Irrawaddy-July 13
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Bangladeshi authorities of failing to protect Rohingya refugees amid surging violence. The New York-based rights group also called for refugees to be provided with services to report crimes. It said the authorities force Rohingya leaders to serve as informants, putting them at risk without protection. “The government should create a rights-respecting security policy in consultation with refugees and the United Nations. Donor governments should press Bangladesh to remove barriers to justice,” said HRW’s statement on Thursday. The US civilian security and human rights representative Uzra Zeya and South Asian affairs envoy Donald Lu visited a Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday. HRW said it had documented 26 cases of violence against Rohingya, including murder, kidnapping, torture, rape and forced marriage, through interviews with 45 Rohingyas between January and April along with police and medical reports. Victims said they face obstacles in getting police, legal and medical assistance with the authorities failing to provide protection, improve security or prosecute those responsible. “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s past pledges to protect Rohingya refugees are now threatened by violent groups and an indifferent justice system,” said Meenakshi Ganguly of HRW. “The Bangladesh authorities’ increasingly evident intention to repatriate the Rohingya does not absolve the government of its responsibility to ensure their protection. “The Bangladesh government needs to protect Rohingya refugees, rather than let criminal elements drive them out,” Ganguly said. “Donor governments should be helping to meet the humanitarian needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh while pressing for the establishment of rights-respecting civilian rule in Myanmar so they can one day go home.” The violence in the camps has escalated amid Bangladesh’s increasingly coercive restrictions on livelihoods, movement and education, including harassment at checkpoints and the closing of community schools and markets. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/asia/protect-rohingya-from-armed-gangs-hrw.html
