The West Is Returning To The Rohingya Issue In An Attempt To Divide & Rule This Part Of Asia

EESTi EEST!
By Andrew Korybko
aprill 5, 2024

Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia condemned the UK for calling an open session of the Security Council on Myanmar since “there are things that cannot be discussed in the ‘megaphone diplomacy’ mode” that the British insisted on. Thursday’s talks mostly focused on the situation in Rakhine State, which is where the Bangladeshi-originating Rohingya mostly resided prior to 2017’s conflict pushing most of them into that neighboring nation. Here are some background briefings:

Tripura woman arrested for cross-border trafficking of Bangladeshis, Rohingya

The Indian EXPRESS
Written by Debraj Deb
Agartala (tripura) | April 2, 2024  

Government Railway Police officer in-charge at Agartala railway station Tapas Das said Parul Akhter of Matinagar is being interrogated to determine if others are involved in the trafficking operations.

A Tripura-based woman was arrested for allegedly assisting Bangladeshi citizens and Rohingya to cross the international border. (Representational Image)

A joint team of security forces on Tuesday arrested a woman allegedly involved in cross-border trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya, from Matinagar in Sepahijala district along the Indo-Bangla international border.

The Geopolitical Stakes of the Rohingya Crisis

INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIGEST
Rasel Hossen Shakib
04.01.2024 

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in 2017.

 

To resolve the impasse over repatriating Rohingya Muslims, all relevant stakeholders must engage in dialogue.

The Rohingya issue has surged to the forefront of international concern, casting a long shadow over the prospects for political stability, social tranquility, and environmental viability in Southeast Asia. The quagmire, originating from Myanmar, extends its geopolitical tendrils, ensnaring not only its immediate neighbor, Bangladesh but also posing a broader threat to the Southeast Asian region.

Funding Crisis Threatens Fate Of Millions Of Rohingyas In Bangladesh: What Could Be An Alternative? – OpEd

eurasiareview
By Maruf Hasan Rumi
April 1, 2024

Rohingya children look at food offered at a shop in the Leda refugee camp in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo Credit: Abdur Rahman/BenarNews

History has unequivocally documented a long period of dominance, subjugation, exploitation, and social strife between the Buddhist and the Rohinyga community in Myanmar. As of September 2023, Bangladesh and UNHCR have registered 965,467 Rohingya refugees, half of whom are girls and women. 

Unravelling the Rohingya crisis

The Star
Saturday, 30 Mar 2024

Gruelling journey: A file pic of ethnic Rohingya disembarking from their boat upon landing on a beach in Ulee Madon, North Aceh, Indonesia, on Nov 16, 2023. — AP 

A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives.

The ‘Night Government’ Expands Its Violent Reach in Rohingya Camps

The New York Times
By Verena Hölzl
Reporting from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
March 30, 2024,

Gunfights, kidnappings and homicides have become widespread in the refugee settlements in Bangladesh, as armed groups and criminal gangs have become more brazen.

A Rohingya refugee camp, along the Naf River, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in November.Credit...Munir Uz Zaman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

 

They could not worship freely. The authorities denied their very existence and razed evidence of their historical communities. Then came a campaign of ethnic cleansing that forced them to flee to a foreign country where they crowded into bamboo-and-tarp shelters. There they have waited years for a better life.

Gangs, kidnappings, murders drive Rohingya from camps

ASIA TIMES
by Ruth Wells and Max William Loomes
March 29, 2024

Since October 1, 2023, around 3,100 people have tried to escape by boat – an increase by almost three quarters 

Late last week, a boat crammed with Rohingya refugees fleeing a squalid camp in Bangladesh capsized off the coast of Indonesia. Around 75 people were rescued, including nine children, but more than 70 are missing and presumed dead.

3 Rohingya leaders visited Rohingya camps in Bangladesh

Rohingya Refugee Camp
Bangladesh
Mar 11, 2024

Mr. Reza Uddin,Mr. Nay San Lwin and Mr.Tun Khin, Rohingya activists who are unwaveringly dedicated to justice and humanity, warmly greet all of us  during the holy month of Ramadan. 

Indonesia's rescue of Rohingya refugees at sea is a reminder of an ordeal that began in Myanmar

The Star
Saturday, 23 Mar 2024 

Newly arrived Rohingya refugees sleep at their shelter in Meulaboh, West Aceh, on Saturday, March 23, 2024. - AFP

YANGON (AP): A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives.

How Should Bangladesh Handle Myanmar’s Fleeing Soldiers?

THEIDIPLOMAT
By Shahariar Sadat and Arafat Reza
March 15, 2024

More and more Myanmar troops are seeking refuge in Bangladesh. Dhaka can use this situation to its advantage.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel detain Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) and security forces seeking refuge in Cox’s Bazar district in Banglades

On February 6, 264 members of Myanmar’s border and security forces took shelter in Bangladesh to escape heavy fighting between Myanmar’s army and the Arakan Army. They were disarmed by the members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and taken to a safe shelter. Those who sustained critical injuries were given treatment at local hospitals.

Bangladesh hosts 1 Million Rohingya refugees

THE DIPLORMATIC INSIGHT
By Maham Hassan
Dhaka, 15 March 2024

The country of Bangladesh has hosted temporarily 1 million Rohingya Refugees/Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) from Myanmar.

These events have taken place since the Rohingya refugees were compelled to flee to Bangladesh after the eruption of conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in August 2017.

Türkiye's TIKA to serve iftar to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

DAILY SABAR
by Daily Sabah with AA
ISTANBUL Mar 14, 2024

Staff of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) provide food as part of the iftar program for refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, March 13, 2024. (AA Photo)

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) will distribute hot meals for iftar throughout the holy month of Ramadan in the camps in Cox's Bazar, where Rohingya Muslim refugees are housed in Bangladesh.

UK provides £5.2 million additional humanitarian support to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

GOV.UK
British High Commission Dhaka
14 March 2024

The UK is providing an additional £5.2 million (73.2 crore taka) of humanitarian support to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The UK announced this at the launch of the 2024 humanitarian appeal for the Rohingya response in Bangladesh, the Joint Response Plan, in Geneva.

Implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and UN Refugee Agency (UNCHR), this new package of UK assistance will provide food and cooking gas to Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar. 

How do Rohingyas use mobile banking services in camps?

Dhaka Tribune
Siam Sarower Jamil
Publish : 10 Mar 2024, 

• Such illegal activities take place in broad daylight without any obstacles
• Refugees using the mobile networks of Myanmar and Bangladesh
• Mobile banking available because of the availability of illegal SIM cards
• Authorities in the dark 
  

 

The image shows a shop at a Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar. Photo: SK Sharifuddin Ahad/Dhaka Tribune

While the Bangladesh government, foreigners, and development partners are sympathetic towards the Rohingya community living in the world’s largest refugee camps at Ukhiya and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar, their involvement in various crimes involving drugs, arms, and human trafficking has been commonplace since the biggest exodus in history in 2017.

The Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar: 45 Years On

The Irrawaddy
by Tony Waters and R.J. Aung
March 6, 2024

Rohingya refugees wait to receive supplies of rice, water and cooking oil at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. /AFP

A month after the prime minister of Bangladesh raised concerns about the possibility of Rohingya repatriation, UNHCR representatives in Myanmar met with the junta’s education minister on February 7 to discuss repatriation. Meanwhile, Bangladeshi officials are reluctant to act in any way that might be perceived as taking sides between the junta and the ethnic Arakan Army; Bangladesh has perhaps started to understand there is a new sheriff in Rakhine, just across the Naf River.

Death, abuse and torture: traffickers hold fleeing Rohingya to ransom for up to £3,000 a time

The Guardian
Kaamil Ahmed and Verena Hölzl in Cox's Bazar
Tue 5 Mar 2024 

People trapped in the world’s largest refugee camp hope to seek new lives elsewhere despite threats facing them as they attempt to leave Bangladesh 

An overloaded boat holding about 250 Rohingya refugees in Ulee Madon, Aceh province, Indonesia, 16 November 2023.   Photograph: Amanda Jufrian/AFP/Getty Images

Even as dehydration was getting to their passengers, the traffickers using boats to carry hundreds of Rohingya away from refugee camps in Bangladesh thrust phones into their hands and demanded they ask their relatives for money.

Myanmar wants war with Bangladesh, RAB chief says as border skirmishes resume

bdnews24.com
Gopalganj Correspondent
Cox’s Bazar Correspondent & Teknaf
Published : 24 Feb 2024,

He says Hasina’s firm handling of matters has saved Bangladesh from starting a war with ‘provocative’ Myanmar

Myanmar has long been provoking Bangladesh to go into a war with it, but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resolute stance has preventeda full-scale conflict, the chief of the Rapid Action Battalion has said.

Bangladesh police arrest 4 ARSA members with Arms in Cox's Bazar

Narinjara
Date: 25 February 2024 

Four terrorists from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) have been taken into custody by Bangladeshi police from a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, according to Ukhia News.

How is Myanmar's civil war impacting Bangladesh?

CLICK ITTEFAQ
DW
Publish : 23 Feb 2024,

Bangladesh is closely watching the fighting in Myanmar's neighboring Rakhine state

Fighting between Myanmar's junta and the Arakan Army (AA) rebel group in western Myanmar's Rakhine state has intensified. Casualties have also been recorded in Bangladesh, with two people killed by an errant mortar round this month and several injured by gunshots from across the border. Rebel fighters have recently taken control of the Myanmar border region, and are seeking to oust junta forces from elsewhere in the state.

Rohingya crisis may get deeper for Bangladesh, India in coming days: Donald Lu

bdnews24.com
Senior Correspondent
Published : 18 Feb 2024,

The US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia says he now spends a lot of time thinking about the refugee crisis, which does not appear to be getting better

Donald Lu, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, has flagged the security risks from the Rohingya refugee crisis for Bangladesh and India amid the ongoing conflict between the Myanmar military and rebel groups.