In the refugee camps in eastern Bangladesh, huts and tents are lined up for kilometers. Around a million Rohingya have sought refuge here from the military violence in their home country of Myanmar. “I was shocked by what I saw there,” UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty Olivier De Schutter said at a press conference after a visit to the Rohingya camps earlier this week. “These people are now totally dependent on humanitarian assistance.” In predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, the Muslim population faces persecution. The majority of them have been living under precarious conditions in Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee camp, for almost six years.
De Schutter accused the international community of not providing adequate support to the refugees in Bangladesh. The United Nations needs $876 million for Rohingya aid this year. But so far only 17 percent of this has been pledged, said the UN special rapporteur. The gap in funding is “scandalous”. According to the aid organizations, the lack of money has a direct impact on the care of the refugees. As a spokeswoman for the FAZ confirmed on Tuesday, the UN World Food Program (WFP) will again drastically reduce the food rations for the stateless minority from June 1st. The value of monthly meal vouchers for one person will be reduced from the current $10 to $8.
The value of twelve dollars had already been reduced in March. According to the aid organization, this is a significant cut. “Anything under $12 has appalling consequences not only for the feeding of women and children, but also for the safety and security of everyone in the camps,” said WFP Bangladesh Country Director Dom Scalpelli. Even before the rations were cut, four out of ten families would not have had enough to eat. Twelve percent of the children are acutely malnourished. Ration cuts are likely to lead to a steep rise in malnutrition.
Rohingya are not allowed to work
According to the information, the UN food program still needs 56 million dollars to restore the original value of the food rations and to be able to make them available to the refugees by the end of the year. According to the UN Special Rapporteur, one problem is that the refugees in Bangladesh have no way of earning their own living. The Rohingya are not allowed to work in Bangladesh and are not allowed to leave the refugee camps without permission.
The responsibility lies primarily with the international community, but also with Bangladesh as the host country. “Bangladesh is to be congratulated for its generosity. But now that they are under the jurisdiction of the country, the human rights of the Rohingya must be respected,” said De Schutter. “And the first human right in this case is the right to work,” said the UN official.
Returning the Rohingya to their homeland is only a conceivable long-term option, De Schutter said. To do this, the conditions in Myanmar would have to be created first. They must be recognized as citizens and their security must be guaranteed by the Myanmar military, which seized power in February 2021. “Nobody currently believes that a repatriation would be realistic,” said De Schutter. The plan to return 1,100 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar in a pilot project, where they are to be housed in a reception center, is causing concern.
In the middle of the month, a delegation from the military regime in Myanmar visited the refugee camps and conducted 449 interviews with potential candidates for the project. Some refugees later reported that they had not been informed about the background to the talks. Human rights activists are demanding that the plans be abandoned immediately.
