COX’S BAZAR: Bangladeshic authority has barreled more than 3,000 Rohingya stores since last month, a government official confirmed Tuesday, because the refugee family who struggled voiced disappointed them to demolition.
Around 850,000 members of Muslim minorities without citizenship packed into crowded displacement camps in Bangladesh, most have escaped from Myanmar’s neighbor after the 2017 military clemdown which encouraged an international genocide investigation.
Bangladesh has been praised for accepting refugees but groups of rights have criticized the limits placed on refugees, the last drive to knock down emergency shops that serve their communities.
Deputy Deputy Commissioner of Refugees Shamsud Doza told AFP that “more than 3,000 illegal stores” had been destroyed.
“The rohingya number increases.
And they need a shelter.
We have built a warehouse in place,” he said, adding that the assistance group ensured that the refugees were still getting daily needs.
But Khin Maung, a Rohingya community leader and activist rights, told AFP demolition has hurt tens of thousands of refugees in camps.
“The Rohingya family is great and the number of food rations given to them decreases.
Many families regularly rely on income from shops,” he said.
Salim Ullah, whose grocery store was torn down, said he would now struggle to feed his family eight.
“The shop is my last hope.
How do I run the family now? There is no way out except to die.
I am helpless,” he said.
Saad Hammadi from Amnesty International said the move would leave refugees who were vulnerable to exploitation and worsened the conditions in camps.
“Demolition of shops and closure of schools led by the community …
aggravates tension and frustration,” he said.
Hammadi urged the authorities to “protect the rights and dignity of Rohingya refugees by involving them in decisions including their rights to make a living”.