Bangladesh to lift Rohingya internet ban as anniversary nears

The Dispetch
Thomson Reuters Foundation
August 29, 2020
By Naimul Karim

DHAKA: Bangladesh will lift internet restrictions imposed on nearly a million Rohingya refugees, a senior official said on Monday, ahead of the third anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar.

The Bangladesh government has been under pressure from the United Nations and aid groups to end the restrictions over fears they are hampering efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus and provide a basic education to thousands of children.

UAE announces aid for a million Rohingya refugees in flood-hit Bangladesh

  MENAFN

Date -8/27/2020 

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The United Arab Emirates has announced assistance to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, to support it in delivering an aid shipment to Cox''s Bazar in Bangladesh, following recent floods that struck a camp housing more than a million Rohingya refugees.

Japan to provide $329mn to combat corona: Abe tells Hasina

UNB
UNB NEWS
August 05, 2020

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina & Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. File photo

Japan on Wednesday pledged to provide some USD 329 million (equivalent to 35 billion yen) to Bangladesh as grant for combating coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bangladesh.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the announcement when he talked to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina over phone in the afternoon, said PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim.

Rohingyas: Dhaka for involving youths globally to mobilise opinion on accountability, justice

UNB
UNB News
Dhaka
Publish- July 25, 2020,

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said the wave and strength of public opinion involving youths globally can help end the plight of Rohingyas and create a more sustainable world of peace and stability.

"We must involve youths in our campaign for a better and sustainable world of peace and stability. Because they’re ones who can achieve it," he said while responding to a question from UNB at a virtual briefing on Saturday.

Move Rohingya from flood-prone island: HRW urges Bangladesh

Aljazeera 
9th July2020

Rights group accuses authorities of using pandemic to detain refugees after 300 of them kept on Bhashan Char island.

View of the island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh February 14, 2018 [File: Reuters]

Human Rights Watch has called on Bangladesh to move more than 300 Rohingya refugees, including children, to the camps in Cox's Bazaar district, more than two months after they were quarantined on a small flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh – Rohingya Response Operation Overview, June 2020

WFP 8 Jul 2020

China supplying funds, missiles and other sophisticated weaponry to terrorist group Arakan Army to weaken India and Myanmar: Report

OpIdia
2 July, 2020
OpIndia Staff

China had earlier this year, managed to bring in a huge consignment of weapons and ammunition through Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts to Myanmar. 

Arakan Army

 

News reports published in Myanmar recently have accused China of supplying sophisticated arms to Arakan Army armed group, a declared terrorist organisation in Myanmar, and other armed groups in Myanmar to have an upper hand over India and Myanmar.

According to military sources in Myanmar, approximately 95 per cent of Arakan Army funding comes from China. It further confirmed that the Arakan Army has approximately 50 MANPADS (Man-Portable Air Defense Systems) surface-to-air missiles. 

Bangladesh urges US to invest in health sector

Dhaka Tribune
Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan
June 30th, 2020

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

In a telephone conversation with US secretary of state, foreign minister also requested Washington to provide duty free quota free privilege for readymade garments for next two years

On the heels of the country's fight against Covid-19 with a fragile healthcare system, Bangladesh has requested the United States to invest in the health sector.

In a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen also requested Washington to provide duty free quota free privilege for the next two years.

Covid-19: UK pledges to help BD, Rohingyas

dailyobserver

 Thursday, 25 June, 2020

UK International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has said they are strongly committed to helping Bangladesh and the Rohingya people through this devastating crisis.

She came on a virtual visit to Bangladesh on Wednesday and saw how UK aid is working with the government of Bangladesh to tackle coronavirus in the country.

The UK has dedicated at least £21 million to tackle coronavirus in Bangladesh, where 120,000 cases have been reported.

UK minister urged to mount pressure on Myanmar over Rohingya on virtual Bangladesh visit

bdnews24.com
Staff Correspondent,
25 Jun 2020

Bangladesh has once again called on the UK to exert and increase pressure on Myanmar for solving the Rohingya crisis urgently through sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya refugees to Rakhine.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and UK International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan discussed the issue during her “virtual visit” to Bangladesh on Wednesday.

UN adopts resolution asking Myanmar to take back Rohingya from Bangladesh

bdnews24.com

Staff Correspondent,
23 Jun 2020 

The United Nations Human Rights Council or UNHCR has adopted a resolution urging the repatriation of the Rohingya people in Myanmar.

 

The Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to Geneva said in a media statement on Monday that the resolution titled "Human Rights Situation in Myanmar" was adopted at the current session of the assembly.

Rohingya boat people being held for ransom at sea

Reuters
June 15, 2020

Malaysia has said it will not accept Rohingya refugees after tightening its borders due to Covid-19. (MMEA pic)

DHAKA: Rohingya refugees attempting to reach Malaysia by boat from Bangladesh are being held hostage by human traffickers who have demanded large ransoms from their relatives with threats of violence, according to several families and aid organisations.

About a dozen Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh told Thomson Reuters Foundation they had received phone calls from traffickers demanding money to stop relatives from being abandoned at sea and, in some cases, raped or killed.

‘No’ to any more Rohingyas

Daily Express

June 10, 2020
By: FMT

Pic (Bernama) for illustration only.

PUTRAJAYA: The government said Tuesday it will not allow Rohingya refugees, especially those who fled from Cox Bazar, to remain in the country.Cox Bazar is a refugee settlement in the southeast coast of Bangladesh. In questioning some of the tactics used by the refugees, senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said it “made it difficult” for Malaysian authorities.

Bangladesh has no obligation to take Rohingyas: FM

Bangladesh Post
By Diplomatic Correspondent
Jun.09, 2020

 Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday asserted that under no circumstances Bangladesh was obligated to take Rohingyas in the country.

He made the comment when a reporter asked him about the Rohingyas detained in Malaysia on Tuesday.

There have been reports that Malaysia is planning to push them to Bangladesh which has given shelter to over 1.1 million Myanmar nationals fled ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State.

Bangladesh says will not take Rohingya refugees detained in Malaysia

malaymail
Wednesday, 10 Jun 2020

Malaysia on Monday detained 269 Rohingya refugees and found a dead body on a damaged boat off the resort island of Langkawi. — Reuters pic

DHAKA, June 10 — Bangladesh said Tuesday it would refuse to take back 269 Rohingya refugees detained by the Malaysian coastguard while they were adrift on a damaged boat.

“Bangladesh will not take them. Bangladesh is neither obligated nor in a position to take any more Rohingya,” Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told Anadolu Agency.

Malaysia on Monday detained 269 Rohingya refugees and found a dead body on a damaged boat off the resort island of Langkawi.

Malaysia to ask Bangladesh to take back Rohingya refugees found at sea

REUTERS
9th June 2020

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia will ask Bangladesh to take back about 300 Rohingya refugees detained after a boat carrying them entered its waters this week, the southeast Asian nation’s defence minister said on Tuesday.

Malaysia does not recognise refugee status but has been a favoured destination for ethnic Rohingya, most of them Muslims, who fled a 2017 military-led crackdown in Myanmar, and more recently, squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Rohingya repatriation: Bangladesh urges EU for more pressure on Myanmar

The Daily Star

June 04, 2020
Star Online Report

Bangladesh has urged the European Union to put more pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingya refugees living in makeshift camps in Cox's Bazar.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen made the appeal during a courtesy phone call with Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney yesterday, said a press statement issued by the foreign ministry.

First Rohingya man dies of COVID-19 in Bangladesh

NEWAGE
Jun 02,2020

Rohingyas from Myanmar make their way through the rice field after crossing the border in Palang Khali in Bangladesh in October 2017. — Reuters file photo

A Rohingya man died from coronavirus infection while undergoing treatment at the isolation centre at Ukhiya camp in Cox’s Bazar on Monday night.

The deceased could not be identified immediately but he was a 71 year old man, said Abu Toha MRH Bhuiyan, health coordinator of the Refugee, Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.

UN Women and Rohingya women at the frontline of COVID-19 response

reliefweb
1 Jun 2020
Author: Sunee Singh

Colorful masks made by the Rohigya women & girls. © UN Women/Nadira Islam

 

The world in lockdown has created a ‘profound shock to our societies and economies, and women are at the heart of care and response efforts underway[1]. Primarily as caregivers, women are not just sustaining families, but also serving as front-line responders, mainly in the health and service sector.

Rohingya Influx and its Economic Significance for Bangladesh

moderndiplomacy
May 31, 2020

Shuva Das

Authors:Shuva Das & Sherajul Mustajib Sharif*

Rohingya refugees fleeing conflict and persecution in Myanmar (file photo). IOM/Mohammed 

It is generally perceived that refugees are curse for host countries though the former often play positive roles for the latter. The context of Bangladesh over hosting Rohingya refugees is portrayed in such a way that demonstrates they are solely an obvious danger for the country in the areas of its economy, politics, environment, health, and security. The above argument is true but it is a one-sided view which is enough to make hospitable Bangladeshis hostile against the Rohingya. Thus, it is crucial to explore in which areas the Rohingya have made positive contributions in Bangladesh. In this article, we intend to elucidate the economic benefits offered by the displaced Rohingya for the host country.