Running from the Myanmar army, their new home was built to be temporary, and so it proved when it took just 30 minutes for a fire last year to incinerate the metal and bamboo structures of an entire plot of the camp. Camp fires have become common in the five years since 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh, the August 2017 wave joining the roughly 300,000 already there from earlier security crackdowns by the Myanmar military. The conditions these refugees now face – living in fragile shelters, barred from education, work and travel – have faced several generations who have fled decades of violence and discrimination at the hands of the Myanmar government. Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in 1978: decades of persecution followed. Photo: Benoit Gysebergh/Paris Match/Getty Images Begum, 23, was born in Bangladesh with no prospect of a safe return to the Myanmar she has never seen. “We have no peace. The camp is like an open prison for us. Most people suffer from depression and trauma,” he says. “Since I was born, I have faced constant difficulties. I have spent my whole life as a refugee, since 1999, and I still cannot find peace. “I cry when I see fire. My family can’t sleep properly all night because of our fear after the fire. My neighbors are constantly afraid.” Rohingya and aid workers say the refugees who arrived five years ago have been abandoned to the same fate as those before them, blaming aid agencies for decades of failing to ensure basic rights or safe return. A senior aid worker for an international NGO said the United Nations had consistently failed to challenge the Bangladesh government on restrictive policies such as requiring all homes to be temporary, restrictions on education and the movement and relocation of tens of thousands of people. in Bhasan Char. , an island camp vulnerable to extreme weather. “The basic standards of the shelter have not been met and every year the camp burns down,” he said, requesting anonymity. “They often blame climate change for this, which are, frankly, barriers. Responsibility for these fires rests with UNHCR [UN refugee agency] and the IOM [International Organization for Migration]. And they should be held accountable. Where the government has introduced punitive measures, they have never been challenged.” Some Rohingya are trying to improve their shelters in the Kutupalong camp by developing vertical gardens. Photo: Kaamil Ahmed He said the Rohingya do not pose a significant security threat in Bangladesh, which should ensure more humane conditions. “It was a failure and, five years in, the UN must be close to saying it has failed. They won’t – they’ll say we did our best and we’ll look at all the things we’ve done. But they’ve basically set up a prison camp in Cox’s Bazar… it’s crazy when you think about it.” Another frontline worker said aid agencies are too concerned about maintaining good relations with the government so they can continue to operate in Bangladesh. “They rely a lot on these good relations with the government and it was my impression that they value those relations and development programs more than the rights of the Rohingya, who have not been allowed to leave, work or get an education,” he said. . Satellite images show the massive growth of camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, during 2017, when 700,000 fled there from Myanmar Satellite images show the massive growth of camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in 2017, when 700,000 fled there from Myanmar. Photos: Planet Labs At least 7,000 Rohingya were killed in Myanmar’s Rakhine state during several weeks of “clearance operations” by the military, which began on August 25, 2017. The attacks, described as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” by the UN, were ostensibly aimed at eliminating the fringe armed Rohingya group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, but targeted civilians instead. The army and Rakhine villagers used murder, arson and rape to drive hundreds of thousands of people into Bangladesh. The UN called it genocide. Such violence is not new. It was used by the military in 1978 and 1991, creating similar but smaller refugee crises. Both times, Bangladesh carried out repatriation campaigns to force people back, with apparently little international resistance. A report, prepared in 2010 but never published, on UNHCR’s role in camps and repatriations said that in 1978 and throughout the 1990s the agency “moved further from its protection mandate and principles in any of its businesses worldwide.” According to that report, seen by the Guardian, the agency cooperated with the government in repatriation efforts during the 1990s, despite concerns about a lack of consent, intimidation and, in one case, a group of Rohingya forced under the at gunpoint to board boats. Rohingya fleeing Myanmar to the Cox’s Bazar camp in Bangladesh in 1992. Photo: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images A researcher who produced a separate report for the US Congress at the time said that when they were invited by UNHCR to attend a repatriation, they were shocked to see Rohingya burst into tears when told they were being returned to Myanmar . The UN report also noted that the Rohingya faced the same violence and controls when they returned to Myanmar. Some found their villages occupied as military bases. They faced increased taxes and more restrictions on their movements. Many made the return journey to Bangladesh. The report was particularly damning of the Rohingya’s lack of participation in decision-making. He quotes a senior official as saying at a meeting: “The Rohingya are primitive people. At the end of the day, they’re going to go where they’re told to go.” The Rohingya have repeatedly complained that they were not consulted in the repatriation process, including when the UN signed a memorandum of understanding with Myanmar that did not meet their main demand – the restoration of civil rights stripped in 1982. The refugees had to walk many hours every day to find firewood. Some have stocked up on gas, but rising prices could mean a return to logging. Photo: Kaamil Ahmed UNHCR spokeswoman Regina de la Portia said it would ensure any future repatriation was safe and that informed consent was obtained, but that conditions in Myanmar were not currently suitable for return. “It is clear that, this time, the return must be voluntary, safe and sustainable and that it can only happen if the basic rights and human rights of the Rohingya in Myanmar are guaranteed,” he said. “That means they are given documentation, they have services, they have freedom of movement and their safety is ensured.” The lack of opportunities in the camps has helped fuel a trafficking network that has seen tens of thousands of Rohingya trafficked from Bangladesh and Myanmar to Malaysia. In 2015, the Thai government discovered mass graves in one of the jungle camps where captive refugees were being held. The gang members threatened to kidnap me if I went out any more. I already feel dead inside Anwara Begum, refugee The trafficking network appeared dormant for several years afterwards, but is now active again, with reports of vessels reaching southeast Asia. Last week, the Indonesian navy had to raise a sinking boat carrying more than 100 people. The Rohingya complain that insecurity has increased in the camps, fueled by armed gangs vying for dominance. Last year, the most prominent Rohingya civil society leader, Mohib Ullah, was assassinated in his office. Two other leaders were shot in the camps last week. Speaking in the Nayapara refugee camp, Anuara Begum says gang members have threatened to kidnap her if she continues to work with NGOs and advocate for girls’ education. “They said I’m a bad influence on the community. The miscreants threatened to kidnap me if they came out again,” he says. “I’m afraid of them now and can only sneak out. I already feel dead inside.” Communal television allows some in the camps to forget their problems for a while. Photo: Kaamil Ahmed All attempts by Bangladesh to initiate repatriations have failed, with no refugees registering willing to return. Last year’s military coup in Myanmar means the country is no safer for the Rohingya since 2017. Progress towards justice has also been slow. A genocide case against Myanmar brought by Gambia to the UN International Court of Justice moved from the preliminary stage to a recent ruling, but the international criminal court’s investigation into forced deportations by the military has been slower. Evidence gathered by the International Justice and Accountability Commission and submitted to the ICC investigation showed that there was evidence that Myanmar’s military had been planning operations to expel the Rohingya for years. Satellite images show the expansion of the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh as of November 2017. Satellite images show the expansion of the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh as of November 2017. Photos: Planet Labs De la Portilla said the UNCHR tried to improve conditions within the temporary response framework set by the government, with better sanitation systems, fire response capacity and the gradual development of limited secondary education. But financing has become a major obstacle, especially when global prices have soared for essentials such as natural gas, which prevents refugees from cutting firewood. Khin Maung heads the Rohingya Youth Association based in the camp. He says UN rights chief Michelle…
