HRW finds Bangladesh's Rohingya policy ‘cruel’; urges govt to open borders
Dhaka, Aug 23 (UNB) - New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has slammed the government for its restrictions on humanitarian aid to Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing persecution and violence in neighbouring Myanmar.
“The government of Bangladesh should immediately cease its punitive restrictions on international organisations providing lifesaving humanitarian aid to the more than 200,000 Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh,” the HRW said on Wednesday, urging the government to open borders to Rohingya refugees.
In July, it said, the Bangladesh government ordered three prominent international aid organizations - Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger), and Muslim Aid - to cease providing assistance to Rohingyas living in Cox’s Bazar and surrounding areas.
“The Bangladeshi government is trying to make conditions for Rohingya refugees already living in Bangladesh so awful that people fleeing brutal abuses in neighboring Burma will stay home,” said Bill Frelick, director of the Refugees Program at Human Rights Watch. “This is a cruel and inhumane policy that should immediately be reversed. The government should be welcoming aid organisations that provide life-saving aid, not shutting down their programs to assist refugees,” he said.
“Since mid-June, Bangladesh authorities have admitted to forcing back at least 1,300 Rohingyas trying to flee to Bangladesh, though the actual number is likely substantially higher,” the HRW said.
“Rohingyas are escaping killings, looting, and other sectarian violence in Arakan State, as well as abuses by the Burmese authorities, including ethnically motivated attacks and mass arrests.”
The sectarian violence in Arakan state broke out in early June between ethnic Arakan Buddhists and both Rohingya and non-Rohingya Muslims, displacing over 100,000 people. Myanmar authorities failed to protect both communities from violent mobs and committed killings, beatings, rape, mass arrests, and other abuses against Rohingya, in some cases alongside armed Arakan.
As a result of the violence and abuses, thousands of Rohingyas attempted to flee to Bangladesh for safety. “But they’ve been met with a sealed border and a Bangladesh government policy of push-backs that constitute refoulement, forced return, in violation of international law,” the HRW said.
“The government of Bangladesh should immediately cease its punitive restrictions on international organisations providing lifesaving humanitarian aid to the more than 200,000 Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh,” the HRW said on Wednesday, urging the government to open borders to Rohingya refugees.
In July, it said, the Bangladesh government ordered three prominent international aid organizations - Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger), and Muslim Aid - to cease providing assistance to Rohingyas living in Cox’s Bazar and surrounding areas.
“The Bangladeshi government is trying to make conditions for Rohingya refugees already living in Bangladesh so awful that people fleeing brutal abuses in neighboring Burma will stay home,” said Bill Frelick, director of the Refugees Program at Human Rights Watch. “This is a cruel and inhumane policy that should immediately be reversed. The government should be welcoming aid organisations that provide life-saving aid, not shutting down their programs to assist refugees,” he said.
“Since mid-June, Bangladesh authorities have admitted to forcing back at least 1,300 Rohingyas trying to flee to Bangladesh, though the actual number is likely substantially higher,” the HRW said.
“Rohingyas are escaping killings, looting, and other sectarian violence in Arakan State, as well as abuses by the Burmese authorities, including ethnically motivated attacks and mass arrests.”
The sectarian violence in Arakan state broke out in early June between ethnic Arakan Buddhists and both Rohingya and non-Rohingya Muslims, displacing over 100,000 people. Myanmar authorities failed to protect both communities from violent mobs and committed killings, beatings, rape, mass arrests, and other abuses against Rohingya, in some cases alongside armed Arakan.
As a result of the violence and abuses, thousands of Rohingyas attempted to flee to Bangladesh for safety. “But they’ve been met with a sealed border and a Bangladesh government policy of push-backs that constitute refoulement, forced return, in violation of international law,” the HRW said.
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