander in chief's Facebook page
alleged the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, or ASRA — the same group that launched the assault
last month — was planning the violence to grab international attention.
The statement "gave no evidence to back up its claims," the AP notes.

The military has also defended its restrictions on international aid by saying the supplies were
finding their way into militant camps, suggesting support for the militants — an allegation Amnesty
International vehemently denied.
"The accusation that international humanitarian organizations are supporting armed actors in
Rakhine State is both reckless and irresponsible," the group's director for crisis response, Tirana
Hassan, said Tuesday. "The Myanmar authorities must immediately stop spreading misinformation
and circulating unfounded and inflammatory accusations."

Beyond Myanmar's borders, ire is coalescing around the country's de facto civilian leader, Aung San
Suu Kyi. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her decades-long struggle for democracy in Myanmar, Suu
Kyi has nevertheless remained conspicuously silent as the bloodshed has unfolded.

Enlarge this image

At a rally Sunday in Indonesia, demonstrators gathered to show solidarity with Rohingya Muslims in
western Myanmar, splattering fake blood to protest the country's "clearance operations" against the
ethnic minority.
Dita Alangkara/AP

As NPR's James Doubek noted, Suu Kyi's fellow Peace Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai, called out the
leader over Twitter this week, saying "the world is waiting and the Rohingya Muslims are waiting" for
her to repudiate the violence.
Suu Kyi's defenders argue the matter isn't quite so simple, since the military remains in control of
the country's important mechanisms of power. Poppy McPherson, a journalist currently in
Myanmar, explained on All Things Considered:
"Some people say she's playing a long game. She's trying not to do anything that would anger the
military. There's also the argument that, as we've seen by the reaction to this here in Myanmar,
many people view the Rohingya as a security threat. They view them as illegal immigrants. So for
Aung San Suu Kyi to come out in support of them could make her deeply unpopular domestically."
That argument is no longer good enough for the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in
Myanmar, Yanghee Lee. Suu Kyi may be "caught between a rock and a hard spot," Lee said
recently, according to The Guardian, but "I think it is time for her to come out of that spot now."
That sentiment has been echoed by several Muslim-majority regions around the world, which have
been watching the situation with particular interest. CNN reportsthat in Indonesia and Malaysia,
Pakistan and Chechnya, demonstrators have taken to the streets in recent days to protest the
Rohingya's treatment.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said "hundreds of thousands" of protesters gathered in the capital,
Grozny, to "demand the guilty to be prosecuted and an international investigation launched" into the
"genocide that's going on in Myanmar."
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters "we are facing a risk" of ethnic cleansing in
Myanmar, according to The Guardian. "I hope we don't get there."
To that end, he said in a statement he has written to the Security Council about the situation — and
that includes what he called "the root causes of the crisis."
"It will be crucial to give the Muslims of Rakhine state either nationality or, at least for now, a legal
status that will allow them to have a normal life, including freedom of movement and access to
labour markets, education and health services.

কক ধধায় কধাতর ররধাহহিঙধারধা

শহফিউল আলম চট্টগধাম এবব শধামসকল হিক শধাররক ও মকহিধাম্মদ হছিহদ্দিকুর রহিমধান হময়ধানমধার
সসীমধান রথেরক হফিরর : | প্রকধারশর সময় : ৭ রসরপ্টেম্বর, ২০১৭, ১২:০০ এএম
4 1 0 5

‘ব্লক ররইড’ হদরয় আররধা ভয়ধাবহি হিরচ বমর রসনধাহভযধান : গহিসীন পধাহিধাড়-জঙল নদ-নদসী ও সসীমধারন পধাহলরয় রবড়ধারচ কমপরক
হতন লধাখ ও অবরুদ করয়ক লধাখ ররধাহহিঙধা : গণহিততধার হশকধার পধাপাঁচ হিধাজধার ছিধাহড়রয়রছি : গুম ধরর্ষরণর হশকধার অগহণত : ট্রলধার
ডক রব হনরখধাপাঁজ হতন শতধাহধক : ১০ লধাশ উদধার : সসীমধারন হময়ধানমধাররর স্থলমধাইন, বধাবলধারদরশর প্রহতবধাদ : কক্সবধাজধার-
বধান্দরবধারন আশ্রয় হনরয়রছি রদড় লধারখরও রবহশ : জধাহতসবঘ বলরছি- আররধা রসধায়ধা লধাখ বধাবলধারদরশর পরথে : সঙ্কট সমধাধধারন
ইরন্দধারনহশয়ধার ‘ফিমকর্ষলধা রফিধার পধাস ওয়ধান’ প্রসধাব : ররধাহহিঙধা হনযর্ষধাতরন রববৌদ রনতধারদর উরদ্বেগ

রচধারখ মকরখ ভয়-আতঙ্ক। বককফিধাটধা কধানধা আর আহিধাজধাহর। ররধাহহিঙধা মকসলমধানরধা মধাতত ভ‚হম হময়ধানমধাররর আরধাকধারন
(পহরবহতর্ষ ত নধাম রধাখধাইন রস্টেট) বধাবধা-মধা, সধামসী-সসী, ভধাই-রবধান এবব আতসীয়-প্রহতরবশসীরদর লধাশ রপছিরন রফিরল শুধকই জসীবন
আর ইজ্জত-আব্রুটক কু বধাপাঁচধারনধার তধাহগরদ অহবরত ছিক রট আসরছি সসীমধারনর হদরক। গতকধাল (বকধবধার) পযর্ষন ‘একটক শধাহনর’ রখধাপাঁরজ
দরল দরল ররধাহহিঙধা অরচনধা ‘এপধারর’ অথের্ষধাৎ বধাবলধারদরশ পধাহলরয় এরস ঠধাপাঁই হনরয়রছি বরন-বধাপাঁদধারড় রধাসধা-ঘধারট পধাহিধাড়-টিলধার
হকনধারর। হনযর্ষধাতরন-হনপসীড়রন আরধাকধাহন ররধাহহিঙধারদর রচধারখর পধাহনও শুহকরয় রগরছি। হনরসীহি লধারখধা নর-নধারসী হশশু-বতদ
ররধাহহিঙধা এখন রশধারক পধাথের আর কক ধধার যন্ত্রণধায় কধাতর। অরনরকই গুহল রবধামধা হকববধা আগুরন পকরড় যন্ত্রণধায় কধাতরধারচ।
রকধাথেধায় পধারব হচহকৎসধা? মধাথেধা রগধাপাঁজধার আশ্রয়টক কুও রনই। রচধারখর সধামরনই সধাজধারনধা ঘর-সবসধার তধারদর ধবস হিরয় রগরছি।
৮৫ বছিররর বরয়ধাবতদ রথেরক শুরু করর এক সপধারহির নবজধাতক রকধারল হনরয় অসহিধায় মধা পযর্ষন এখন শুধকই রবপাঁরচ থেধাকধার রচষধা
কররছি সসীমধানজকরড়। জধাহতসবঘসহি আনজর্ষধাহতক সবস্থধাগুরলধা বলরছি, রধাখধাইরনর দকগম র্ষ পধাহিধাড়-পবর্ষত ও বন-জঙল, নদসী হদরয় দসীঘর্ষ
পথে অহতক্রম করর বধাবলধারদরশ পধাহলরয় আসধা এবব আসধার অরপকধায় সসীমধারনর হবহভন পরয়রন জরড়ধা হিওয়ধা হশশু-বতদ,
মহহিলধাসহি হনরসীহি ররধাহহিঙধারধা অততন কধান, কক ধধাতর্ষ ও অরনরকই অসকস্থ হকববধা আহিত ররয়রছি। তধারদর আশ্রয়, রসবধা ও খধারদতর
বতবস্থধা করধা এ মকহিহূরতর্ষ সবরচরয় জরুহর।
এ যধাবত গত দকই সপধারহির হহিবস্রতধায় বমর বধাহহিনসী ও তধারদর সহিচর উগ মগরদর একতরফিধা হনহবর্ষচধার আক্রমরণ হনরসীহি ররধাহহিঙধা
মকসলমধানরদর বধাহড়ঘর, মসহজদ, মধাদরধাসধা, রদধাকধান-পধাট, গতহিপধাহলত পশু-পধাহখ, ধধান-চধারলর রগধালধাসহি সবহকছিক ই ধবসসহূ রপ
পহরণত হিরয়রছি। হময়ধানমধার শধাসকরগধাষসীর হনরদর্ষ রশ রসনধাবধাহহিনসী পহূবর্ষ-পহরকল্পনধা মধাহফিক ররধাহহিঙধা জনসবখতধা-বহুল এরককটি
এলধাকধা হবভক করর ‘ব্লক ররইড’ হদরয় চধালধারচ দমন-পসীড়রনর তথেধাকহথেত এই অহভযধান। হবহভন সহূরত আররধা জধানধা রগরছি,
বমর রসনধাবধাহহিনসী আরধাকধারনর (রধাখধাইন) মবডক রজলধার পধাপাঁচটি প্রশধাসহনক এলধাকধারক ‘সধামহরক অহভযধারনর এলধাকধা রঘধারণধা
করররছি। এগুরলধা হিরচ- মবডক রজলধার মবডক সদর, বকহচডব, রধাহচডব, তমব্রু-বধাম ও হমনলকট। এসব অঞ্চরল রসনধা রনতত রত
রযবৌথেবধাহহিনসীর সবখতধা বধাড়ধারনধা হিরয়রছি। এরত করর আররধা ভয়ধাবহি রূপ হনরচ রসনধাহভযধান।
এ অবস্থধায় টিরক থেধাকরত নধা রপরর আরধাকধারনর হবরশরত উত্তর-পহশ্চিম হদরক সসীমধারনর গহিসীন ও দকগর্ষম পধাহিধাড়-জঙল, নদ-
নদসীরত পধাহলরয় রবড়ধারচ কমপরক হতন লধাখ ররধাহহিঙধা। হনরধাপত্তধা কতধারম ও হনরজরদর বসতবধাহড়রত অবরুদ হিরয় আরছি আররধা
করয়ক লধাখ। সহূতগুরলধা জধানধায়, আগস্টে রথেরক পহরচধাহলত গণহিততধার হশকধার ররধাহহিঙধার সবখতধা পধাপাঁচ হিধাজধার ছিধাহড়রয় রযরত
পধারর। আর গুম ও ধরর্ষরণর হশকধার হিরয়রছি অগহণত। পধালধারত চধাইরলও গুহল করর হিততধা করধা হিরচ পশু-পধাহখ হশকধাররর মরতধা!
সরদশ রথেরক সমহূরল উৎপধাটিত হবপন ররধাহহিঙধারদর ঢরল সসীমধারনর ওপধারর-এপধারর এক অবণর্ষনসীয় মধানহবক হবপযর্ষয় সতহষ হিরয়রছি।
এ যধাবত সসীমধান পধাহড় হদরয় কক্সবধাজধার ও বধান্দরবধান রজলধায় আশ্রয় হনরয়রছি রদড় লধারখরও রবহশ। তধাছিধাড়ধা জধাহতসবঘ
গতকধাল বরলরছি, আররধা অনত রসধায়ধা লধাখ ররধাহহিঙধা বধাবলধারদরশ পধাহলরয় আসধার পরথে ররয়রছি।
সহততই মরগর মকলক
ক
আরধাকধারন হময়ধানমধার রসনধাবধাহহিনসী, সসীমধানরকসী হবহজহপ, রগধারয়ন্দধা, পকহলশ ও উগ মগদসকতরদর জধালধাও-রপধাড়ধাও আর
গণহিততধার নধারকসীয় তধান্ডব অবতধাহিত ররয়রছি। বধাসব অরথের্ষই ‘মরগর মকলকরক’ পহরণত হিরয়রছি আরধাকধান। পহরহস্থহত আররধা
ভয়ধাবহি রূপ হনরয়রছি। হনরস-হনরসীহি ররধাহহিঙধা মকসলমধানরদর পধাইকধারসীভধারব ধরর ধরর গুহল চধাহলরয় হকববধা ঘরবধাহড়রত রবধামধা
রমরর রপট্রল ও গধানপধাউডধার হদরয় আগুন লধাহগরয় হিততধাযজ রবরড়ই চরলরছি। অবণর্ষনসীয় পধাশহবক কধায়দধায় হনযর্ষধাতন-হনপসীড়ন
চধাহলরয় তধারদররক হবতধাহড়ত করধা হিরচ সরদরশর মধাটি রথেরক। অতসীরত ১৯৭৭-৭৮, ১৯৯১-৯৬, ২০১২ এবব গত বছির
২০১৬ সধারল ররধাহহিঙধারদর ওপর অততধাচধার-হনপসীড়ন, হিততধাকধান্ড ও হবতধাহড়ত কররত দমনধাহভযধান পহরচধাহলত হিরয়হছিল। হকন
গত ২৪ আগস্টে রথেরক শুরু হিওয়ধা ইহতহিধারসর এই ববর্ষরতম হনমহূর্ষল অহভযধারনর মকরখ ররধাহহিঙধারদর আরধাকধারন ‘রবপাঁরচ থেধাকধা’ এবব
‘টিরক থেধাকধা’র সমধাবনধা রযন ফিক হররয় আসরছি। এই আশঙ্কধা বতক করররছিন রকধারনধামরত পধাহলরয় আসধা ররধাহহিঙধারধা এবব
মধানবধাহধকধার কমররধা।
সকহচর দরমধাহক : ‘রকধা করহছি’!
ররধাহহিঙধা হনধন-হনপসীড়রনর রপ্রকধাপরট হময়ধানমধাররর রনতসী অব সধান সকহচর হবরুরদ সধারধাহবরশ যখন হনন্দধা-ঘতণধা-হধকধাররর ঝড়
বরয় যধারচ এবব তধার রনধারবল পকরসধার রকরড় রনয়ধার দধাহবরত রসধাচধার হিরয়রছি হবরবকবধান মধানকর তখন রদশটির রস্টেট
কধাউহন্সিলর ও পররধাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রসী রসই সকহচই বলরছিন উদ্ভট কথেধাবধাতর্ষ ধা! তধার দরমধাহক হিরলধা, ‘সরকধার রধাখধাইন রধারজতর প্ররততকরক
রকধা কররছি। আর সসধাসসীরদর পক হনরয় হমহডয়ধা অপপ্রচধার কররছি’! গত মঙলবধার তক ররসর রপ্রহসরডন রজব তধাইরয়তব
এররদধাগধান হময়ধানমধারর হনরসীহি ররধাহহিঙধারদর উপর পহরচধাহলত গণহিততধা, হনযর্ষধাতন ও হবতধাড়ন বরন্ধের জনত অব সধান সকহচরক
রটহলরফিধান কররন। এ সময় কসী কথেধা হিরয়হছিল তধা জধানধারত হগরয় গতকধাল (বকধবধার) এবধারই প্রথেম মকরখর কুলকপ খকলরলন
গণতরন্ত্রর খলনধাহয়কধা অব সধান সকহচ। সকহচর বরধাত হদরয় তধার অহফিস রথেরক হমহডয়ধারক জধানধারনধা হিয়, ‘রধাখধাইন রধারজতও
সবধাইরক বধাপাঁচধারত সরকধার সরবর্ষধাচ রচষধা শুরু করররছি। মধানবধাহধকধার ও গণতধাহন্ত্রক সকরকধা রথেরক বহঞ্চত হিওয়ধার মধারন কসী
আমরধা তধা ভধারলধাভধারব বকহঝ। তধাই আমধার রদরশর প্ররততকটি নধাগহররকর মধানবধাহধকধাররর হবরয়টি হনহশ্চিত কররত কধাজ করর
যধারবধা’। সকহচর হববতহতরত হমহডয়ধারক ঝধাড়ধা হদরয় দধাহব করধা হিরয়রছি, ‘সন্ত্রধাসসীরদর সধাথের্ষরকধা কররত প্রচক র ভক ল তথেত ছিড়ধারনধা
হিরচ। সন্ত্রধাসসীরদর উরস হদরত এবব হবহভন স¤প্রদধারয়র মরধত জধাহতগত সমসতধা ততহর কররত ররধাহহিঙধা হনযর্ষধাতরনর অরনক ভক ল
সববধাদ ও ছিহব ছিহড়রয় রদয়ধা হিরচ!’
অবরুদ রররখই ‘অহভযধান’
হময়ধানমধাররর উত্তর-পহশ্চিমধাঞ্চলসীয় রধাজত আরধাকধারন (রধাখধাইন) হিধাজধার বছির ধরর মকসলমধান আরধাকধাহন আহদবধাসসী ররধাহহিঙধারদর
(ররধা-আব) বসবধাস। দসীঘর্ষ ৩৮ বছিররর মরধত হবহভন সমরয় পহরচধাহলত ররধাহহিঙধারধা হনধন ও হবতধাড়ন অহভযধারনর হশকধার।
তধারধা বধাবলধারদশ ছিধাড়ধাও এ যধাবত পতহথেবসীর প্রধায় ৩০টি রদরশ পধাহলরয় আশ্রয় খকপাঁজরছি। জধাহতসবরঘর অহফিহসয়ধাল তথেত মরত,
ররধাহহিঙধারধা সধারধাহবরশর মরধত বতর্ষ মধারন সবর্ষধারপকধা ভধাগতধাহিত জনরগধাষসী। যধারদররক বলধা হিয় রস্টেটরলস হসটিরজন অথের্ষধাৎ
‘রধাষ্ট্রহবহিসীন নধাগহরক’। রধাখধাইন রধারজত শধাহন হফিহররয় আনরত ররধাহহিঙধারদর অবধারধ চলধাচরলর সধাধসীনতধা ও নধাগহরকত
হনহশ্চিরতর রজধারধারলধা তধাহগদ হদরয় সধারবক জধাহতসবঘ মহিধাসহচব কহফি আনধারনর রনতত তধাধসীন কহমশরনর (আনধান কহমশন)
৮৮টি সকপধাহরশ সম্বহলত ৬৩ পতষধার প্রহতরবদন গত ২৪ আগস্টে সকধারল অব সধান সকহচসহি হময়ধানমধার সরকধাররর কধারছি রপশ
করধা হিয়। কহফি আনধান হনরজই সকহচরক এই সকপধাহরশমধালধা দ্রুত বধাসবধায়ন সবধার জনত মঙলজনক হিরব বরলই স্মরণ কহররয়
রদন। আর হদনটি রশর হিরত নধা হিরতই রসই ভয়ধাল রধারত ররধাহহিঙধারদর উপর চরম ববর্ষর গণহিততধা, জকলম ক , হনপসীড়ন আররধা
বতধাপকমধাতধায় শুরু হিরয় যধায়। তরব এর আরগ ১১ আগস্টে রথেরক মকসলমধানরদর পধাড়ধাগুরলধা রসনধাবধাহহিনসী অবরুদ করর রররখ
টহিল অহভযধান শুরু করর, যধা মহূল অপধাররশরনর আরগ রড্রেস হরহিধারসর্ষল। গত দকই সপধাহি যধাবত চলমধান এ ভয়ঙ্কর রসনধাবধাহহিনসীর
দমনধাহভযধান, রসই সধারথে হবহজহপ, পকহলশ, রগধারয়ন্দধা এবব মগ সন্ত্রধাসসী বধাহহিনসীর হনমর্ষম অততধাচধার রথেরক নধারসী হশশুসহি রকউই
ররহিধাই পধারচ নধা। প্রহতহদনই চলরছি হিররক ববর্ষররধাহচত কধায়দধায় গণহিততধা ও হনপসীড়রনর হস্টেমররধালধার। বমর সরকধাররর এরহিন
হহিবস্র অহভযধারনর আসল লকত-উরদ্দিশত হিরলধা, ররধাহহিঙধা মকসলমধানরদর মধাতত ভ‚হত রথেরক হবতধাহড়ত করর রসখধারন হচরতরর
একচত মরগর মকলক ক কধারয়ম করধা। আর রসহদরকই এহগরয় যধারচ হময়ধানমধার শধাসকরগধাষসী।
বধাড়রছি ররধাহহিঙধার ঢল : সহক্রয় দধালধালচক্র
রটকনধাফি উপরজলধার প্রধধান সড়ক ও ও উপকূরল ররধাহহিঙধার ঢল রনরমরছি। স্থধানসীয় দধালধারলর মধাধতরম প্রধাণ বধাপাঁচরত তধারধা
বধাবলধারদরশ এরসরছিন। মধানব পধাচধারকধারসী দধালধাল হসহন্ডরকট রফির সহক্রয় হিরয় উরঠরছি। প্রশধাসন ভধামতমধাণ আদধালরতর মধাধতরম
৪৪ জন দধালধালরক হবহভন রময়ধারদ সধাজধা রদয়ধা হিরয়রছি। রদখরল রয কধাররধা মরন হিরব রযন রটকনধাফি সসীমধান খকরল রদয়ধা হিরয়রছি।
ঈরদর আরগ ও পরর একধাহধক রনবৌকধাডক হবর ঘটনধার পর অনকপ্ররবশকধারসী ররধাহহিঙধারধা সতকর্ষ হিরলও বতর্ষ মধারন রটকনধারফির প্রধধান
সড়ক ও উপকূরল ররধাহহিঙধার ঢল রনরমরছি। রসনমধাটির্ষনদ্বেসীপসহি পকররধা উপরজলধা জকরড় দরল দরল রধাত-হদন হবরধামহিসীনভধারব
ররধাহহিঙধা অনকপ্ররবশ কররছি। গত ১১ হদরন রবসরকধাহর জহররপ প্রধায় দকই লধারখর কধাছিধাকধাহছি ররধাহহিঙধা রটকনধারফির নধাফি নদসী ও
সমকদ উপক‚লসীয় এলধাকধায় অনকপ্ররবশ করররছি। ঢক রক পড়ধা এসব ররধাহহিঙধারধা সবর্ষতই গনবতহিসীনভধারব এহদক-রসহদক ছিক টধাছিক টি
কররছি।
এর মরধত রটকনধারফির রহিধায়ধাইকতব ইউহনয়রনর রইকতব এলধাকধায় পধাহিধাহড় ভ‚হম দখল করর অনত ৩৫ হিধাজধার ররধাহহিঙধা আশ্রয়
হনরয়রছি। নয়ধাপধাড়ধা, রমধাছিনসী, রলদধা, সধাবরধাব, শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীপ, শধামলধাপকর এলধাকধায় আশ্রয় হনরয়রছি অনত এক লধাখ ররধাহহিঙধা। এ
ছিধাড়ধা রটকনধারফির হবহভন আতসীয়সজরনর বধাহড়রত ররয়রছি আররধা ৫০ হিধাজধাররর রবহশ ররধাহহিঙধা।
রটকনধাফি সদর ইউহনয়ন পহরররদর রচয়ধারমতধান শধাহিজধাহিধান জধাহনরয়রছিন, রসধামবধার রধাত ও বকধবধার সকধারল সমকদ উপক‚ল
পরয়ন হদরয় রটকনধারফি ঢক রক পড়ধা ররধাহহিঙধার সবখতধা অনত ৮০ হিধাজধার হিরত পধারর বরল হতহন অনকমধান কররছিন।
স্থধানসীয় সহূরত জধানধা যধায়, রটকনধারফির উপক‚রল করয়ক হিধাজধার রনবৌকধা সধাগরর ও নদসীরত মধাছি হশকধারর হনরয়ধাহজত ররয়রছি।
বতর্ষ মধারন এসব রনবৌকধা বতবহিধার হিরচ ররধাহহিঙধা অনকপ্ররবশ কধারজ। সবহশ্লিষ এলধাকধা রথেরক প্রধাপ হনভর্ষ ররযধাগত তরথেত জধানধা রগরছি,
রটকনধাফি উপরজলধার রসনমধাটির্ষন দ্বেসীপ, শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীপ, শধাপলধাপকর, বড়রডইল, মধাথেধাভধাঙধা, মধাহরশবহনয়ধা, শসীলখধালসী,
মরহিশখধালসীয়ধা পধাড়ধা, বধাহিধারছিড়ধা, হিধাদকরছিড়ধা, কধাটধাবহনয়ধা, খকরররমকখ, লম্বরসী, হমঠধাপধাহনরছিড়ধা, জধাহিধাজপকরধা, উহখয়ধা উপরজলধার
রছিপটখধালসী, মনখধালসী ঘধারট এখন রকধান রনবৌকধা রনই। সব রনবৌকধা দধালধারলর সধারথে আপাঁতধাত করর ররধাহহিঙধা আনধার জনত হময়ধানমধার
যধাতধায়ধাত কররছি। দধালধালরধা নধাহক জনপ্রহত ভধাড়ধা হনরচ ১০ রথেরক ১২ হিধাজধার টধাকধা করর। টধাকধা হদরত বতথের্ষ হিরল সণর্ষধালঙ্কধার
রকরড় হনরচ। হদরনর রবলধায়ও বধাহিধারছিড়ধা শধামলধাপকর তসকরত সরধাসহর ররধাহহিঙধা অনকপ্ররবশ অবতধাহিত হছিল।
অহভরযধারগ জধানধা যধায়, শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীরপ ররধাহহিঙধা অনকপ্ররবরশ রনতত ত হদরচ শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীপ জধাহলয়ধাপধাড়ধার শধামসকল ইসলধাম হিধাসক,
নকরুল আলম, আবক তধারহির, আকবর, হমসসীপধাড়ধার লম্বধা সহলম, শরসীফি রহিধাছিন, নধাহজর রহিধাছিন, রমধা: রহিধাছিন, এনধায়তক লধাহি, নকর
রহিধাছিন এবব ঘকলধাপধাড়ধার কহবরধা। এরধা সবধাই হচহহ্নিত ও তধাহলকধাভক ক দধালধাল। এসব হসহন্ডরকরট আররধা করয়কজন দধালধাল
ররয়রছি। এরদর রনতত রত শত শত রবধাট হময়ধানমধারর হগরয় হিধাজধার হিধাজধার ররধাহহিঙধা বধাবলধারদরশর রটকনধারফি অনকপ্ররবশ ঘটিরয়রছি।
এরধা জনপ্রহত এক রথেরক দকই লধাখ কধায়ধাত (হময়ধানমধার মকদধা) রনয়ধার পরও বধাবলধারদরশর শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীপ উপক‚রল তসীরর হভড়ধার
আরগ রবধারটর উপর সণর্ষধালঙ্কধার ও টধাকধা রকরড় হনরত ধসধাধহসর কধাররণ রবধাট ডক হবর মরতধা জঘনততম ঘটনধা ঘরটরছি বরল রশধানধা
যধারচ। এরদর রদখধারদহখ আররধা হকছিক নতক ন দধালধাল হসহন্ডরকট সতহষ হিরচ। তধার মরধত শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীপ জধাহলয়ধাপধাড়ধার শধামসকল
আলম হিধাসক, হমসসীপধাড়ধার লম্বধা সহলম ও শরসীফি রহিধাছিন এবব ঘকলধাপধাড়ধার কহবরধা হবগত করয়ক যকগ ধরর এপধার-ওপধার বতবসধা
করধার দসীঘর্ষ অহভজতধায় মধানব পধাচধারর পধারদশর হিরয় উরঠরছি বরল এলধাকধায় জনশ্র æ হত ররয়রছি। এভধারব শুধক শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীপ
নয়, সধাবরধাব, বধাহিধারছিড়ধাসহি হবহভন এলধাকধায় দধালধাল হসহন্ডরকট সহক্রয় ররয়রছি।
এহদরক, গতকধাল রটকনধাফি মরডল থেধানধা পকহলশ, হবহজহব ও রকধাস্টেগধাডর্ষ জওয়ধারনরধা পতথেক অহভযধান চধাহলরয় রটকনধাফি সদর
ইউহনয়রনর ১৫ দধালধালরক আটক করর ভধামতমধাণ আদধালরত হবহভন রময়ধারদ সধাজধা প্রদধান করররছি।
ররধাহহিঙধা অনকপ্ররবরশ বধাধধা : ট্রলধার ডক রব হনরখধাপাঁজ হতন শতধাহধক
রটকনধাফি সসীমধারন হতন হিধাজধার ১২৯ ররধাহহিঙধারক অনকপ্ররবশকধারল প্রহতহিত করররছি হবহজহব ও রকধাস্টেগধাডর্ষ। গতকধাল সকধারল
সসীমধারনর হবহভন পরয়ন হদরয় ররধাহহিঙধারধা অনকপ্ররবরশর রচষধা কররল তধারদর প্রহতহিত করধা হিয়। তধার মরধত হবহজহব দকই হিধাজধার
৬৪৯ জন ও রকধাস্টেগধাডর্ষ ৩৭০ জনরক প্রহতহিত করর। হবহজহব রটকনধারফির হসও রল: করনর্ষল আহরফিক ল ইসলধাম জধানধান, ররধাহহিঙধা
পকশবতধাক কররলও তধারদর প্রহত মধানহবক আচরণ রদখধারচ হবহজহব।
অনতহদরক, রটকনধাফি উপরজলধার হবহভন সসীমধারন হবহজহব ও রকধাস্টেগধাডর্ষ সদসতরধা ররধাহহিঙধারবধাঝধাই ১২ ট্রলধার আটরকর পর
হময়ধানমধারর রফিরত পধাঠধায়। এসব ট্রলধার রফির বধাবলধারদশ সসীমধারন প্ররবরশর রচষধাকধারল ডক রব যধায় বরল জধাহনরয়রছি প্রধারণ রবপাঁরচ
যধাওয়ধা ররধাহহিঙধারধা। এসময় তধারদর ট্রলধারর থেধাকধা হতন শতধাহধক ররধাহহিঙধা হনরখধাপাঁজ ও ১০ জরনর লধাশ উদধার করধা হিরয়রছি।
সসীমধারন হময়ধানমধাররর স্থলমধাইন : রয়টধারসর্ষর হবরশর প্রহতরবদন
সধা¤প্রহতক রসনধারদর হনযর্ষধাতন-হনপসীড়রনর হিধাত রথেরক ররহিধাই রপরত দকই সপধারহি লকধাহধক ররধাহহিঙধা বধাবলধারদরশ প্ররবশ করররছি।
তধারধা রযন আর হময়ধানমধারর হফিররত নধা পধারর, রসই উরদ্দিরশতই মধাইন পকরপাঁ ত রধাখধা হিরচ বরল জধাহনরয়রছি দকইটি সহূত। মহূলত
হস্থরহচত ও রগধাপন সববধাদদধাতধা মধাধতরম হময়ধানমধাররর এই ভহূ হমমধাইন বসধারনধার হবরয়টি জধানধা রগরছি বরল রয়টধাসর্ষরক
জধাহনরয়রছিন তধারধা। রয গ্রুপগুরলধা ভহূ হমমধাইন পকরপাঁ ত রররখহছিল তধারদর গধারয় রকধারনধা ইউহনফিমর্ষ হছিল হক নধা তধা হনহশ্চিত কররহন
সহূতগুরলধা। একটি সহূত বরলরছি, ‘তধারধা হনরজরদর সসীমধারন কধাপাঁটধাতধাররর রবড়ধার কধাছি রঘপাঁরর ভহূ হমমধাইন বসধারচ। আমধারদর
রসনধারধাও কধাপাঁটধাতধাররর রবড়ধার কধাছি রঘপাঁরর হতন রথেরক চধারটি গ্রুপরক কধাজ কররত রদরখরছি। তধারধা মধাটিরত হকছিক একটক পকপাঁরত
রধাখহছিল। পরর আমধারদর রগধাপন সববধাদদধাতধারধা হনহশ্চিত করররছি তধারধা ভহূ হমমধাইন পকরপাঁ ত রররখরছি।’ তরব তধারধা হনহশ্চিত রয, এরধা
ররধাহহিঙধা হবরদধাহিসী হছিল নধা। এহদরক বধাবলধারদরশর একজন কূটনসীহতক নধাম প্রকধাশ নধা করধার শরতর্ষ হবহবহসরক জধাহনরয়রছিন,
সসীমধারন মধাইন রপরত রধাখধার এবব এসব মধাইরন বধাবলধারদরশ পলধায়নরত ররধাহহিঙধা শরণধাথেররদর হিতধাহিত হিওয়ধার হকছিক হকছিক খবর
তধারধাও পধারচন।
সঙ্কট সমধাধধারন ইরন্দধারনহশয়ধার ‘ফিমকল র্ষ ধা রফিধার পধাস ওয়ধান’ প্রসধাব
রধাখধাইরন শধাহন-শতঙ্খলধা পকননঃস্থধাপন ও হশগহগরই মধানহবক সহিধায়তধা সরবরধারহির অনকমহত হদরত হময়ধানমধাররক চধার শতর্ষ যকক
‘ফিমকলর্ষ ধা রফিধার পধাস ওয়ধান’ নধারমর একটি প্রসধাব হদরয়রছি ইরন্দধারনহশয়ধা। গত রসধামবধার হময়ধানমধাররর রধাজধধানসী রনইহপরদধারত
রদশটির রধাষ্ট্রসীয় উপরদষধা অব সধান সকহচর সরঙ সধাকধারতর সময় এ প্রসধাব রদন ইরন্দধারনহশয়ধার পররধাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রসী রররনধা মধারসকহদ।
ররধাহহিঙধা সঙ্কট সমধাধধারন জধাকধাতর্ষ ধার এই চধার প্রসধাব হিরলধা :
এক. রধাখধাইরনর হস্থহতশসীলতধা এবব হনরধাপত্তধা হফিহররয় আনধা। দকই. সরবর্ষধাচ সবযম ও অসহহিষক তধা প্রদশর্ষন হতন. জধাহত
ধমর্ষহনহবর্ষরশরর রধাখধাইরনর সব মধানকররর সকরকধা। চধার. অহবলরম্ব মধানহবক সহিধায়তধার প্ররবশধাহধকধাররর ওপর গুরুতধাররধাপ।
ইরন্দধারনহশয়ধার এই চধার প্রসধারবর বতধাখতধা হদরয় মধারসকহদ বরলন, প্রথেম চধারটি শতর্ষ হিরচ প্রধধান হবরয়, যধা হশগহগরই বধাসবধায়ন
কররত হিরব; যধারত মধানহবক সঙ্কট এবব হনরধাপত্তধা পহরহস্থহত খধারধাপ হিরত নধা পধারর।
এ ছিধাড়ধা জধাহতসবরঘর সধারবক মহিধাসহচব কহফি আনধারনর রনতত রত রধাখধাইরন সহহিবসতধার ঘটনধায় জধাহতসবরঘর রস্পেশধাল
অতধাডভধাইজহর কহমশরনর প্রহতরবদরনর সকপধাহরশ অহবলরম্ব বধাসবধায়রনর পরধামশর্ষ রদয়ধা হিরয়রছি ইরন্দধারনহশয়ধার এই প্রসধারব।
ররধাহহিঙধা হনযর্ষধাতন রববৌদ রনতধারদর উরদ্বেগ
হময়ধানমধাররর রধাখধাইন রধারজত ররধাহহিঙধারধা জনরগধাষসীর উপর হনমর্ষম হনযর্ষধাতন ও হনষক রতধার ঘটনধায় বধাবলধারদরশর রববৌদ
সবগঠরনর রনতধারধা গভসীর উরদ্বেগ প্রকধাশ করর এ বতধাপধারর জধাহতসবরঘর হিসরকপ কধামনধা করররছিন। গতকধাল (বকধবধার) এক
হববতহতরত তধারধা বরলন, রধাখধাইন রধারজত হনষক রতধার হশকধার ররধাহহিঙধারধা তধারদর বধাসস্থধান রছিরড় পধালধারত বধাধত হিরচ। অরনরক
অসধাভধাহবক মততকতর সম্মকখসীন হিরচ। হনরধাপরধাধ হশশু, মহহিলধা এবব হনরসীহি মধানকররর জসীবন অহনহশ্চিত অবস্থধায় পহতত হিরচ।
আমরধা ররধাহহিঙধারদর উপর এরহিন নধারকসীয় হিততধা, ববর্ষর ও হনমর্ষম আচধাররণর তসীব হনন্দধা ও প্রহতবধাদ জধানধাহচ। হববতহতরত
সধাকরকধারসী রববৌদ রনতত বতন্দ হিরলন- বধাবলধারদশ রববৌদ সহমহতর রচয়ধারমতধান অহজত রঞ্জন বড়কয়ধা, মহিধাসহচব সকদসীপ বড়কয়ধা,
বধাবলধারদশ রববৌদ কত হষ প্রচধার সবরঘর যকগ মহিধাসহচব প্ররফিসর ড. হবহকরণ প্রসধাদ বড়–য়ধা, বধাবলধারদশ সবঘরধাজ হভকক মহিধাসভধার
সভধাপহত অহজতধানন্দ মহিধারথের, মহিধাসহচব এস. রলধাকহজত রথের, বধাবলধারদশ রববৌদ হভকক মহিধাসভধার সভধাপহত সকনন্দহপ্রয়
মহিধারথের, মহিধাসহচব রবধাহধহমত মহিধারথের প্রমকখ

হময়ধানমধাররর আরধাকধারন (রধাখধাইন রস্টেট) রসনধাবধাহহিনসীর চলমধান দমনধাহভযধারন গুহলহবদ হিরয়রছিন রমধানঃ সধাহিধাব হময়ধা নধারম ৮০
বছিররর বরয়ধাবতদ একজন ররধাহহিঙধা। গতকধাল (বকধবধার) রধারত তধারক চট্টগধাম রমহডরকল করলজ হিধাসপধাতধারল ভহতর্ষ করধা হিরয়রছি।
জধানধা রগরছি, সধাহিধাব হময়ধা আরধাকধারনর আহকয়ধাব (নয়ধা নধাম হসটক ইরয়) রজলধার মবডক থেধানধার হিধাচক রধাতধা গধারমর বধাহসন্দধা। তধার
হপতধা মতত রমধানঃ ততয়ব হময়ধা। হনরজর বধাহড়র সধামরনই রসনধাবধাহহিনসী তধারক গুহলবরর্ষণ করর। তধার বকরক ও বধাম রচধারখর হনরচ
গুহলহবদ হিয়। হতহন আতসীয়-সজনরদর মধাধতরম রকধানমরত সসীমধান পধাহড় হদরয় গতকধাল বধাবলধারদরশ পধাহলরয় আরসন। তধার
আঘধাত গুরুতর হিওয়ধায় গতরধারত চরমক হিধাসপধাতধারল হনরয় আসধা হিয়। এ সময় হতহন রকধাক অবস্থধায় যন্ত্রণধায় ছিটফিট
করহছিরলন। বতর্ষ মধারন ২৫নব সধাজর্ষধাহর ওয়ধারডর্ষ তধার হচহকৎসধা চলরছি। কতর্ষ বতরত হচহকৎসকরধা জধানধান, বরয়ধাবতদ ররধাহহিঙধা
সধাহিধাব হময়ধারক অরসধাপচধাররর প্ররয়ধাজন হিরব।
এরআরগ আরধাকধারন রসনধাবধাহহিনসীর হিধারত গুহলহবদ আররধা ৪ জন ররধাহহিঙধারক চরমক হিধাসপধাতধারল ভহতর্ষ করধা হিরয়রছি। এ হনরয়
৫৩ জন গুহলহবদ ও রবধামধায় ঝলরস যধাওয়ধা গুরুতর আহিত ররধাহহিঙধা নধারসী-পকরুর ও হশশু-বতদ চরমরক হচহকৎসধাধসীন ররয়রছিন।
আরধাকধারনর গধামগুরলধারত বমর রযবৌথেবধাহহিনসীর গুহল, রবধামধা ও অহগ্নিসবরযধারগ গুরুতর আহিতধাবস্থধায় তধারধা ভধাগতক্ররম পধাহলরয়
সসীমধারনর এপধারর আসরত সকম হিন। মধানবধাহধকধার ও সধাহিধাযত-সবস্থধার কমররধা তধারদররক চরমক ভহতর্ষ ও হচহকৎসধার জনত হনরয়
আসরছিন। তরব আরও অসবখত আহিত ও পঙক ররধাহহিঙধা ওপধারর যন্ত্রণধায় কধাতরধারচ বরল তধারধা জধানধান। চরমক হিধাসপধাতধারল এক
যকবক ও অপর এক হশশু ররধাহহিঙধা ইরতধাপহূরবর্ষ মধারধা যধান। # শ/আলম, ০৬/০৯/১৭ইব

Burma’s Rohingya Muslims

written by Amad Uddin
 Download the report: Burmas_Rohingya_Muslims
Introduction
The Muslim world is well versed with the suffering of our noble Ummah in Palestine, Syria,
Kashmir, Chechnya, etc. I had assumed until recently not many knew about the plight and
suffering of our brothers and sisters – the Rohingya Muslims. The Muslim world is now truly
waking up to their suffering and becoming aware of their plight. Once again the world’s attention
is on the world’s most persecuted minority.

As I write this report, information continues to trickle out on the atrocities being committed
against the Rohingya Muslims. 2015 has turned into the darkest period of Rohingya history. Men,
women, the elderly, children and babies are begging for help in ships that are barely remaining
afloat in the Bay of Bengal. For much of the world, the Rohingya plight is an immigration and
migration issue; a place where they can reside is the problem that needs solving. This however,
disguises the fact is that the Burmese government has expelled them in such a way that in any
other part of the world it would be considered genocide.

The western world appears to be blinded by a romantic narrative of sweeping change in Burma,
signing new trade deals and lifting sanctions even while the abuses continue.

While the Muslim rulers continue to avert their glances or concerns away from the Rohingya
Muslims, some Muslim leaders cry crocodile tears and still trade and have relations with Burma,
while others expel Rohingya Muslims back to Burma due to nationalist fervour.

Muslims in 2015 enter a dark and uncharted territory. Every so often their plight reaches our
attention; their plight has not gotten any better over the years, but worsened. I am assuming all
the information taken to compile this report is factual and relevant. I had to rely on information
from news websites, think tanks, and human rights groups as firsthand information from the
ground is hard to obtain and check due to the repressive nature of the situation in Burma. The
reason why this report was written was so that Muslims can become acquainted with the situation
of the Rohingya Muslims in a comprehensive manner.

This report will aim to answer the following questions:

How much do we really know about their plight as Muslims?

What’s the background to their situation they find themselves in?

And what different factors are at play that are further exacerbating the situation these powerless
Muslims find themselves in?

Burma’s Muslims: A History

The Burmese government would like the world to believe that the Rohingya Muslims only came to
Burma in the last 50 to 70 years. This claim is to further strengthen their case to the world that
the Rohingya Muslims have no place in Burma and are migrants from Bangladesh. Islam came to
the region around the 8th century under the Abbasid Khilafah of Harun al-Rashid. We know from
that period that Muslims were arriving and spreading into the region with the message of Islam.
At that time individual merchants and traders were also arriving via the sea to these new
territories; over time Muslims settled in these areas, in places like the Arakan state.
Muslim history in the region can be seen from many monuments. The Budder Mukam Mosque
was built in the 7th century but was taken by the military in 1978 and is used as a naval base camp.
[1] The Sandhi Khan Mosque was built in 1433 by Muslim Army General Sandhi Khan, but was
demolished by the military in 1996. Other Mosques that were built still stand today and many streets and
villages have Muslim linked names in the Arakan state; from 1430 to 1784 the Muslims ruled in the
Arakan state with the help from the Sultan of Bengal.
Burma Coming Out of the Cold
Burma has been ruled by a military junta for many decades, from 1962 to 2011, it was only when
relations with the outside world started to thaw that military rule finally ceased in 2011. Since
1962 Burma under the junta was one of the world’s most repressive and abusive regimes with
abuses against Burma’s many ethnic tribes being far reaching, torture, imprisonment, and extra
judicial killing were wide spread. Burma is a poor country with crumbling infrastructure after
many years of neglect, however it is rich in natural resources, including oil, [2] gas[3] and precious
stones. Reports suggest substantial untapped oil and gas reserves sit off the shores of the Arakan
state where the Muslims are situated.[4]
Since coming out of the cold, economic sanctions have been lifted and President Thein has even
visited the White House[5] and 10 Downing Street. Elections are due to be held in Burma in
October or November in 2015. Burma is now awash with foreign investors and companies seeking
to benefit from the country’s opening up.
In 2013 President Obama told President Thein Sein, “We very much appreciate your efforts and
leadership in leading Myanmar in a new direction. We want you to know that the United States will make
every effort to assist you on what I know is a long, and sometimes difficult, but ultimately correct path to
follow.”[6]
Genocide: Rohingya Muslims
The suffering of the Muslims of Burma is not a recent phenomenon; it has been taking place for
decades. Relationships soured between Muslims and Buddhists during World War II and during
Burma’s Independence period with violent clashes and insurgencies on both sides. After the
military took over in 1962, the plight of the Muslims worsened as they were seen with suspicion in
regards to their loyalties. In 1977 around 200,000 Muslims fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, to
escape the violence and abuse. Many returned later but were still not recognized as citizens.

In 1982 a new citizenship law was introduced which cut off the rights of the Rohingya Muslims.
[7] There was growing calls for independence and more rights for Muslims in the Arakan State
during this period and this made the army nervous, as a result the army was deployed into
Arakan. The troops took land for their camps and for food they levied taxes and forced Muslims
into labour.
With the army in the region and the worsening economic and violent situation, the Rohingya
Muslims found themselves fleeing once again. Another 250,000 fled to Bangladesh in 1992 where
many were repatriated thereafter.[8] In 2001 riots broke out with Rakhine Buddhists and
Muslims in the capital of Arakan, Sittwe after an argument between young monks and a Muslim
stallholder.[9] Human Rights Watch documented that overnight 20 people were killed, homes
and businesses were torched, mosques and madrasas were destroyed.
In 2010 municipal elections led to further tensions in the Arakan state, contributing to the anti-
Muslim violence in 2012. The alleged rape and murder of a Rakhine woman by Muslim men was
the spark that was needed for the violence in 2012.[10] Government figures, from the commission
that was created to look into the violence, stated 98 people were killed and 123 people were
injured from both communities, but it is hard to ascertain the true number due to the restrictive
nature of the state and its apparatus. During the 2012 violence the police and army stood by as
acts of looting, burning and killing of Muslims took place, in some instances they joined in such
acts.[11] Thousands of Rohingya homes and businesses were destroyed and thousands were
displaced.
Rohingya Muslims are denied citizenship, they have to gain permission to marry, they are denied
education, and in many areas of Burma they are limited to having only two children. Their lands
are taken, informal taxes are put on them, and many are living in government camps where they
are not allowed to work or seek medical help from outside. Police and army monitor such camps
closely, with disease and malnutrition being rife. The penalty for leaving these camps is three
months imprisonment, if a Rohingya is caught by the police. If caught by the wrong civilians, it
could be a lynching and certain death. These government camps are concentration camps set up
to break the resolve of the Rohingya Muslims in making them leave or submit to the government’s
oppressive rule.[12] In 2014 the Burmese government, with the help of the UN, conducted a
census of the population. The Rohingya were banned from being included in the census as they
were not deemed to be a recognized ethnic minority.[13]
It is no wonder, due to the concentration camps, that many have fled into the hands of heartless
smugglers in order to escape. This is one of the reasons we see hundreds fleeing Burma into the
sea due to the situation they face.

Migrants or Genocide?
Many of the world’s schools study the plight of the Jews when they were placed in concentration
camps, during the holocaust. The holocaust is understood as an act of genocide. Even Armenia is
attempting to term the killing by Turks as genocide during World War 1. In the past we have seen
genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and recently Darfur.

The UN defines genocide in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide (1948) as: “…any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or
in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing
serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of
life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to
prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”[14]
The atrocities against the Rohingya Muslims clearly fit this definition. However, if the UN does
recognise the plight of the Rohingya Muslims as genocide, then the International Community will
be obliged to take action and demand the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Doing so will upset
the plan to bring Burma “out of the cold” and go against western economic and strategic interests.

Burma has a population of around 53 million of which the Rohingya Muslim consist of around 1.3
million, approximately 2.5%. Despite the small proportion there are false rumours and
scaremongering from the top of the Burmese state that Muslims want to overpopulate Burma
through births. Burma has even introduced a birth control law. The controversial bill is one of
four pieces of legislation driven by nationalist Buddhist monks who fear that the Muslim
population is growing too quickly.[15] All the policies undertaken by the Burmese state for
decades against the Rohingya are related to genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Why Is the Poster Girl for Democracy Very Quiet?
Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) have remained silent over the
Rohingya issue. One of the main reasons she is quiet is due to the elections coming up in 2015,
she does not want anything to derail her chance of succeeding in the polls.

The Thein government has done well to create the fascist Buddhist group 969 Movement to
counter Aung San Suu Kyi and her party with rising anti-Muslim sentiments. Aung San Suu Kyi is
held up high in the west as the poster girl for democracy as she was a symbol of human rights
through her years of imprisonment and isolation, but when it comes to the Rohingya issue she has
been silent as the anti-Muslim propaganda stirred up by the government and the 969 Movement.
It will be a political own goal with elections so close to take the side of the Rohingya Muslims.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; some may question what peace she
has bought the Rohingya Muslims.

Aung San Suu Kyi rejected the notion of ethnic cleansing taking place in Burma and has said in a
BBC interview: “It’s not ethnic cleansing,” she said. “What the world needs to understand [is] that the fear
is not just on the side of the Muslims, but on the side of the Buddhists as well.”[16] Suu Kyi elaborated
further: “There’s a quarrel whether people are true citizens under the law or whether they have come over
as migrants later from Bangladesh. One of the very interesting and rather disturbing facts of this whole
problem is that most people seem to think as that there was only one country involved in this border issue.
But there are two countries. There’s Bangladesh one side, there’s Burma on the other and the security and
the security of the border is surely the responsibility of both countries.”[17]
Fascist Buddhists
“I read the Koran…To tell you the truth, I didn’t find anything I liked…Good Buddhists shouldn’t mix
socially with Muslims, who are snakes and mad dogs.” Ashin Wirathu a monk who leads the radical
movement 969.
The fascist 969 Movement is nationalist movement, created and supported by the Thein
government. The numbers 969 represent the virtues of the Buddha. There is nothing peaceful
about this movement as its main purpose is to espouse anti-Muslim statements and threats. Its
leader, Wirathu, is regarded as the movement’s main face and role model and has called for the
boycott of Muslim shops.[18] In a YouTube video of a sermon given by Wirathu, he says that
Muslims are taking over the country and destroying the Buddhist way of life.[19] With
thousands of followers already, and his support base growing by the day, he said “You can be
full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog,” referring to Muslims.
[20] The government and security forces continue to support him and let him carry on his
anti-Muslim agenda.[21]
Interestingly when Wirathu was jailed in 2003 for inciting anti-Muslim violence he was released
in 2012 as part of a prisoner amnesty. In Burma many shops and taxis put up the 969 Movement’s
sticker as a sign of support for this movement.

In 2013 Wirathu vowed to promote peace. [22] Only time will tell whether the 969 Movement will
become peaceful or will it just be another pawn in the government’s plans.
Muslim World’s Response to Rohingya Muslim Situation
Bangladesh – Bangladesh borders Burma in the southeast region of the country. Thousands of
Rohingya Muslims have fled across the border since 1977 during various insistences of violence.
Since the 1970’s successive Bangladesh governments, civilian or military, have held the position
that the Rohingya Muslims at one point or another must return back to Burma. None of the
previous governments made the situation for Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh one of peace and
tranquillity, and certainly not the present one. Rather it has deliberately made their lives
unbearable, and pushed them into the desperate situation of trying to escape to anyone that will
show even the slightest mercy.
In Bangladesh around 29,000 Rohingya Muslims live in official refugee camps, whilst another
200,000 live in unofficial camps. [23]Those living in the official camps are not allowed to work or
go outside the camps, while those 200,000 unofficial refugees are open to abuse and arrest. The
unregistered refugees have to fend for themselves as the Bangladesh government has banned aid
agencies helping them as it may encourage more to come over from Burma.[24]
Many of these refugees live around Bangladesh’s famous tourist attraction Cox’s Bazar, where
they live in the open in unsanitary conditions, with food and security being scarce. Recently the
Bangladesh government has undertaken the initiative to relocate the unregistered refugees to an
island as they are hampering the image and status of Cox’s Bazar as a tourist attraction. [25]
To further strengthen its position against the Rohingya Muslims, the Bangladesh government has
banned Bangladeshi nationals from marrying Rohingya Muslims and has banned Rohingya
marrying Rohingya in order to get citizenship. [26] The Bangladesh government also has a policy
of “pushing back” where the Bangladesh Border Guards (BGB) push back hundreds of boats of
Rohingya Muslims away from Bangladesh.
“Every month hundreds of Rohingyas try to enter Bangladesh and we push them back,” said Sirajul
Islam, commander of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Damdamia Border Outpost (BOP) in
Cox’s Bazar district.
“We know they are being persecuted in Myanmar, but we can’t let them in. We need to obey the
government policy, and also there are already a huge number of Rohingya people living in
Bangladesh,” he said.[27]
Despite the Bangladesh army going on countless UN missions (no country commits more troops
to UN missions than Bangladesh), they have failed to support the Rohingya Muslims with their
navy and military and to open the border with Bangladesh and Burma to allow the Muslims a safe
haven let alone to stop the Burmese aggression.

Turkey – Turkey has given aid and money to help the Rohingya Muslims. [28] It has also sent
military ships to the region to help.[29]Turkish Foreign Minister (FM) Ahmet Davutoglu along
with Emine Erdogan, wife of Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, visited Burma in 2012 with
aid. While all this is commendable the Rohingya Muslims need a military to stop the oppression
they face. Turkey has one of the world’s advanced militaries and has the second largest army in
NATO, yet it sends military ships with aid to the Rohingya where it should send these military
ships fully armed to the region to send the Burmese government a message to stop oppressing
Muslims. If Turkish ships and submarines were anchored off the Arakan state this would send a
strong message to the Burmese that Muslims are one Ummah, and you cannot oppress Muslims
and get away with it.
It’s disheartening that the Turkish authorities have not condemned what’s happening in Burma
and only defined it is a humanitarian issue.[30]
Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia has accused Burma of ethnic cleansing and called for the
International Community to solve this conflict.[31]Like other nations, it has given money to help
the Rohingya.[32]Other than that not much has been forthcoming from the birth place of Islam.
While Saudi has sent the full force of its military to help in Bahrain and invade Yemen, the same
cannot be said for it sending the military to help the Rohingya Muslims.

Qatar – Like Saudi, Qatar is good at giving money to the Rohingya Muslims. It has pledged $50
million to help them in their plight.[33]The money they give, like Saudi, is distributed through the
United Nations. Many Muslims may think this is a huge amount of money that Qatar is giving,
but if you compare it to how much Qatar will spend on the World Cup 2022, it is pittance (Qatar
is estimated to spend $200 billion).[34] While the Qatari’s have funnelled arms to the rebels in
Syria in its quest for regional influence, no arms or military support has been forthcoming to the
Rohingya Muslims.
Indonesia – The world’s most populous Muslim nation has been changing their policy on the
Rohingya issue when it suits them. When Rohingya Muslims arrived on the shores and waters off
Indonesia, the Indonesian government told the military to push them back into the sea (Like
Bangladesh’s push back policy).[35]
When ordinary Muslims from Indonesia like the fishermen of Banda Aceh helped their fellow
Muslims by pulling in their boats to dry land,[36] and as international news coverage grew, this
forced the Indonesians to give refuge to the migrants from Burma for a year, but they didn’t help
those still at the sea.[37] Indonesia, like other Muslim countries in the region, is trying not to
make the Rohingya issue their issue.
Malaysia – Malaysia is a country that most Rohingya Muslims try to flee to, but it is also a death
trap for them. For months before this issue came to the fore there had been news of camps along
the Malaysian and Thailand border and human rights abuses.[38]
Ruthless people smugglers in conjunction with police and local politicians run these death trap
camps and make huge profits. The jungles of Malaysia near the Thailand border have now been
exposed of having mass graves of Rohingya migrants. [39] Many in these camps are raped, beaten,
tortured into calling relatives for ransom money. Many Muslim women are raped and violated by
these smugglers.[40]
In Malaysia, refugees do not have rights. Refugees are treated as illegal migrants and are open to
be abused, detained and tortured.[41] Like Indonesia, Malaysia said, after pressure, that they too
will house the Rohingya Muslims that made it a shore for one year, but after that it’s someone
else’s problem.
Gambia – A poor country in Africa has said it will take the Rohingya Muslims, this is more of
token of gesture than any real weight behind it.[42] The country has its own problems of poverty,
torture, human rights abuses etc. The Gambian people themselves flee Gambia to reach Europe
and are dying in the Mediterranean Sea for a better life. Why is the government of Gambia not
helping their own Muslim people?[43]
Pakistan – Pakistan has been very quiet on the issue of the Rohingya Muslims. They have just
released statements to raise concerns of their plight, but little else. [44]
They have expressed their desire for this issue to be solved by the International Community. The
question we should ask is why is Pakistan a country with a formidable army and one that has
nuclear weapons not helping the Muslims of Burma. Like the Turkish army, both have militaries
that could single handily solve the issue without lifting a rifle and ease the plight of their brothers
and sisters in Burma.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – Many of the Muslim countries listed, have used
this organisation to try solving the Rohingya problem. This organisation was founded in 1969
to “Safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace
and harmony.”[45]
It has 57 Muslim nations within it and it was created to divert the Ummah away from unifying
under one single Muslim leadership. All this organisation does is paying lip service to the United
Nations and just releases statements that serve no purpose and has no weight.

Muslim countries are still under occupation; and Muslims are still suffering at the hands of
tyrants and oppressors and many of them are members of the OIC themselves.

Other Responses to Rohingya Muslims Situation

Thailand – Thailand has a long border with Burma and is the second largest exporter to Burma
after China. In return, Thailand buys Burma’s gas and their relationship over the years has been
frosty to say the least. Like Malaysia, Thailand has been a place where Rohingya Muslims get
caught up in a living nightmare. Since 2012 Thailand has been a transit point for Rohingya
Muslims trying to get to Malaysia, and Thailand is the place where the dreaded jungle camps are
located. Only now the true horrors of what happened to the Rohingya Muslims in these vast
jungles is coming to the light.[46]
In recent months mass graves have been found of men, women, and children. These recent grave
finds are just the tip of the iceberg as many other such active camps exist in Thailand.

Heartless smugglers bring desperate Rohingya Muslims ashore to Thailand then keep them in
jungle camps where they are kept in bamboo cages, beaten, raped, given no food or water for
days. Then they are made to call relatives to get money out of them for the next leg of the journey.
[47] The sad irony is that the Thai army, police, and local authorities have been complicit in these
smuggling and human right abuses.[48] Only recently has the Thai government started taking
steps to address this issue.
Philippines – The Philippine Government in conjunction with the UNCHR has offered to take
Rohingya Muslim refugees and is making plans to do this.[49] Whether or not it does it is still to
be seen, but recent statements from the government seems they are unlikely to take Rohingya
Muslim refugees any time soon.[50]
UK – The UK has a long history with Burma, a country which the UK had occupied for decades.
After independence, Burma closed its doors to the world and its UK relationship came to a halt.
Only recently, as Burma comes out of the cold, is the UK trying to muscle back in. [51] David
Cameron was the first UK prime minister to visit Burma since its independence in 1948 and on
his visit he called for sanctions to be lifted.[52]
Then President Thien visited the UK in 2013. The UK is rushing to get into Burma the same way
the US is. UK exports to Burma increased by 239% between 2012 and 2013. While this was
starting from a very low base, there are currently 40 to 50 British companies estimated to have a
presence in Burma. The majority of these are professional services firms; such as lawyers,
accountants and consultants.[53]
Companies such as Standard Chartered Bank, JCB, Jaguar Land Rover, and Rolls Royce, all have
a presence in Burma.[54] Recent onshore and offshore license awards for energy have brought
success for a number of large and small British companies. [55] The UK has been known to train
military and police forces that have a track record of human rights abuses like RAB in
Bangladesh,[56] so it’s no surprise that it is training the same military that has oppressed the
Rohingya Muslims in Burma in the pursuit of normalising relations leading to economic
opportunities.[57]
USA – The US has played a key role in bringing Burma out from the cold. Like the UK, it has been
mute on the issue of Rohingya Muslim abuses and oppression, stopping short of condemning the
Burmese government. Its position has been of one of asking the Burmese government to improve
political and economic reforms.[58]
For many decades, sanctions were imposed on Burma, and only in recent years have relations
between the US and Burma warmed. One of the main motives for the US engagement in Burma is
to do with containing the rising influence of China in the region.[59]
On one hand the US wants to contain China, but on the other it sees the potential untapped
economic market to exploit. The US Embassy has launched over 20 public-private partnerships
with US and Burmese institutions of higher education, businesses and private foundations,
including Microsoft, Cisco, Gap Inc., Hewlett Packard, Proctor and Gamble, Johns Hopkins
University, and many more.[60]In February 2014, army officials from Burma participated in a
US-led military exercise in Thailand called “Cobra Gold,” the largest annual multinational
exercise in Asia.[61]
While the US is quick to rush and condemn the likes of Iran and North Korea about human rights
violations, it is walking on egg shells with Burma. In May 2015 the Deputy Secretary of State
Anthony J. Blinken visited Burma where he gave a press conference in which he revealed that US
policy on Burma will remain unchanged; they are willing to work with the government of Burma
even if there are serious concerns about human rights, corruption and other matters for the
foreseeable long term.[62]
Blinken in this press statement said “But right now there are significant remaining challenges, but at
the same time Myanmar has been on a path forward” he also said sanctions have been reduced in
relation to Burma.[63]
Following the easing of sanctions in 2012, US bilateral trade with Burma is increasing but still
remains small. In the first four months of 2013, U.S. exports were $92.6 million, dominated by
US exports of aircraft parts and vehicle exports. [64]
China – China is Burma’s closest ally and trading partner and has supported the Burmese state
since the 1950’s. Burma fits into China’s “One belt, One road” policy. [65] The Chinese have been
with Burma since it isolated itself from the world, but now cracks are appearing in this
relationship with the emergence of India and US. China over the years has been silent to the many
abuses, oppression, torture that has been taking place in Burma. If the Chinese are silent over the
treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang province in China, what chance is there that they will speak
out against the Burmese Muslim issue?
China sees Burma as a country where it can access natural resources, gain from trade, and get
access to key strategic sea ports and land points. Like in Africa and South America, the Chinese
invest and build heavily in Burma’s infrastructure that consists of roads, rail, and ports in return
for natural resources. By 2013, China has made a total of $14.1 billion investments across 52
projects in Burma.[66] In the first three quarters of 2007, the bilateral trade volume between
China and Burma reached $1.435 billion.[67] In 2011 the trade between the two countries reached
$4.4 billion.[68]
In the past, China has helped Burma with its UN veto.[69] For many years China and Burma have
maintained close military relations; China supplied Burma with military equipment and helped to
modernize its military, even during the sanctions imposed by the West. As of 2014 Burma spent
23.2 percent of its national budget on military spending, the highest in the region. [70]
In March 2013 Burma’s military was granted a $2.4 billion annual budget, just over 12 percent of
total government spending in the poverty-stricken country. They will invest about $1.25 billion
buying aircraft, and weapons mainly from China. [71] They have been buying from the Chinese
since the 1990’s. The cracks in the relationship widened when President Thein stopped a Chinese-
backed $3.7 billion hydropower dam project in 2011 in response to local opposition. The project
would have supplied electricity to China.[72] In 2015 things got worse after the Burmese military
bombed and killed civilians in China after skirmishes with ethnic Chinese rebels on the Burma
and China border.[73]
For the Rohingya Muslims, the gas pipeline in Arakan state called the Shwe Gas Project is not a
blessing. Despite the pipeline going right through their state they reap no benefits. The Chinese
helped construct it in 2010. The project consists of two pipelines, approximately 1,000 kilometres
long, which will carry Burmese natural gas and imported crude oil across Burma to China. [74] The
pipeline also comes with a special economic zone being set up in the Arakan state. The gas line
became operational in 2013 and the oil line in 2014. This gas and oil line has resulted in people
losing land as well as their fishing waters around this facility.[75] This pipeline only seeks to
benefit the Chinese and Burmese governments at the expense of the Arakan people.
India – India in recent years has been spreading its wings in the region from Bangladesh to
Burma. Its foreign policy is based on its “Act East” policy, changed by Modi when it was before
“Look East,” and Burma is an important part of its foreign policy. India’s relationship with Burma
goes back many decades and they have historical, cultural and religious connections. A key part
to India’s “Act East” policy is to rival China’s rise in the region as an economic powerhouse.
In the Arakan state, India is helping Burma build a seaport to link with them for transport and
trade purposes. The work started in 2010 and will be completed in 2015, and the Indian
government is footing the bill, estimated at $214 million.[76] This project has negatively affected
Muslims and Non-Muslims in the Arakan state socially and environmentally.
India has given several loans to Burma over the years. In 2012 $500 million was given, and
Indian companies such as Essar, GAIL, and ONGC Videsh Ltd, have invested in Burma’s energy
sector. Tata Motors has set up a heavy turbo-truck assembly plant with financial assistance from
the Indian Government. Bilateral trade has grown from $12.4 million in 1980-81 to $2.18 billion
in 2013-14.[77] All this increase in political and economic co-operation is starting to shake the
Chinese dragon.
In the past, Indian relations with the Junta regime were not so friendly and relations soured until
recently when India realised it had to forgo its ethics and stance on democracy in pursuit over
economic interests.[78] Like the US and the UK, it has sensed an opportunity with China’s
relationship cracks showing.
Modi of India and Xi of China do have one thing in common which is their deafening silence on
the plight of the Rohingya Muslims.[79]
North Korea – North Korea and Burma are becoming close partners. Over the years North Korea
has helped Burma militarily with help constructing facilities, with training, and weapons. [80] At
times the relationship has been edgy (Like the Rangoon bombing where there was an attempted
assassination on the South Korean president by North Korea in 1983 in Burma [81]).
The relationship between the two countries resumed in 2007 and at one point both countries
were closer than ever in their isolation of the world. The situation has since changed with Burma
now engaging with the world whilst North Korea still remains isolated. America has been able to
pull Burma away from North Korean influence, rewarding it with lifting sanctions and
reconnection to the world. It is now pressuring the Burmese government to cut ties with North
Korea completely.[82]

Conclusions
The situation the Rohingya Muslims find themselves in has become complex as regional and
international players pursue their interests in the region. This is similar to “The Great Game” of
1813 where Great Britain and Russia played out against each other for supremacy in Central Asia;
Muslim countries like Afghanistan were caught up in this. The same is true with the Rohingya
Muslims in regards to Burma where they find themselves caught up in the political manoeuvring
of countries like China, USA, UK, and India all competing for regional dominance and influence.

As Burma comes out of the cold and reconnects with the outside world, countries are clamouring
to reap the benefits from this and gain new partnerships with Burma. It is in these times that the
Rohingya Muslims have become the scapegoats and left in the middle with no one to look after
their affairs. China is the still the main partner in Burma at present but as time goes by the
relationship will be tested as Burma’s government has never been loyal to anyone and will work
with anyone to pursue their interests. This is where the USA will in the coming months and years
seek to exploit and gain favour with Burma. The Chinese have much to lose with this developing
situation and they won’t give up easily as they have so much investment embedded in Burma and
its borders. If relations do sour, the Chinese can create instability in Burma through economic
measures or political (using ethnic Chinese rebels on the Burmese and Chinese Border).

As Burma opens up to the world and money pours in, this will further exacerbate the situation
where corruption is already rife and will make it more worse (like Vietnam after communism),
and the real losers will the average persons on the streets of Burma. The help and solution for the
Rohingya Muslims will not be coming from the West or the poster girl for democracy as they have
their aims and interests. In fact in the coming months, with the elections on the horizon, the
plight and situation of the Rohingya Muslims will worsen as each group stirs up anti-Muslim
rhetoric to position themselves with an electorate. The Rohingya Muslims are easy scapegoats
instead of political and military corruption and mismanagement by the government.

The elections in Burma will be close, and the outcome will likely be a partnership government of
Aung San Suu Kyi and the successor to President Thein. Even after the elections, the plight of the
Rohingya Muslims will not be solved as both parties seem determined to push ahead with their
policies against the Rohingya Muslims. Help and solutions will not be forthcoming from the
Muslim countries as they are fixed to their artificial borders and to their shallow minded national
interests.

The elder Rohingya Muslims may have stuck to hope of a political solution, but the younger part
of the population that is growing every day may not want the political solution as their elders did
and they may look to the gun as a solution.

The fermenting of violence as a solution could be done in countries like Bangladesh, Malaysia,
and Indonesia where vast numbers of Rohingya Muslims reside and live in dire conditions, and
these countries already have well known Jihadi groups operating within them.

It’s a real shame because the Muslim countries in the region could easily deal with Burma
militarily. They have the manpower and military equipment to do so, yet they are in their
barracks. The Rohingya Muslims need a political voice and a state where their plight would be
taken on and where concrete steps would be taken to protect them and put an end to their
suffering.

The Rohingya Muslims can gain some comfort in knowing that even though the rulers of the
Muslim world may have turned their backs on them, the same cannot be said about this noble
Ummah. The Ummah has started to help them in any many ways, physically by aid and shelter
and by raising awareness of their situation.

We make dua to Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬that the rest of the year and the future bring better times for our
oppressed Ummah in Burma, and that Allah ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬lowers His ‫ سبحانه وتعالى‬Mercy on them and
changes their situation from one of fear to one of safety and security.

Amad Uddin
9 Dhu al-Hijjah 1436 AH

September 23, 2015 CE

Rohingya women, children being
massacred by Myanmar troops’
Rohingya children and women fleeing persecution against Rohingya Muslims living in the Rakhine State of Myanmar enter
Bangladesh through unguarded border points. Here they are seen waiting at Waikong union in Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar on
Sunday, September 4, 2017. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Star Online Report

Rohingya children and women are being massacred, burnt alive and are fleeing their homes as reports of renewed
persecution against Rohingya Muslims living in the Rakhine State of Myanmar dominates international and local
media.

International news portals such as Independent, Telegraph and ABC have run reports citing eyewitnesses saying fears of mass
atrocities against Rohingya civilians in Myanmar were growing after eyewitness accounts emerged of children being beheaded
and people burned alive.

News portal Independent reports, activist groups have accused the Burmese army of burning down villages and shooting
Rohingya Muslim civilians as part of a crackdown on insurgents in Rakhine state.

Nearly 90,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh since violence erupted in Myanmar in August, pressuring scarce resources
of aid agencies and communities already helping hundreds of thousands of refugees from previous spasms of violence in
Myanmar.

"So far reports — I think quite credible — mention about 130 people including women and children killed," ABC news
reports Chris Lewa, director of The Arakan Project which works with Rohingya communities, as saying.

On Friday Bangkok-based rights group Fortify Rights published harrowing eye-witness accounts from Rohingya who escaped
the village of Chut Pyin in Rathedaung township, reports Telegraph.co.uk.

The rights group claimed around 200 Rohingya men, women and children had been killed by Myanmar's security forces and
local ethnic-Rakhine villagers.

Soldiers reportedly arrested a large group of Rohingya men, marched them into a nearby bamboo hut, and set it on fire,
burning them to death, the group was quoted as saying by Telegraph.co.uk.

Human rights body Fortify Rights interviewed 24 survivors and eyewitnesses of attacks in the last week from 17 villages in
the three townships of northern Rakhine State—Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathedaung. Survivors and eyewitnesses
described mass killings and arson attacks by the Myanmar Army, Myanmar Police Force, Lon Tein (“security guards”) riot
police, and local armed-civilians.

Armed residents from a nearby village working in concert with the Myanmar Army, killing Rohingya civilians, the human
rights body said in a press release issued on September 1 quoting Sultan Ahmed, a 27-year-old survivor from Chut Pyin
village, who witnessed the atrocity.

“Some people were beheaded, and many were cut. We were in the house hiding when [armed residents from a neighboring
village] were beheading people. When we saw that, we just ran out the back of the house,” he told Fortify Rights.

"My brother was killed—[Myanmar Army soldiers] burned him with the group. We found [my other family members] in the
fields. They had marks on their bodies from bullets and some had cuts. My two nephews, their heads were off. One was six-
years old and the other was nine-years old. My sister-in-law was shot with a gun,” “Abdul Rahman,” a 41-year-old survivor of
the attacks on Chut Pyin village told Fortify Rights.
Misframed facts, prejudiced
responses
"The stark reality that members of Rohingya community face in northern Arakan today obligates all countries including
Bangladesh to allow those fleeing persecution to enter their territories." Photo: Anisur Rahman

C R Abrar

Rohingyas of northern Arakan are facing yet another round of armed atrocities. Not only are they at the receiving end of
indiscriminate use of bullets, bayonets and firing from helicopter gunships; their homes, hearths, livestock, crops and
businesses are being consumed by bellowing fire deliberately lit by the Burmese security forces and their Rakhine cohorts.
Satellite images validate witness accounts and provide correlation with some reported incidents where residences have
allegedly been deliberately torched. The carnage follows a series of coordinated attacks by ethnic Rohingya militants on
August 25, 2017 against 25 security posts.

The attack of the Rohingya militant group has been condemned by many states (USA, France, UK and India included) as an
effort to “undermine” implementation of Kofi Annan's peace and mediation initiatives. Implicit in the denunciation is that
Annan Commission's report in all likelihood would contribute to addressing the Rohingya question and the militants have
thwarted a golden opportunity for peace (and subsequently, prosperity) to return to the Arakan region. In addition, the militants
are being portrayed as armed religious bigots bent on turning Arakan into an independent Islamic state. The recent Bangladesh
proposal to Burma to conduct a joint operation has raised questions as to whether Bangladesh also subscribes to this dominant
narrative.

This storyline, brilliantly crafted, presumably by the Burmese intelligence agencies, has worked as a diversionary tactic as it
shifted the blame for events that are unfolding in the northern Arakan region on the militants. The facts are markedly
different.

The Burmese army through its nominated military MPs along with former ruling party USDP and Rakhine nationalist Arakan
National Party tried their best to scuttle the establishment of Annan Commission. They did not succeed but continued their
moves to undermine the initiative. Ma Ba Tha, the virulent anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim Buddhist monk, severely opposed
the Commission and was instrumental in garnering public opinion against it. The Burmese military commander's Facebook
post after his meeting with Kofi Annan in the morning of the day of the Final Report's release made it clear he did not agree
with its findings. Therefore, there is every reason to believe that powerful forces within the Burmese establishment opposed
the Annan Commission and it was they who prepared the blueprint to provoke Rohingya militants to act.

Again, facts speak for themselves. Weeks before Annan Commission released its final report, the Burmese high command was
busy shoring up the Light Infantry Division 33, "notorious for its merciless and indiscriminate killings of civilians in any
urban unrest" to the Arakan region. The military had also trained and armed anti-Rohingya Rakhine villagers in firearms and
fighting, blockading the predominantly Rohingya region of north Arakan from accessing food and jobs, and spreading fears of
attacks on the INGOs and UN agencies providing humanitarian support. In fact, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of
Human Rights in Burma raised the alarm as early as August 10, expressing her concerns about beefing up of security
apparatus in Arakan and calling on the security forces to be restrained and respectful to human rights. There is little scope to
disregard the claims made by the leader of the Arakan Salvation Army that the attack on the police barracks was essentially an
act of "self defence" as they were left with no other option.

The misframing of Rohingya militants as "Jihadists" is also a ploy to favour the Burmese perpetrators. Such framing with a
religious fervour is to render Rohingya militants as the dreaded and hated ISIS fighters. There is little evidence that these
militants are imbibed in extremist interpretations of Islam. From their statements it is clear that they no longer wish to
continue in ghetto-like conditions that they have been subjected to for generations without any identity and future, and what
they simply want is “equality before the law, freedom to live in peace, freedom to move about so that they can work, earn a
living and feed their children, recognition that they are citizens and they belong in Burma, not in Bangladesh”. They have
made it amply clear that their goals “are not creating an Islamic state in the predominant Buddhist country, nor independence
from Burma”. Are not those aspirations reasonable and legitimate?

Calling the militants an organised force is also a clever ploy. It provides the rationale for the Burmese army to mete out
excessive use of force. The fact is "these militants are armed with most primitive machetes and farm tools, equipped with
some mobile phones and use of the most primitive type of explosives". There has not been an iota of evidence furnished by
quarters including the high-tech western intelligence agencies to support the claims that these militants are receiving AK-47s
and Arab money. The mainstream media only cites "un-named intelligence sources"—whatever that means.

Thus for any discerning observer it is not the militants that have waged the war; it is a war that both the Burmese army and
Suu Kyi's government “are waging against the Rohingyas to further demonise and criminalise them while maintaining the
ghettoised conditions on the ground for more than one million Rohingyas”. As the Buddhist Burmese scholar and activist
Maung Zarni, a specialist on Rohingyas, reminds us “These Rohingya men, primitively armed, are not fighting to go to heaven
as martyrs, they are fighting back because they and their communities are sitting ducks awaiting the next round of slaughter”.
It is naïve to view that laws of the land should always be respected as sacrosanct and violence in all forms should be shunned.
When the State systematically abuses its authority, represses its own people and engages in excessive violence, the laws lose
their sanctity and people are freed from such compulsion. In fact, the onus lies on the people to challenge the State and under
such circumstances any form of resistance, including resorting to violence, is legitimate. Bangladesh's own armed struggle is a
fitting testimony.

The stark reality that members of Rohingya community face in northern Arakan today obligates all countries including
Bangladesh to allow those fleeing persecution to enter their territories. All should respect and honour international customary
law and the principle of non-refoulement and thus refrain from rejecting asylum seekers from their borders. The Bangladesh
government should immediately rescind the offer of joint collaboration with the Burmese government. Such a move will only
amount to Bangladesh being an abettor of the acts of a State that is engaged in ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity,
and in all likelihood, of genocide. Surely, the people of Bangladesh, proud survivors of the 1971 genocide, champions of self-
determination and freedom against oppression, do not deserve to be labelled as such.
Activists reject Myanmar's new
Rakhine body as Annan visits
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan (C), head of a nine-member multi-sector advisory commission on Myanmar's Rakhine
State, walks across the compound of the Myanmar Peace Center for a meeting with Rakhine and Muslim representatives in
Yangon on December 1, 2016. Photo: AFP

AFP, Yangon

A new body set up by Myanmar's government to investigate allegations of rights abuses against Rohingya in Rakhine lacks
credibility, activists said Friday, as former UN chief Kofi Annan began a visit to the troubled state.

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has faced a growing international backlash for failing to probe claims the army
is carrying out ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority.

But rights groups rejected the new 13-member commission as toothless, noting it includes no Muslims and is led by Vice
President Myint Swe, a retired army general formerly blacklisted by the United States.

A close ally of former junta leader Than Shwe, Myint Swe was head of special operations in Yangon when the military
government ordered a bloody crackdown on the monk-led protests of the Saffron Revolution in 2007.

"We've got little faith in another homegrown commission, particularly if it's headed by a military man," said Matthew Smith,
chief executive of Fortify Rights.

"This new commission won't be capable of conducting a credible human rights investigation, and it certainly lacks
independence. The time for an independent international investigation is now."

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Asia, said the new commission "doesn't look like it's independent
or impartial".

Suu Kyi's office said the new commission would investigate the raids on police border posts on October 9 that sparked the
deadly military lockdown as well as "international accusations" of army abuses.

It is the second body created by Suu Kyi to try to heal the religious divide that has split Rakhine state since deadly sectarian
unrest killed more than 100 people in 2012.

In August she appointed fellow Nobel laureate Annan to head a separate body, which Buddhist nationalists have bitterly
denounced as foreign meddling.

Oo Hla Saw, a senior politician from the Arakan National Party, said "the new commission will do nothing different".

"I don't have much hope for it," he told AFP.

Privately some Muslim leaders in Myanmar also said they were concerned their voices would not be represented, but asked
not to be quoted for fear of reprisals.

More than 10,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks, the United Nations said on Wednesday, fleeing a bloody
army crackdown in the north of Rakhine state.

Arrivals in Bangladesh have told AFP horrifying stories of gang rape, torture and murder at the hands of Myanmar's security
forces.

Myanmar has denied allegations of abuse, but has also banned foreign journalists and independent investigators from
accessing the area.

On Friday, former UN chief Annan was greeted by protesters holding signs reading "Ban the Kofi Annan commission" as he
touched down in Sittwe airport on his first trip to Rakhine since the crisis erupted.

Commission member Aye Lwin told AFP the trip was for "gathering facts... we won't be giving any conclusion".

রমধাঘল রথেরক হবটিশ, সকরধাহিধা হিয়হন ররধাহহিঙধা ইসকতর

০৭ রসরপ্টেম্বর, ২০১৭

আরর্ন্ত জজাততিক ডডেস

রমধাগল আমল রথেরক হবটিশ শধাসনধামল। এরপর হময়ধানমধাররর সধাধসীনতধা লধাভ। চরল আসরছি সধামহরক জধানধার ছিহড়
রঘধারধারনধা। তবকও রকধারনধা সকরধাহিধা হিয়হন, রদশটির রধাখধাইন প্ররদরশর ররধাহহিঙধা ইসকতর। অততধাচধার ও হনপসীড়নই রযন,
ররধাহহিঙধারদর হনয়হত।

হময়ধানমধাররর পহশ্চিমধাঞ্চলসীয় রধাজত রধাখধাইন। যধার আরগর নধাম, আরধাকধান। পহরহচহত হছিরলধা, ররধাসধাব নধারমও। এখধারনই
বসবধাস, ররধাহহিঙধা মকসলমধানরদর।

হখ্রিস্টেপহূবর্ষ ১৫০০ বছির আরগ রধাখধাইরন প্রথেম বসহত গধারড়, অহস্ট্রিক জধাহতর শধাখধা, কুরুখ নতরগধাষসী। এরপর বধাঙধাহল হহিন্দক,
ধমর্ষধানহরত মকসহলম, পধাহসর্ষয়ধান, তক হকর্ষ , রমধাগল, আরবসীয় ও পধাঠধানরধা বরঙধাপসধাগররর উপকূরল বসহত স্থধাপন করর। এসব
নতরগধাষসীর শবকর জধাতরতই বলধা হিরচ, ররধাহহিঙধা।

অস্টেম শতধাবসীরত আরবরধা এরল, রধাখধাইনরদর মরধত ইসলধারমর হবসত হত ঘরট। এই মকসহলম জনরগধাষসীই পরর, ররধাহহিঙধা নধাম
রনয়।

১৬৬০ সধারল, আরধাকধান রধাজধা সধান্দথেকধম্মধা রমধাগল শধাহিজধাদধা সকজধারক সপহরবধারর হিততধা কররন। ওই সময় রথেরকই মহূলতনঃ,
ররধাহহিঙধারদর ওপর হনযর্ষধাতন শুরু হিয়।

১৭৮০ সধারল, রঘধার মকসহলমহবরদ্বেরসী বমর রধাজধা রবধাধধারপধায়ধা, আরধাকধান দখরল রনন। তরব ১৮২৮ সধারল বধামর্ষধা ইবররজরদর
দখরল রগরল, অবস্থধার পহরবতর্ষ ন হিয়। তরব ১৯৩৭ সধারলর পর বধামর্ষধা সধায়ত্তশধাসন রপরল, সধাম্প্রদধাহয়ক দধাঙধা বতধাপক রূপ
রনয়।
১৯৪৮ সধারল সধাধসীন হিয়, হময়ধানমধার। হকন, মকসলমধানরদর ভধারগতর রকধান পহরবতর্ষ ন হিয়হন।

১৯৮২ সধারল সধামহরক জধানধা সরকধার, রদশটিরত করধা নধাগহরকত আইরনর ফিরল নধাগহরকত বহঞ্চত হিন, ররধাহহিঙধারধা।

১৯৮৯-রত আরধাকধান রধারজতর নধাম বদরল, রধাখধাইন করধা হিয়। একই সময় রদরশর নধাম বধামর্ষধা রথেরক পহরবহতর্ষ ত হিয়,
হময়ধানমধারর।

১৯৯৪ সধারল হময়ধানমধাররর এক স্থধানসীয় আইন বরল, ররধাহহিঙধারদর দক’টির রবহশ সনধান রনয়ধা হনহরদ হিরয় যধায়।

২০১৩ সধারল হময়ধানমধার সরকধার সসীকত ত ১৩৫টি জধাহতরগধাষসীর মরধত স্থধান হিয়হন, ররধাহহিঙধারদর। পররর বছির
আদমশুমধাহর রথেরক বধাইরর রধাখধা হিয়, ররধাহহিঙধারদর। তধারধা এখরনধা বহঞ্চত হশকধা, সধারস্থতর মরতধা রমবৌহলক অহধকধার
রথেরক।

জধাহতসবরঘর তথেত মরত, বতর্ষ মধান হবরশর সবরচরয় হনযর্ষধাহতত ও রধাষ্ট্রহবহিসীন জধাহতরগধাষসী, ররধাহহিঙধারধা। তধারদর
জধাহতগতভধারব হনমহূর্ষরল হনযর্ষধাতন অবতধাহিত রররখরছি, রদশটির রসনধাবধাহহিনসী।
গুহলহবদ ররধাহহিঙধারধা বলরছিন হবভৎসতধার কথেধা
০৭ রসরপ্টেম্বর, ২০১৭
চট্টগজাম প্রততিতনিতধ
শত শত বছির ধরর হময়ধানমধাররর রধাখধাইরন বসবধাস করর আসহছিরলন ররধাহহিঙধা জনরগধাহষ ও তধারদর পহূবর্ষপকরুররধা। তধাই
তধারধা রকধারনধাভধারবই বধাঙধাহল নন। হকন রকবল চট্টগধারমর সরঙ আঞ্চহলক ভধারধাগত হমল থেধাকধার কধাররণই, তধারদর
বধাঙধাহল বরল হমথেতধা অপবধাদ হদরচ হময়ধানমধার।

এ অপবধাদ হদরয় তধারদর হনধরন রনরমরছি রস রদরশর রসনধাবধাহহিনসী। এমনটধাই জধানধান চট্টগধাম রমহডকতধাল করলজ
হিধাসপধাতধারল হচহকৎসধাধসীন গুহলহবদ ররধাহহিঙধারধা।

ররধাহহিঙধারধা জধানধান, হনহবর্ষচধারর পধাহখর মত গুহল করর হিততধা করধা হিরচ তধারদর। এ পযর্ষন প্রধায় ৬০ জন গুহলহবদ অবস্থধায়
হিধাসপধাতধারল ভহতর্ষ হিরয়রছিন।

হনপসীহড়ত ররধাহহিঙধারধা বলহছিরলন, চট্টগধারমর সরঙ আঞ্চহলক ভধারধাগত হমল থেধাকধায় বধাঙধাহল বরল অপবধাদ হদরয়, তধারদর
ওপর হনমর্ষম অততধাচধার চধালধারচ হময়ধানমধার রসনধাবধাহহিনসী।

হভরটমধাটি রথেরক উরচরদ জধাহলরয় রদয়ধা হিরচ ঘরবধাহড়। হপ্রয়জন ও সহিধায় সম্বল হিধারধারনধা এসব ররধাহহিঙধার আতর্ষ নধাদ নধাড়ধা
রদয় হবরবকবধান মধানকররক।

তপশধাহচক এমন ঘটনধার হনন্দধা জধাহনরয়রছি, বধাবলধারদরশর রববৌদ সম্প্রদধারয়র রনতধারধা।

আনজর্ষধাহতক সমসতধা হিরলও সসীমধানবতর রদশ হিওয়ধায় ররধাহহিঙধা ইসকতরত সরবরচরয় রবহশ ভক করভধাগসী বধাবলধারদশ।

তধাই সবকট সমধাধধারন জধাহতসবঘসহি হবশবধাসসীরক রজধারধারলধা ভহূ হমকধা রধাখধার দধাহব জধাহনরয় আসরছি ঢধাকধা।
রকমন কধাটল ওরদর ঈদটধা ? কুতক পলব, রলডধা বধা নয়ধাপধাড়ধায় ররধাহহিঙধারদর বহসরত হক আরদবৌ উদযধাহপত হিরয়রছি ইদকরজ্জধাহিধা
? কক্সবধাজধার রথেরক রয রধাসধাটধা কুতক পলব হিরয় রটকনধাফি পযর্ষন চরল হগরয়রছি, রসখধারনই এরকর পর এক ররধাহহিঙধারদর
শরণধাথের হশহবর। গত হডরসম্বরর রসখধারনই হগরয়হছিলধাম ররধাহহিঙধা মহহিলধারদর জসীবরনর বধাররধামধাসতধা জধানরত। এবধার ঈরদর
আরগ তধাই জধানরত ইরচ হিহচল ররধাহহিঙধা শরণধাথের হশহবররর অবস্থধা। হকন গত হডরসম্বররর রথেরক এখন পহরহস্থহত আরও
ভয়ধাবহি। হময়ধানমধাররর রধাখধাইন প্ররদরশ রস রদরশর রসনধাবধাহহিনসীর সরঙ ররধাহহিঙধা জহঙরদর সবঘরর্ষ শুরু হিওয়ধার পরর
রগধাটধা পহরহস্থহতটধাই হনয়ন্ত্ররণর বধাইরর চরল হগরয়রছি।

হময়ধানমধাররর রসনধাবধাহহিনসীর দধাহব অনকযধায়সী এখনও পযর্ষন সবঘররর্ষ ৪০০ জন ‘ররধাহহিঙধা জহঙ’র মততকত হিরয়রছি। আর বতরটরন
প্রবধাসসী ররধাহহিঙধারধা দধাহব কররছিন, আসরল সবখতধাটধা এক হিধাজধারররও রবহশ। ররধাজই হময়ধানমধার রছিরড় বধাবলধারদরশ পধাহলরয়
আসধার রচষধা কররছিন ররধাহহিঙধা নধারসী -পকরুররধা। আর রয ধররনর হডহঙরত অশধান সমকদ এবব দকসর নধাফি নদসী রপহররয়
ররধাহহিঙধা শরণধাথেররধা বধাবলধারদরশ রঢধাকধার রচষধা কররছিন, তধা ‘ব øুক রহিধারয়ল ‘ রগরমর চধাইরতও রঢর হবপজ্জনক। অতএব,
নধাফি নদসীরত রনবৌকধাডক হব হিরয় শরণধাথেররদর মততকতও ঘটরছি প্রধায় প্রহতহদন। এ পযর্ষন নদসীরত লধাশ হিরয়রছি ৬০-এর রবহশ
ররধাহহিঙধা। এই যখন পহরহস্থহত, তখন রকধাথেধায় ঈদ, আর রকধাথেধায় খকহশর উদযধাপন ! রধাখধাইরন যখন আগুন জলরছি,
রটকনধারফি যখন রভরস উঠরছি লধারশর পর লধাশ, আহম তখন ঘকরর রবড়ধাহচ দহকণ -পহূবর্ষ এহশয়ধার রসই সব রদরশ, রযখধারন
মকসলমধানরধাই সবখতধাগুরু। রযমন মধালরয়হশয়ধা। আগরস্টের রশর সনধারহি কুয়ধালধালধামপকর বধা নতক ন রধাজধধানসী পকতজধায়ধায়
আহম যখন চকর মধারহছি, তখন রকধাথেধাও রদখলধাম নধা প্রহতরবশসী হময়ধানমধারর ররধাহহিঙধারদর ওপর অততধাচধার হনরয়
মধালরয়হশয়ধা সরকধার বধা আম -জনতধার রকধানও মধাথেধাবতথেধা আরছি !

বরব ঝকঝরক -তকতরক কুয়ধালধালধামপকর বতস ‘মধাররডকধা ‘ উদযধাপন হনরয়। ‘মধাররডকধা ‘ মধারন মধালরয়হশয়ধার
সধাধসীনতধা হদবস, যধা হছিল ৩১ আগস্টে। আর তধার পররই ঈদ। রধাসধার রমধারড় রমধারড়, বরড়ধা বরড়ধা শহপব মরলর মধাথেধায়
‘মধাররডকধা ‘ হনরয় রহিধাহডর্ষব, অহভনন্দন জধাহনরয় হবজধাপন। রবশ হকছিক রহিধাহডর্ষবরয় মধালরয়হশয়ধার প্রধধানমন্ত্রসী নধাহজব
রধাজ্জধারকর ছিহব। খকব অবধাক হিরয়হছিলধাম, এই মধালরয়হশয়ধা -ই নধা মকসহলম হবরশর রনতত ত হদরত চধায় ! এই মধালরয়হশয়ধার
প্রধধানমন্ত্রসী নধাহজব রধাজ্জধাকই নধা গত জধানকয়ধাহররত উরদতধাগসী হিরয় ওআইহস বধা অগর্ষধানধাইরজশন অব ইসলধাহমক কধাহন্ট্রিজ -এ
প্রসধাব পধাশ কহররয়হছিরলন হময়ধানমধাররক সবযত করধারনধার জনত ? এবধার তধা হিরল উৎসরবর কুয়ধালধালধামপকর পকররধাপকহর
ভক রল রগল তধার হনরজর ধরমর্ষর করয়ক লক মধানকর হময়ধানমধারর কসী পহরহস্থহতরত বধাস কররছি ?

রকন ররধাহহিঙধা প্রশ তক রল ওআইহস আরগর মরতধা চধাপ হদরচ নধা । সমধাবত কধারণ হিরত পধারর, এবধার আর ঘটনধাটধা
হময়ধানমধার রসনধাবধাহহিনসী বনধাম ‘ররধাহহিঙধা জহঙ’রদর সবঘররর্ষ আটরক রনই। দহকণ এহশয়ধার অহধকধাবশ পযর্ষরবককই মরন
কররন আসরল এবধার রযটধা হিরচ, রসটধা ‘গণহিততধা ‘ই।

জধাহতসবরঘর প্রহতহনহধ ইয়ধাবহঘ হল রমধাটধামকটি একই কথেধা সসীকধার করর হনরয়রছিন। অথের্ষধাৎ হময়ধানমধার রসনধাবধাহহিনসী এবধার
আর ররধাহহিঙধা জহঙরদর হিততধা এবব সধাধধারণ ররধাহহিঙধারদর ‘রখদধারনধা ‘র তরত্ত¡ হনরজরদর আটরক রধাখরছি নধা। তধার বদরল
রধাখধাইরনর ১৪ লক ররধাহহিঙধারক এরকবধারর সমহূরল উৎপধাটিত করর রফিরল হদরত চধাইরছি। মধানবধাহধকধাররর ভধারধায় যধারক
বরল, ‘এথেহনক হকনহজব ‘। ঠিক রযমনটধা হিরয়হছিল সধাহবর্ষয়ধা হকববধা করসধারভধায়। একটধা প্রচহলত প্রবধাদ ররয়রছি নধা, ‘নধা
ররহিগধা বধাপাঁশ নধা বধারজহগ বধাপাঁশুহর ‘। হময়ধানমধারর যহদ আর ররধাহহিঙধারধাই নধা থেধারক, তধা হিরল আর ররধাহহিঙধারদর
মধানবধাহধকধাররর দধাহব হনরয় হময়ধানমধাররক এত সমধারলধাচনধার মকরখ পড়রত হিরব নধা। আনজর্ষধাহতক জনমতও হময়ধানমধাররর
হবরুরদ বধার বধার সরব হিরব নধা। তধাই ররধাহহিঙধারদর হবরুরদ এরকবধারর ‘গণহিততধা ‘র সধামহরক রকবৌশল হনরয় এরগধারচ
হময়ধানমধার সরকধার। অথেচ এমনটধা রয হিরত পধারর রসটধাই হকন গত বছির হচঠি হলরখ বরলহছিরলন মধালধালধা ইউসকফিজধাই
বধা রডসমন্ড টক টক র মরতধা অরনক রনধারবল পকরসধার হবজয়সী। জধাহতসবরঘর হনরধাপত্তধা পহররদরক রলখধা তধারদর রখধালধা
হচঠিরত মধালধালধা বধা রডসমন্ড টক টক পহরষধারই বরলহছিরলন, হময়ধানমধাররর পহরহস্থহত নধা সধামলধারল রসখধারনও ররধায়ধান্ডধা,
দধাফিকর্ষ র, বসহনয়ধা বধা করসধারভধার মরতধা রসখধারনও ‘গণহিততধা ‘ অবধধাহরত। সধাম্প্রহতককধারল রয গণহিততধার ঘটনধাগুরলধা
মধানব -সভততধার জনত লজ্জধা, হময়ধানমধারও রয রসই পরথে হিধাপাঁটরছি, রসই হবররয়ও সতকর্ষ করর হদরয়হছিরলন তধারধা। হকন
আশ্চিরযর্ষর হবরয় তধারত হবন্দকমধাত ভ্রুরকপ হিয়হন হময়ধানমধার প্রশধাসরনর। এবব সবধাইরক হবহস্মত করর এরকবধারর চক পচধাপ
রথেরক হময়ধানমধাররর রসনধাবধাহহিনসীর পধারশই দধাপাঁহড়রয় ররয়রছিন অব সধান সক হচ।

শধাহনর জনতই, হিতধাপাঁ শধাহনর জরনত ১৯৯১ সধারল হময়ধানমধাররর রয রনতসী রনধারবল শধাহন পকরসধার রপরয়হছিরলন। রসই সক হচ র
দলই এখন হময়ধানমধারর কমতধায়। পধাহরবধাহরক কধাররণ সক হচ হনরজ প্রধধানমন্ত্রসী হিরত পধাররনহন। হকন পররধাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রসী
হহিরসরব হতহনই সরকধাররর মকখ এবব চধাহলকধাশহকও বরট। হকন রধাখধাইন প্ররদরশর এই ররধাহহিঙধা হনধন হনরয় হতহন এখনও
টক শবটিও কররনহন। বরব সক হচর দল এবব তধার সমথের্ষকরধা কমতধা ধরর রধাখধার সধারথের্ষ রসনধাবধাহহিনসীর যধাবতসীয়
আচরণরক সমথের্ষনই করর চরলরছিন। হময়ধানমধাররর প্রধধান শহির ইয়ধাঙন (ররঙকন ) বধা নতক ন রধাজধধানসী রনফিধাঈরদ সক হচ -র
সমথের্ষকরধা ররধাহহিঙধা জহঙরদর খতম কররত হিরব বরল ইহতমরধতই হবরকধাভও রদহখরয়রছিন। সক হচ হকববধা হময়ধানমধার
সরকধাররর যকহক হিররধা, ররধাহহিঙধা সন্ত্রধাসবধাদসীরদর হিধামলধার পহররপ্রহকরতই রসনধাবধাহহিনসী পধালধা অহভযধান চধালধারত বধাধত হিয়।
ইয়ধাঙরনর এই যকহকরক তবধতধা হদরতই সক হচ সমথের্ষকরধা রধাসধায় রনরম ‘ররধাহহিঙধা সন্ত্রধাসবধাদ ‘-এর হবরুরদ রসনধাবধাহহিনসীর
অহভযধানরক সমথের্ষন করররছিন। হময়ধানমধার সরকধার, সক হচ এবব রস রদরশর সবখতধাগহরষ রববৌদরধা রয তথেতটিরক
ধধামধাচধাপধা হদরত চধাইরছিন, ররধাহহিঙধারদর মরধত রয জহঙবধারদর হদরক রঝধাপাঁক বধাড়রব, রসই হবররয় হকন করয়ক মধাস আরগই
সবধাইরক সতকর্ষ করর হদরয়হছিরলন জধাহতসবরঘর প্রধাকন মহিধাসহচব কহফি আনধান।

গত বছিররর সবঘররর্ষর পরর কহফি আনধানরক মধাথেধায় রররখ রয রধাখধাইন অতধাডভধাইসহর কহমশন ততহর হিরয়হছিল, তধারধা
পহরষধারই বরলহছিল, ররধাহহিঙধারদর যহদ নহূতনতম নধাগহরক সকরযধাগ-সকহবধধা নধা রদওয়ধা হিয়, এবব হময়ধানমধার রসনধাবধাহহিনসী
দমনপসীড়ন চধাহলরয় যধায়, তরব ররধাহহিঙধা তরুণরদর একটধা বরড়ধা অবশ জহঙবধারদর হদরক ঝকপাঁ করব। ২০১৬ -র রককয়সী
সবঘররর্ষর পরর প্রবল আনজর্ষধাহতক চধারপর মকরখ দধাপাঁহড়রয় হময়ধানমধার এই রধাখধাইন অতধাডভধাইসহর কহমশন ততহর কররহছিল।
রসই কহমশরনরই রচয়ধারমতধান হছিরলন কহফি আনধান। জধাহতসবরঘর প্রধাকন মহিধাসহচব সধাফি জধাহনরয় হদরয়হছিরলন,
হময়ধানমধার রযভধারব ররধাহহিঙধারদর নহূতনতম নধাগহরক সকরযধাগ-সকহবধধা রথেরকও বহঞ্চত কররছি, তধারত ররধাহহিঙধা যকবকরদর পরক
হিধারত অস তক রল রনওয়ধার ঘটনধাই সধাভধাহবক হিরয় দধাপাঁড়ধারব। কহফি আনধারনর আশঙ্কধারক সহতত কররই আরধাকধান ররধাহহিঙধা
সতধালরভশন আহমর্ষর তৎপরতধা গত করয়ক মধারস লক করধা হগরয়রছি। এবব ররধাহহিঙধা হবরদধাহিসীরদর এই অবশই হময়ধানমধার
রসনধাবধাহহিনসীর হবরুরদ ‘পধালধা প্রহতররধাধ ‘-এর লধাইন রনয়। যধার পহরণহতরত গত ২৫ আগস্টে ররধাহহিঙধা হবরদধাহিসীরধা
রসনধাবধাহহিনসী এবব হময়ধানমধার পকহলরশর ছিধাউহনরত আক্রমণ চধালধায়। ২৫ আগরস্টের রসই ঘটনধার পহররপ্রহকরত এখনও
পযর্ষন যধা হিরয়রছি, আনজর্ষধাহতক মহিল তধারক ‘গণহিততধা ‘ই বলরত চধায়।

রসধাশতধাল হমহডয়ধায় অরনরক ঝড় তক রলরছিন, সক হচ -র কধাছি রথেরক রনধারবল শধাহন পকরসধার হফিহররয় রনওয়ধা রহিধাক। রসটধা
হিরব হকনধা জধাহন নধা। রসটধা হিরল হময়ধানমধার সরকধার কতটধা চধারপ পড়রব তধা -ও বলরত পধারব নধা। আহম শুধক হচনধা
করহছি, অসহিধায় ররধাহহিঙধা মহহিলধা ও হশশুরদর জরনত। যধারদর হনরয় হিয়রতধা এখন মকসহলম হবশও ভধাবরছি নধা। ঈরদর
উচলতধা -উৎসব আর ‘কুরবধাহন’র বধাইরর ররধাহহিঙধারদর হনষক র বধাসবতধার কথেধা রক মধাথেধায় রররখরছি ?

হময়ধানমধাররর হনযর্ষধাহতত ররধাহহিঙধারদর হজহম্ম করর টধাকধা হিধাহতরয়

হনরচ দধালধাল চক্র
হনজস প্রহতহনহধ, রটকনধাফি

Posted on রসরপ্টেম্বর ৮, ২০১৭ AuthorsuprobhatCategories প্রথেম পধাতধা

রটকনধাফি উপরজলধার হবহভন সসীমধান হদরয় হময়ধানমধাররর সরকধারসী বধাহহিনসী কততর্ষ ক হনযধাহতত হিরয় প্রধাণ ভরয় পধাহলরয় আসধা
ররধাহহিঙধারদর হজহম্ম করর রমধাটধা অবরকর টধাকধা হিধাহতরয় হনরচ স’ুধানসীয় দধালধাল চক্ররধা। রটকনধারফির সমকদ উপকূলসীয় অহধকধাবশ
রজরল রনবৌকধার মধাহলক ও মধাহঝ এখন ররধাহহিঙধা পধাচধাররর দধালধাল হহিরসরব কধাজ কররছি। তধারদর সবখতধা করয়ক হিধাজধার।
রটকনধারফির শধামলধাপকর রথেরক শধাহিপরসীরদ্বেসীপ পযর্ষন ২৬টি রনবৌঘধারট ৩ হিধাজধাররর রবহশ হফিহশব রবধাট ররয়রছি। এসব হফিহশব রবধাট
এখন মৎসত হশকধাররর পহরবরতর্ষ হময়ধানমধার উপকূল রথেরক ররধাহহিঙধা রবধাঝধাই করর আনরত বতস সময় পধার কররছি।
সহূরত জধানধা যধায় ২৫-৩০ জন ধধারণ কমতধার রছিধাট রছিধাট এই হফিহশব ট্রলধারগুরলধা রধারতর অন্ধেকধারর হময়ধানমধার উপকূরল হভরড়
ররধাহহিঙধারদর হনরয় এপধারর চরল আরস। আবধার স’ুধানসীয় দধালধালরদর সধারথে রযধাগধারযধাগ ররয়রছি এক সময় মধালরয়হশয়ধা মধানব
পধাচধারর জহড়ত গডফিধাদধাররদর। আর এই গডফিধাদধাররদর ররয়রছি হময়ধানমধার, মধালরয়হশয়ধা ও রসবৌহদ আরবসহি হবহভন রদরশর
দধালধালরদর রযধাগসহূত। প্রবধারস থেধাকধা হময়ধানমধাররর রধাখধাইন রধারজতর রলধাকজন গডফিধাদধাররদর মধাধতরম তধারদর পহরবধাররর
রলধাকরদর রমধাটধা অবরকর হবহনমরয় বধাবলধারদরশ হনরয় আসরছিন। আর এরত মকখত ভহূ হমকধা পধালন কররছি সমকদ উপকূরলর মধাহঝ ও
রজরলরধা। যধারধা এখন দধালধারল পহরণত হিরয়রছি। আইনশতবখলধা বধাহহিনসী ইহতমরধত শতধাহধক দধালধালরক আটক করর ভধামতমধাণ
আদধালরতর মধাধতরম হবহভন রময়ধারদ সধাজধা প্রদধান করররছি।
পধাহলরয় আসধা ররধাহহিঙধারদর সধারথে কথেধা বরল জধানধা যধায়, দধালধালরধা জনপ্রহত ৫ রথেরক ১০ হিধাজধার টধাকধা আদধায় কররছি হময়ধানমধার
সসীমধান রথেরক রটকনধাফি উপকূল পযর্ষন রপবৌপাঁরছি হদরত। যধারধা টধাকধা হদরত পধাররছিনধা অথেবধা টধাকধার পহরমধাণ কম তধারদর কধাছি রথেরক
রকরড় রনওয়ধা হিরচ সণর্ষলবকধার, টধাকধা, কধাপড় রচধাপড়সহি যধাবতসীয় মহূলতবধান যধা হকছিক । আবধার পহরবধাররর দকই একজন
সদসতরদর বহন্দ রররখ বধাহকরদর রছিরড় রদওয়ধা হিরচ দধালধালরদর চধাহহিদধা মরতধা টধাকধা সবগহি করর আনরত। শুধক তধাই নয়,
দধালধালরদর চধাহহিদধা মরতধা টধাকধা পহররশধাধ কররত নধা পধারধায় ররধাহহিঙধা রবধাঝধাই ট্রলধার ডক হবরয় রদওয়ধার মরতধা হনষক রতধা রদহখরয়
যধারচ এই দধালধালরধা।
স’ুধানসীয় রলধাকজরনর কধাছি রথেরক জধানধা যধায়, স’ুধানসীয় হবহভন চতধারনল মতধারনজ কররই দধালধাল হসহন্ডরকট তধারদর এই বধাহণজত
চধাহলরয় যধারচ। ট্রলধার প্রহত রদওয়ধা হিয় ১০ হিধাজধার টধাকধা।
রধাখধাইন রধারজতর উদব রথেরক আসধা সহলম উলধাহি রছিরল রহহিম জধানধান, হময়ধানমধার সসীমধারনর নধাইকতবহদয়ধা হিরত রটকনধারফির
শধাহিপরসীরদ্বেসীপ পহশ্চিম পধাড়ধা পযর্ষন জনপ্রহত ৮ হিধাজধার টধাকধায় দরদধাম করর আসরলও অহতহরক টধাকধা দধাহব করর। টধাকধা
পহররশধাধ কররত নধা পধারধায় শধাহিপরসীরদ্বেসীপ উত্তর পধাড়ধার কধালধা নধারমর এক দধালধাল তধার পহরবধাররর মধা ও ভধাইসহি ২ জনরক
আটরক রধারখ। তধারধা ওই রনবৌকধায় ২৫ জন পধাহড় হদরয়হছিল। বতর্ষ মধারন তধারদর ভধারগত হক ঘরটরছি জধানধা যধায়হন।
হময়ধানমধাররর রমরুলধা এলধাকধা রথেরক আসধা রমধা. জধাকধাহরয়ধা জধানধান, তধার রবধাটওয়ধালধা দধালধাল তধার সসীর কধাছি রথেরক রদড় ভহর
ওজরনর সরণর্ষর রচইন ও কধাপড় রচধাপড় রকরড় হনরয়রছি ও পহরবধাররর ৩ সদসতরক আটরক রররখরছি।
হময়ধানমধাররর রমরুলধা রথেরক আসধা কহবর আহিমরদর সসী ছিহকনধা রবগম জধানধান বধাহিধারছিড়ধা ইউহনয়রনর রনধায়ধাখধালসীয়ধাপধাড়ধার
মতত হিধাসন আহিমরদর পকত তছিয়দ আলম ও দহকণ শসীলখধালসী এলধাকধার মতত জধাফির আলরমর রছিরল আলসী আকবর, মতত আবকল
রহিধাসন বহলর রছিরল রহফিক আলম, শধামলধাপকর এলধাকধার আবকল হিক রমম্বধাররর রছিরল রমধা. রধারসল, মতত অলসী আহিমরদর পকত
মনসকর আলম ৩০ জন ররধাহহিঙধারক এরন রদয়ধার কথেধা বরল ১ লক ৭০ হিধাজধার টধাকধা হনরয়রছি। হকন বধাবলধারদরশ আনধার পর
তধারদর কধাছি রথেরক ৪ ভহর সণর্ষধালবকধার এবব মধালরয়হশয়ধা প্রবধাসসী কহবর আহিমরদর সসী ররসহমন রবগম (২৭) রথেরক ১৩ লক
টধাকধা রকরড় হনরয়রছি।
এভধারবই নধাফিনদসীর সসীমধান জকরড় দধালধাল চরক্রর রমরমধা বধাহণজত চলরছি। এইভধারব দধালধাল চক্ররধা হদরনর হদন তধারদর অপকমর্ষ
চধাহলরয় রগরলও স’ুধানসীয় প্রশধাসরনর সদসতরধা মতধারনজ হিওয়ধার কধাররন পধার রপরয় যধারচ।
রটকনধাফি মরডল থেধানধার অহফিসধার ইনচধাজর্ষ (ওহস) রমধা. মধাইন উহদ্দিন খধাপাঁন জধানধান, হময়ধানমধাররর ররধাহহিঙধারদর সহিধায়তধার নধারম
যধারধা অপরধাধ কররছি রস সব দধালধালরদর ধররত পকহলশ বধাহহিনসীর সদসতরধা কধাজ কররছি। ভধামতমধাণ আদধালরত প্রধায় শতধাহধক
দধালধালরক সধাজধা রদওয়ধা হিরয়রছি জধাহনরয় ওহস আররধা জধানধান, ররধাহহিঙধারদর হনরয় যধারধা বতবসধা কররব তধারদররক হকছিক রতই ছিধাড়
রদওয়ধা হিরবনধা।
রটকনধাফি উপরজলধা হনবর্ষধাহিসী কমর্ষকতর্ষ ধা জধাহহিদ রহিধারসন হছিহদ্দিক জধানধান, দধালধারলর হবরুরদ প্রশধাসহনক অহভযধান অবতধাহিত ররয়রছি।
ইহতমরধত রবধাট মধাহলক এবব রজরলরদর হনরয় সরচতনতধামহূলক সভধা করধা হিরয়রছি। জনপ্রহতহনহধ এবব সবহশ্লিষরদর এ হবররয়
সজধাগ থেধাকরত বলধা হিরয়রছি।
 নিতিতুনি কজারবজালজা ততিতর হয়য়েয়ছ নিজাফ নিদদীর তিদীয়র’

 অনলধাইন রডস

 জধাতসীয়
আপরডট: ০২:২৬:১৩ PM, বতহিস্পেহতবধার, রসরপ্টেম্বর ৭, ২০১৭

ক্রমধাগত হিধামলধা-হনযর্ষধাতরনর মকরখ হময়ধানমধাররর রধাখধাইন রধাজত রথেরক পধাহলরয় আসধা ররধাহহিঙধা প্রসরঙ হবএনহপর
রজতষ যকগ মহিধাসহচব রুহুল কহবর হরজভসী বরলরছিন, ‘কধারবধালধায় রযমন পধাহন রজধারটহন, রসই নতক ন কধারবধালধা
ততহর হিরয়রছি নধাফি নদসীর তসীরর।’

হতহন বরলন, ‘ঈরদর হদরন ররধাহহিঙধা হশশুরধা এক টক কররধা মধাবরসর জনত রকপাঁ রদ হছিল, তধার মধা এক রফিধাপাঁটধা পধাহনও হদরত
পধাররনহন, মধাবস রতধা দহূরর থেধাক। কধারবধালধায় রযমন পধাহন রজধারটহন, রসই নতক ন কধারবধালধা ততহর হিরয়রছি নধাফি নদসীর
তসীরর। ররধাহহিঙধারধা পধাহনহিসীন, বসহিসীন, হচহকৎসধাহিসীন। আমরধা এই অনতধারয়র তসীব হনন্দধা জধানধাহচ।’

বতহিস্পেহতবধার (৭ রসরপ্টেম্বর) সকধারল জধাতসীয় রপ্রসকধারবর সধামরন জধাতসীয়তধাবধাদসী মকহকরযধাদধা দল আরয়ধাহজত ররধাহহিঙধা
হিততধাযজ বরন্ধের দধাহবরত মধানববন্ধেরন এসব কথেধা বরলন হতহন।

ররধাহহিঙধা পহরহস্থহত সধামধাল হদরত সরকধার রকধারনধা কধাযর্ষকর উরদতধাগ হনরত পধাররছি নধা বরল মনবত করর হরজভসী
বরলন, ‘প্রধধানমন্ত্রসী বলরছিন, হতহন আনজর্ষধাহতক চধাপ সতহষর জনত রচষধা কররছিন হকন কধাযর্ষকর রকধারনধা উরদতধাগ
রনই। বধামর্ষধারধাজ চধারচ, চরল যধাও নইরল হিততধার হশকধার হিও। ওরধা মরুক, ওরধা পপাঁচকক, নধাফি নদসীর পধাহনরত রভরস
যধাক, কধাররধা রকধারনধা দধায়দধাহয়ত রনই।’

মধানববন্ধেরন হতহন অহভরযধাগ করর বরলন, ‘প্রধধানমন্ত্রসী চধারচন, কূটননহতক সমধাধধান। হকন কতহদন বছিররর পর
বছির উদধাস হিরয় ররধাহহিঙধারধা বধাবলধারদরশ আসরছি। আরগ ৪ লধারখর মরতধা এরসরছি। ভধাররত ৪০ হিধাজধাররর মরতধা,
রমধাহদ সরকধার রঘধারণধা রদন তধারদরও তধাহড়রয় রদরবন।’

হবএনহপর রনতধা বরলন, ‘এই রয উরদ্বেগ-উৎকণধা এটধা রতধা শুধক আজরকর হবরয় নয়, দশরকর পর দশক এই
অততধাচধার হিরয়রছি। শুধক দশরকর পর দশক বলব নধা, শতধাবসীর পর শতধাবসী। বধামর্ষধারধা এক সময় আমধারদর চট্টগধাম
দখল কররহছিল, শধারয়সধা খধারনর রসনধাপহত ওরমদ খধান চট্টগধাম পকনরুদধার কররহছিরলন। এটধা আর কতহদন চলরব,
আরধাকধান দখল করর এমন হবভৎসতধা ততহর কররহছিল, এটধা ভধাবধা যধায় নধা। বধামর্ষধারধাজ দধাহব কররহছিরলন, চট্টগধাম,
ঢধাকধা ও মকহশর্ষদধাবধাদ তধারদর হদরয় হদরত।

এই ভধার রকমন করর বইরব বধাবলধারদশ

ররধাহহিঙধা সবকট, 'কধারক বহল মততকত থেধামধাও'

প্রকধাশ: ৪ ঘণধা আরগ

রজাজদীব নিনূর ও আবদতুর রহমজানি, ডটেকনিজাফ (কক্সবজাজজার) ডথেয়ক

'এরসরছি নতক ন হশশু, তধারক রছিরড় হদরত হিরব স্থধান'- হকন রছিধাট্ট এই বধাবলধারদরশ হভন রদরশর কত হশশুর স্থধান সবকুলধান হিরব?
পধাহলরয় আসধা ররধাহহিঙধারদর মরধত সবখতধায় হশশুরধাই রবহশ। তধারপরই ররয়রছি নধারসী। রস তক লনধায় কমর্ষকম পকরুর হিধারতরগধানধা।
অপ্রততধাহশত এই ররধাহহিঙধারদর ভধার রকমন করর বইরব বধাবলধারদশ।

গত বকধবধার জধাহতসবঘ হশশু তহিহবরলর (ইউহনরসফি) হনবর্ষধাহিসী পহরচধালক অতধান্থহন রলরকর রদওয়ধা এক হববতহতরত জধানধারনধা
হিরয়রছি, রধাখধাইরন সধাম্প্রহতক সহহিবসতধার পর বধাবলধারদরশ পধাহলরয় আসধা এক লধাখ ২৫ হিধাজধার ররধাহহিঙধার ৮০ শতধাবরশর রবহশ
নধারসী ও হশশু। জধাহতসবরঘর হহিসধাব অনকযধায়সী, রধাখধাইরনর আরও এক লধারখর রবহশ ররধাহহিঙধা বধাবলধারদরশ প্ররবরশর অরপকধায়
আরছি। তরব রটকনধাফি ও উহখয়ধার স্থধানসীয় রলধাকজরনর দধাহব, ২৪ আগরস্টের পর পধাহলরয় আসধা ররধাহহিঙধার সবখতধা এক লধাখ ২৫
হিধাজধাররর অরনক রবহশ হিরব। স্থধানসীয় এই রলধাকজরনর মরত, রটকনধাফি রপবৌরসভধার ৪০ হকরলধাহমটধার দহূররর পকহথেন পধাহিধারড় রয
ররধাহহিঙধা বহস গরড় রতধালধা হিরয়রছি, শুধক রসখধারনই এর মরধত রদড় লধারখর মরতধা ররধাহহিঙধা আশ্রয় হনরয়রছি।

গতকধাল বতহিস্পেহতবধার সকধারলর হদরক রচষধা কররও পকহথেন পধাহিধারড়র নতক ন ররধাহহিঙধা বহসরত রপপাঁুবৌছিধারনধা রগল নধা। উবহছিপ্রধাব
এলধাকধায় রটকনধাফি সড়ক রথেরক কধাপাঁচধা সড়রক রনরম রমধাটরসধাইরকরল আধধা হকরলধাহমটধার যধাওয়ধার পর রধাসধার ভয়ধাবহি অবস্থধা
রদখধা রগল। আমধারদর মরতধা নধাজকক নধাগহরক মধতহবরত্তর পরক হিধাপাঁটক সমধান কধাদধামধাটির ওই পথে রঠরল আর এরগধারনধা সমব নয়।
ওখধান রথেরক আরও আধধা হকরলধাহমটধার দহূরর পকহথেন পধাহিধারড়র পধাদরদরশ রটকনধারফির হবহভন সসীমধান হদরয় আসধা ররধাহহিঙধারদর
আশ্রয় রদওয়ধা হিরচ। ওই ররধাহহিঙধারদরই এক নধারসী নহূর রবগম সপধাহিখধারনক হিরলধা বধাবলধারদরশর মধাটিরত রপপাঁুবৌছিধার আরগ আরগ
হময়ধানমধারর পধাহিধারড়র ঢধারল জন হদরয়রছিন এক কনতধাসনধারনর। রটকনধাফি রথেরক পকহথেন পধাহিধারড়র উরদ্দিরশ রওনধা রদওয়ধার পর
করয়ক হকরলধাহমটধার রযরতই রমবৌচহন এলধাকধায় রদখধা রপলধাম নহূর রবগরমর। সধাত হদরনর ওই রছিধাট্ট রমরয়টিরক রকধারল হনরয়
গধাছিতলধায় বরস হছিরলন হতহন। নহূর রবগরমর সরঙ আলধারপর একপযর্ষধারয় রসখধারন এরলন তধার সধামসী আবদকস সধালধাম। নহূর রবগম
ও আবদকস সধালধারমর গধাম হছিল মবডক র ওপধারর। রধাহশদব-এর নসীলধাম্বর পধাড়ধায়। বহুপথে রহিপাঁ রট পধাহড় হদরত হিরয়রছি তধারদর।
বধাহমর্ষজ টধাকধা-পয়সধা যধা হছিল তধা নধাফি নদসী পধাহড় রদওয়ধার রনবৌকধাভধাড়ধারতই রশর হিরয় রগরছি। পরর বধাবলধারদরশর শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীরপ
এরস হতন হিধাজধার টধাকধার হবহনমরয় নহূর রবগম তধার নধাকফিক লটি হবহক্র করর হদরয়রছিন। ররধাহহিঙধা সধবধা নধারসীরদর আর রকধারনধা
অলঙ্কধার নধা থেধাকরলও নধাকফিক লটি সবধারই নধারক রশধাভধা পধায়। তধারধা মরন কররন, তধার তবধবত রথেরক তধারক রকধা করর
নধাকফিক ল। রসই নধাকফিক ল হবহক্র করর হদরত হিরয়রছি বরল মন খধারধাপ নহূর রবগরমর। তবক ভধাগত ভধারলধা সনধানরদর সবধাইরক জতধান
হনরয় আসরত রপরররছিন। নহূর ও সধালধারমর এখনও নধাম নধা রধাখধা সধাত হদরনর রমরয়টিসহি সনধারনর সবখতধা আট।

আট সনধারনর পহরবধার ররধাহহিঙধা সমধারজ খকব বড় নয়, রকধারনধা রকধারনধা ররধাহহিঙধা নধারসীর এর হদ্বেগুণ সনধানসনহতও ররয়রছি।
এমনই একজন হিধাহশমধা খধাতক রনর সরঙ আলধাপ হিরলধা উবহছিপ্রধাব এলধাকধায় ঢক করতই। হিধাহশমধা জধানধারলন, তধার সধামসী ফিয়জধার
রহিধারসন খকন হিরয়রছিন নয় হদন হিরলধা। তধারদর গধারমর বধাহড় রধাখধাইন প্ররদরশর আবডধাবরয়। ওইহদন ফিয়জধার তধার গতহিপধাহলত
গরুটি হনরয় মধারঠ হগরয়হছিরলন। প্রথেরম রসনধাবধাহহিনসী এরস গুহল করর গরুটিরক। তধারপর ফিয়জধাররকও। হিধাহশমধার দধাহব,
ফিয়জধার রবপাঁরচ হছিরলন গুহলর পরও। হতহন হনরজর রচধারখ রদরখরছিন এরপর তধারদর একই গধারমর তবথেক থেধাম নধারম এক রধাখধাইন
এরস ফিয়জধাররর গলধা কধারট। গধারমরই দকই ভধাই সহলমকলধাহি ও আহরফিক লধাহি বধাধধা হদরত হগরয় গুরুতর আহিত হিন। এই ঘটনধার পর
হিধাহশমধা তধার সধাত রছিরল ও চধার রমরয় হনরয় বধাবলধারদরশর উরদ্দিরশ রওনধা রদন। হিধাহশমধার বড় রছিরল জধাহহিদ রহিধারসরনর বয়স ৩২
বছির এবব হিধাহশমধার বয়স ৪৫।

ররধাহহিঙধারদর এত রবহশ সনধানসনহত থেধাকধার কধারণ কসী জধানরত চধাওয়ধা হিরল রটকনধারফির রলদধা ররধাহহিঙধা কতধারমর রনতত স্থধানসীয়
বতহক আবদকল মতলব বরলন, গহরব মধানকররর সনধানসনহত সব সময়, সব রদরশই রবহশ হিয়। কধারণ, তধারধা মরন করর
সনধানরধাই তধারদর সমদ। এক যকরগরও অহধক সময় আরগ হময়ধানমধার রথেরক উদ্বেধাস হিরয় আসধা এই ররধাহহিঙধা রনতধা বরলন,
রধাখধাইরন সবখতধায় ররধাহহিঙধারধা অহধক নয়, তধারধা খকবই দহরদ। তদকপহর সরকধার তধারদর ওপর বছিররর পর বছির হনপসীড়ন
চধালধারচ, ফিরল সনধানরদর বধাপাঁহচরয় রধাখধাও কঠিন। তধাই সবধাই হরহজরকর মধাহলক আলধাহি_ এই হবশধাস রথেরকই এরকর পর এক
সনধান জন হদরয় থেধারকন। তধার কধারছি রধাখধাইরন নতক ন করর রসনধা অহভযধান শুরু হিওয়ধার পর কত ররধাহহিঙধা শরণধাথের
বধাবলধারদরশ এরসরছি, এমন একটি ধধারণধা রপরত চধাইরল হতহন বরলন, আনকমধাহনক হতন লধাখ হিরব। হতহন জধানধান, এর আরগ
করয়ক দশরক আসধা ররধাহহিঙধার সবখতধাও হতন লধারখর মরতধা। এবধার আরও আসরব। রধাখধাইরন ররধাহহিঙধারদর থেধাকরত রদরব নধা
রসনধারধা। ওখধারন রসনধারধা এই পযর্ষন কমপরক ৩০ হিধাজধার মধানকর হিততধা করররছি। তধারদর মরধত যকবরকর সবখতধাই রবহশ। তধার
প্রশ_ আমরধা ররধাহহিঙধারধা রকধাথেধায় যধাই, কধারক বহল মততকত থেধামধাও।

স্থধানসীয় প্রশধাসরনর রকধারনধা সহূতই এবধার আসধা ররধাহহিঙধারদর সবখতধা কত তধা জধানধারত পধাররছি নধা। রটকনধারফির উপরজলধা হনবর্ষধাহিসী
কমর্ষকতর্ষ ধা (ইউএনও) রমধা. জধাহহিদ রহিধারসন হসহদ্দিক জধানধান, পকহথেন পধাহিধারড় নতক ন করর গড়ধা ররধাহহিঙধা বহসরত এই পযর্ষন ৬০
হিধাজধাররর মরতধা ররধাহহিঙধা আশ্রয় হনরয়রছি। তধারদর এখনও সরকধাররর পক রথেরক রতমন রকধারনধা সহিধায়তধা রদওয়ধা সমব হিয়হন।

প্রকত তপরক কক্সবধাজধাররর রটকনধাফি ও উহখয়ধা এবব বধান্দরবধারনর নধাইকতবছিহড় উপরজলধার অনত ৩৯টি সসীমধান এলধাকধা হদরয়
ঢক করছি ররধাহহিঙধারধা। তধারদর অরনরকই নতক ন-পকররধারনধা রকধারনধা কতধারম নধা হগরয় ছিহড়রয় পড়রছি এই দকই রজলধার গধাম-গধামধানরর।
গতকধাল দকপকরর রটকনধারফির শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীরপর রবহড়বধাপাঁরধর ওপর হিধাজধার হিধাজধার ররধাহহিঙধা শরণধাথের রদখধা যধায়। রনবৌকধায় নধাফি
নদসী ও বরঙধাপসধাগর পধাহড় হদরয় এরসরছি তধারধা। শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীরপ কথেধা হিয় হকরশধারসী তসহলমধার সরঙ। তধারদর বধাহড় পকহড়রয়
হদরয়রছি রসনধাবধাহহিনসী। রপধাড়ধা পধারয়র বতথেধায় কধাতরধাহচল ওই হকরশধারসী। রনবৌকধা রথেরক রনরম মধা রহহিমধা খধাতক নরক বধাপাঁরশর
ঝক হড়রত করর হনরয় যধাহচরলন দকই ভধাই এরশধাদ ও আবদকলধাহি।

দকপকররর ওই সময়টধায় শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীরপর ঘধারট রগধাটধাহবরশক ররধাহহিঙধা বহিনকধারসী রনবৌকধা হভড়রত রদখধা যধায়। সধাবরধাব ইউহনয়ন
পহরররদর রচয়ধারমতধান নহূর রহিধারসন বরলন, তধার ইউহনয়রনর শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীপসহি করয়কটি ঘধাট হদরয় প্রহতহদনই গরড় ৩০
হিধাজধাররর মরতধা ররধাহহিঙধা শরণধাথের ঢক করছি। প্রহতহদরনর মরতধা গতকধালও শধাহিপরসীর দ্বেসীপ এলধাকধায় ঘরটরছি দকটি রনবৌকধাডক হবর
ঘটনধা। গত বকধবধার রধাত ১০ টধা রথেরক বতহিস্পেহতবধার সন্ধেতধা ৭টধা পযর্ষন নধাফি নদসী ও সমকদনসকরত রভরস আসধা ১৭টি লধাশ পধাওয়ধা
রগরছি বরল হনহশ্চিত করররছিন রটকনধাফি মরডল থেধানধার ভধারপ্রধাপ কমর্ষকতর্ষ ধা (ওহস) মধাইন উহদ্দিন খধান। এর মরধত পকরুর দক'জন,
ছিয় নধারসী এবব নয় হশশু।
আওয়ধামসী লসীরগর রটকনধাফি উপরজলধা শধাখধার সভধাপহত ও কক্সবধাজধার-৪ (উহখয়ধা ও রটকনধাফি) আসরনর সধারবক সধাবসদ
রমধাহিধাম্মদ আলসী বরলন, মধানহবক কধাররণই ররধাহহিঙধারদর আসধায় রকউ বধাধধা হদরচ নধা। তরব ররধাহহিঙধারদর আশ্রয় রদওয়ধার
অতসীত অহভজতধা খকব সকখকর নয়। যধারধা একবধার এরসরছি, তধারদর আর হফিহররয় রদওয়ধা যধায়হন। ররধাহহিঙধারদর কধাররণ আইন-
শতঙ্খলধা পহরহস্থহতর অবনহত হিরচ। এবধার ররধাহহিঙধা আসধার রস্রধাত অতসীরতর সব ররকডর্ষ ছিধাহড়রয় রগরছি। এই ভধার রকমন করর
বইরব বধাবলধারদশ? তধাই আমধারদর উহচত হিরব যত দ্রুত সমব তধারদর হময়ধানমধারর হফিহররয় রদওয়ধার রচষধা করধা।

ঢধাকধা হবশহবদতধালরয়র আনজর্ষধাহতক সমকর্ষ হবভধারগর অধতধাপক ইমহতয়ধাজ আহিমদ বরলন, হময়ধানমধারর হবহচনতধাবধাদসী বধা
উগপহন্থরদর দমরনর নধারম সধামহরক বধাহহিনসী রয অহভযধান শুরু করররছি তধা এথেহনক হকনহজব, স্পেষ গণহিততধা। এ কধাজ
হময়ধানমধাররর সধামহরক তসরশধাসরকরধা শুরু কররহছিল। আশধা করধা হগরয়হছিল গণতন্ত্র এরল হনপসীড়রনর অবসধান ঘটরব, হকন
ঘরটহন। এখন আমরধা রয শরণধাথেররদর আশ্রয় হদহচ, রচষধা কররত হিরব গণহিততধা যধারত থেধারম এবব ওই শরণধাথেররধা যধারত
হনরধাপরদ ও সসম্মধারন হনরজরদর রদরশ হফিরর হগরয় সধাভধাহবক জসীবনযধাপন কররত পধারর। এর জনত প্রথেম ও প্রধধান কধাজ ঘটনধার
বধাসবতধা ও ভয়ধাবহিতধা হবশবধাসসীর কধারছি তক রল ধরধা। হবরয়টিরক জধাহতসবঘ ও হনরধাপত্তধা পহরররদর কধারছি হনরয় যধাওয়ধা চধাই।
গত ৩০ আগস্টে হনরধাপত্তধা পহরররদ ররধাহহিঙধা হনরয় আরলধাচনধার পর রথেরকই আনজর্ষধাহতক রযধাগধারযধাগ বধাহড়রয়রছি বধাবলধারদশ।
সধারবক রধাষ্ট্রদহূত ও কূটননহতক হবরশ্লিরক হুমধায়কন কবসীর অবশত হনরধাপত্তধা পহরররদ ররধাহহিঙধা হনরয় আরলধাচনধায় এখনও খকব
আশধার হকছিক রদখরছিন নধা। হতহন বরলন, রসখধারন চসীরনর আপহত্তর কধাররণ আরলধাচনধা রথেরম রগরছি। তরব এরই মরধত তক রস ও
মধালদ্বেসীরপর মরতধা রদশগুরলধা সধাড়ধা হদরয়রছি। দশরকর পর দশক হময়ধানমধাররর হিধাজধার হিধাজধার ররধাহহিঙধারক আশ্রয় হদরয় আসরছি
বধাবলধারদশ, যধা আমধারদর জনত হবরধাট রবধাঝধা। হবরয়টি সমধাধধারন প্রথেমত, হময়ধানমধাররর সরঙ হদ্বেপকসীয়ভধারব সমসতধার
সমধাধধারনর রচষধা কররত হিরব, তরব এ রচষধা রয খকব ফিলপ্রসহূ হিরব নধা, তধা রবধাঝধাই যধারচ। হদ্বেতসীয়ত, আনজর্ষধাহতক সবস্থধা ও
হবহভন রদশরক সবরবদনশসীল করর চধাপ প্ররয়ধাগ।