Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh — Bangladesh authorities have
bulldozed more than 3,000 Rohingya-run shops since last month, a government
official confirmed Tuesday, as struggling refugee families voiced their dismay
at the demolitions.
اضافة اعلان
About 850,000 members of the stateless Muslim minority are
packed into overcrowded displacement camps in Bangladesh, most having fled
neighboring Myanmar after a 2017 military clampdown that prompted an
international genocide investigation.
Bangladesh has been praised for taking in the refugees but
rights groups have criticized restrictions placed on the refugees, most
recently a drive to knock down makeshift shops that serve their communities.
The country's deputy refugee commissioner Shamsud Douza told
AFP that "more than 3,000 illegal shops" had been demolished.
"The number of Rohingya is increasing. And they need
shelters. We are already building sheds on the premises," he said, adding
that relief groups were ensuring the refugees were still getting daily
necessities.
But Khin Maung, a Rohingya community leader and rights
activist, told AFP the demolitions had already hurt tens of thousands of
refugees in the camps.
"Rohingya families are large and the amount of food
ration given to them is decreasing. Many families used to rely on the income
from the shops," he said.
Salim Ullah, whose grocery shop was torn down, said he would
now struggle to feed his family of eight.
"That shop was my last hope. How do I run a family now?
There is no way out except to die. I am helpless," he told AFP.
Saad Hammadi of Amnesty International said the move would
leave refugees vulnerable to exploitation and worsen conditions in the camps.
"Demolition of shops and closure of community-led
schools ... aggravate tension and frustration," he said.
Hammadi urged authorities to "protect the rights and
dignity of the Rohingya refugees by involving them in the decisions including
their right to earn a living".
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