Help for Rohingya refugees must be improved, not restricted

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has sent an urgent appeal to Bangladesh, demanding better coordinated humanitarian aid for the approximately 400,000 Rohingya refugees from Burma (Myanmar). The aid organizations should no longer be restricted in their work. “There is a lot of willingness to help – abroad and among the people of Bangladesh – but, due to the restrictions implemented by the authorities, most of the refugees are still waiting for much-needed aid supplies. If the refugees – many of whom have been on the run for several days – are not taken care of adequately, there will be a humanitarian catastrophe,” warned Ulrich Delius, the STP’s director, in Göttingen. “The helpers must be given access to the needy – immediately.”

In Bangladesh, there are not enough shelters for the arriving refugees. The authorities are reluctant to identify areas for new refugee camps. In addition, aid organizations are complaining that they have to apply for every single aid transport, for every distribution – and they often have to wait too long. Often, permits are not granted officially. “There have been complaints like this in Bangladesh for years. If you want to support the Rohingya refugees effectively, you just have to violate the official regulations. This entails the risk of being accused of illegal activities, which in turn can get you expelled,” said Delius. “It is inhumane and scandalous that Bangladesh’s authorities, despite the mass exodus of the Rohingya, are sticking to the restrictive refugee policies, obstructing initiatives to provide help.”

At the beginning of September 2017, following massive international pressure, Bangladesh had finally granted tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees temporary protection. However, the refugees were forced to wait in the border area for several days after the Burmese army had started the attacks. Before, Bangladesh had systematically rejected all Rohingya refugees – so they were all sent back to Burma/Myanmar again.

“Bangladesh’s attempts to help the Rohingya who managed to escape the human rights violations and the violence are still to be seen as half-hearted,” Delius criticized. “There are too many concerns that the impoverished country will not be able to take care of refugees in the longer term. That is why Bangladesh’s government is still trying to get rid of the persecuted Muslim Rohingya instead of showing solidarity.”

Headerphoto: Jordi Bernabeu Farrús via Flickr