Thursday, April 19, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Four Myanmar Workers Found Guilty In 2015 Killing Of Thai Woman

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 08:13 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – A provincial court in Ranong, Thailand, has found four Myanmar migrant workers guilty of charges related to the killing of a Thai woman in 2015 and on Thursday sentenced two of them to eight and six years imprisonment.

The suspects – Wai Lin, Sein Kadone, Moe Zin Aung and Kyaw Soe Win – were arrested on Oct. 28, 2015 for the gruesome murder of a 17-year-old Thai woman, Orawee Sampaotong, a month earlier. They were charged with a total of five counts including murder.

Sein Kadone was sentenced to eight years in prison while Wai Lin received six years, after the judge of the Ranong provincial court handed down the guilty verdicts. In addition, they were both ordered to pay fines of 570,000 baht.

Moe Zin Aung and Kyaw Soe Win, who were both minors at the time of the crime, were sentenced to four and two years jail, respectively, by the Juvenile Court of Ranong. The court also ordered Moe Zin Aung to pay an 810,000 baht fine and Kyaw Soe Win to pay 270,000 baht.

The final verdicts came two and half years after the foursome's initial arrest, and followed 76 court hearings.

Kyaw Soe Win, 17, will be released from prison on Thursday as he has already served 2 years and five months in prison. He will be returned to Myanmar authorities and then to his home in Myeik Township, Tanintharyi Region.

Moe Zin Aung will be released in eight months when he turns 18, according to his mother, Daw Ei Ei Moe, who said his birthday was on Dec. 3

After the verdict was issued, Daw Ei Ei Moe told The Irrawaddy that the ruling was "unfair, as my son did not commit the crime."

She blamed her son's naiveté and his belief that "he would be out of trouble if he did what the police told him to do during a crime re-enactment after they were arrested."

"It took about four, five, six days to do that crime re-enactment and they were beaten for not being able to perform it the way they had been taught," she said, insisting that her son and the other three were forced to plead guilty to a crime they did not commit.

The mother said she could not believe the bad luck that had led to her son and the other migrant workers being arrested because the young men were usually on land for only 5-6 days a month as most of the time they were on fishing boats at sea. Moe Zin Aung had been working as part of a fishing crew for about a year when he was arrested, she said.

The suspects' defense lawyer will appeal the ruling, said U Min Oo, a migrant rights advocate at the Foundation for Education Development (FED), who has been helping with the case.

"I don't think the ruling was just," U Min Oo told The Irrawaddy, because most of the evidence presented by the prosecution was rejected as implausible.

He said the defense lawyers presented key pieces of evidence in support of the men's innocence but to no avail, because blurred CCTV footage was accepted over clearer footage along with DNA evidence from the woman's dead body that was incomplete. In addition, the four migrants were forced to confess under police torture during interrogation, he said.

Daw Ei Ei Moe said that continuing the legal struggle would be worthwhile if it helped other Myanmar workers better understand the possible risks they faced in Thailand.

"If this case brings some awareness to other migrants [from Myanmar] about the dangers that they could face in Thailand, it will be worth it to appeal," she said.

Myanmar migrants in Thailand have been seen as easy scapegoats for a string of crimes including the rape and murder of two tourists on Koh Tao Island in southern Thailand in 2014. Two Myanmar migrant workers were sentenced to death in December 2015 for the murder of the two British backpackers in September 2014. The verdict on their latest appeal has yet to be handed down.

The post Four Myanmar Workers Found Guilty In 2015 Killing Of Thai Woman appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rohingya Arrests in India Raise Fears Among Diaspora

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 05:38 AM PDT

Sitting in his dilapidated house in Assam State's Dhubri District, Asif wonders what fate has in store for him and the hundreds of other Rohingya who live on the fringes of survival across India. His worries are not unfounded, as there is the sense of increasing police surveillance of the country’s Rohingya population, especially after the arrests of eight Rohingya in the past month near the town of Moreh on the border with Myanmar.

It remains unclear whether the men are human traffickers, as accused, or were merely trying to enter India illegally to settle. Perhaps they are among the roughly 700,000 Rohingya who have fled their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State — mostly for Bangladesh — after a military crackdown there triggered by militant Rohingya attacks on security posts in late August 2017. But the media in India are awash with stories virtually pronouncing at least two of the eight Rohingya, arrested on April 7 near Moreh, human traffickers. Many reports even claim that the two men — identified as Md Saifullah, 34, and Md Salam, 25, from Rakhine’s Maungdaw Township — were trying to sell a 20-year-old woman.

Manipur State police on Monday told The Irrawaddy that so far "nothing is clear," and that the arrested men were "only suspected" of trafficking. Tengnoupal District Police Superintendent S. Ibomcha said the 20-year-old woman, also from Maungdaw, may even be the wife of one of the suspects. She was brought before a local court earlier this week because she did not have any travel documents with her when arrested along with the two men.

Soon after the April 7 arrest, two more men were apprehended on suspicion of being part of the same group. But as with the other arrests, there is no solid evidence of trafficking. Manipur police have launched an investigation to get to the truth. But that has not stopped the rumor mill from turning, which makes Rohingya living in India that much more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, even for political ends.

Members of Manipur’s civil society, including Women's Action for Development and the United NGOs Mission Manipur (UNMM), are concerned that the Rohingya are being painted by some as a terrorist threat to justify keeping the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act on the books.

The law took effect in Manipur in 1980 because of the state’s history with militant groups, though critics say it has often been used to shield human rights abuses by the security forces. The Indian Army, the Assam Rifles and the Manipur Police all enjoy special protection under the law. Still, in July, the Supreme Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe allegations that they had carried out extrajudicial killings. Between 2000 and 2012, 1,528 people were killed in encounters with the state’s security forces.

Nabakishore, who heads the UNMM, says the military is always looking for a reason to justify the continued need for the Special Powers Act, especially when New Delhi is under pressure to scrap it. He recalled a claim from a retired general a few months ago that the Islamic State was attempting to establish itself in northeast India and that a stateless community like the Rohingya could become easy prey for recruiters. Such claims that the country’s estimated 40,000 Rohingya pose a security threat, even if they have no connections to any terrorist organization, are being promoted by government officials and right-wing groups pushing for their deportation to Myanmar.

So it is not without reason that Asif and others like him fear for their lives or falling victim to traffickers and terrorists.

I asked Asif if he feared getting deported or detained for questioning. He replied that his greatest fear was “of being trapped between traffickers, smugglers, unknown people and cops…. It's easy, because the human traffickers are our very own people and are part of a brutal human trafficking syndicate that has its tentacles spread out all over the region.”

Far away, his fears were echoed by another young Rohingya man. Aziz, who works as a roti seller in Bangkok, said he feared “being trapped between the traffickers and the cops."

Their fears are not misplaced. Reports of the mass graves that were unearthed in a squalid jungle camp in southern Thailand in 2015, where hundreds of Rohingya migrants had been brutally exploited, are still fresh in their minds. The related arrest of a senior Thai army general was widely reported, as was the involvement of police, Rohingya traffickers and a former provincial official turned prominent businessman.

After a historic two-year trial, the 500-page verdict issued on July 19 by the Bangkok Criminal Court included convictions against the three-star general, the former official and 60 others for trafficking Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Thailand.

Yet Rohingya men and women remain vulnerable. Asif and Aziz say they feel as though nothing has changed

"There is the danger of getting caught by traffickers and falling prey like so many of our people everywhere," Aziz said. He soon warned that I should not be seen talking to him lest it attract the attention of “boidmaish manush,” or “bad people."

Those closely tracking the spread of human trafficking networks in the Rohingya community say that a Myanmar Muslim suspected of having played a key role the previous trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshis into Thailand’s notorious fishing industry was still active and exploiting the latest flood of refugees.

Recent months have seen news reports of young boys going missing from the sprawling Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar District, and of international humanitarian agencies warning of expanding trafficking networks in the camps. In November, the International Organization for Migration told AFP that human trafficking in the camps was “rife.”

Rohingya are surely the most exploited stateless community today and their situation is only getting worse. Myanmar refuses to recognize them as an ethnic group, denying the vast majority of them a path to citizenship, or to provide them much protection from abuse by the military and Buddhist nationalists. Until it does, Rohingya both in Myanmar and neighboring countries will continue to struggle for recognition as a community, and those like Asif and Aziz will perhaps continue to live in fear of ending up as slave labor, terrorist tools or useful bogeymen for scaremongers with ulterior motives.

 The author is a former senior journalist who has worked for national and international news media in India and elsewhere. Currently he is a contributing editor for The Irrawaddy.

The post Rohingya Arrests in India Raise Fears Among Diaspora appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Tatmadaw Says Kachin IDPs Cannot Stay in Tanai

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 05:29 AM PDT

The Myanmar Army (Tatmadaw) said yesterday that it would forcibly return Kachin IDPs from Awng Lawt who have fled to Tanai town. The army announced that Awng Lawt, which is near the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)'s Brigade 2, was now under the Tatmadaw's control, according to local sources.

Tatmadaw personnel drove around Tanai announcing that the army would "help" IDPs and assist their return to Awng Lawt village. In the announcement, the Tatmadaw claimed the KIA had burned down some villagers' homes.

"We will not allow an IDP camp for villagers who fled fighting in Awng Lawt village to open in the town. You must all go back and stay in your village. We announce that we will offer all necessary assistance to enable you to resettle in your village," the army announced in Tanai.

The Tatmadaw said it had not destroyed any private property in the village. It said the KIA had withdrawn from its base near Awng Lawt. All property was intact except for some homes that had been burned down by the KIA as it was withdrawing from the village, the army said in its announcement.

The KIA denied the accusation that it had burned homes.

KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu said the KIA would never destroy the homes of its own people. He accused the Tatmadaw of lying.

"What they're saying is untrue. It is the KIA's policy not to destroy public property," Col Naw Bu said.

In its announcement, the Tatmadaw said township authorities and religious and community leaders would help the IDPs get back to their village, and that the army would even escort them.

It ordered residents of Tanai who were sheltering IDPs from Awng Lawt village to inform the township authorities in order to facilitate their return.

There are two different groups of IDPs from Awng Lawt village. A group of about 200 were stranded in Tanai while attending a religious festival there after the Tatmadaw launched an offensive on April 11. Another group of about 2,000 IDPs were hiding in an area of jungle controlled by KIA Brigade 2 in the Hukawng Valley.

The KIA's Col Naw Bu said both the KIA and the Tatmadaw had deployed troops on the road from Tanai to Awng Lawt village. The situation there was still unstable, with clashes reported daily, including an intense exchange on Wednesday.

The KIA spokesman said it was not yet safe for IDPs to return to Awng Lawt village. "If they come back, the situation is not safe for them, as it is a war zone. There is no guarantee that local people will be safe. Even in Awng Lawt itself, the situation is not stable yet. Local people will face many problems if they come back," Col Naw Bu said.

KIA Brigade 2 has four battalions based in the Hukawng Valley. Awng Lawt village had been its headquarters until it was captured in a Tatmadaw offensive on April 11 involving air and ground forces, as well as long-range shelling. The KIA was forced to abandon the headquarters as it was unable to repel the attack, according to a KIA source.

The Tatmadaw also shelled the KIA's main headquarters in Laiza. At least two civilians were killed and another five wounded in its shelling of the Laiza and Tanai areas.

Earlier in the month the KIA announced it was launching a guerilla and landmine offensive against areas in Tanai that are home to illegal mining operations.

Some 1,200 IDPs still trapped in jungle areas by fighting are receiving help from some Kachin Christian groups and community leaders. There are believed to be other groups of IDPs hiding in the jungle, but the religious groups have not been able to assist them yet.

More than 100,000 Kachin remain displaced from their homes after a 17-year ceasefire between the central government and the KIA collapsed in 2011.

Peace talks have been held numerous times between the two armed groups. The Myanmar Army has repeatedly asked the KIA to withdraw from some of its bases in areas rich in amber, jade and gold mining, as well as in an area that falls along China's One Belt One Road initiative. The KIA has refused to withdraw, and cites ongoing human rights abuses carried out by the Myanmar Army.

The post Tatmadaw Says Kachin IDPs Cannot Stay in Tanai appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bagan Renovations Nearly Complete Following 2016 Earthquake

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 03:22 AM PDT

YANGON — The extensive renovation of quake-hit pagodas in Bagan is nearly 80 percent complete, according to the Bagan branch of the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library.

"We had to perform emergency restoration in the first stage. The second stage is the renovation, which we have completed about 80 percent. Next, we will carry out work to keep them durable," said director U Aung Aung Kyaw of the department branch.

Affected temples and pagodas are categorized into three priority levels depending on the severity of damage and the heritage value.

According to the department, 36 were on the list of top priority, 53 on the list of second priority, and 300 were third priority. Renovations have been carried out on 302 pagodas, 28 are undergoing renovations and 59 have yet to be repaired.

The department aims to complete renovation work by 2020, said chief engineer U Soe Soe Lin of the Bagan branch.

With technical assistance from UNESCO, the Association of Myanmar Architects, the Myanmar Engineering Society, seismologists, and technicians from technological universities have also joined the renovation work.

"Technicians from UNESCO have set up guidelines, and also provided technical advice," he said.

Some 389 pagodas and temples out of a total of 3,252 in Bagan were damaged by the powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake on Aug. 24, 2016.

Bagan, the country's major tourist attraction, is home to pagodas and temples dating from the 9th to the 13th centuries— a period in which some 50 Buddhist kings ruled the Pagan Dynasty.

Myanmar's initial application for UNESCO recognition of Bagan as a World Heritage Site came in 1996, but it was rejected due to poor management plans and legal frameworks under previous governments.

However, UNESCO has accepted Bagan as a mixed cultural heritage zone, which means that there is no need to relocate villages, hotels or guesthouses in the area.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Bagan Renovations Nearly Complete Following 2016 Earthquake appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UN Rights Envoy Retweets False Report of Amnesty for Soldiers Who Killed Rohingya

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 03:01 AM PDT

YANGON — The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee on Wednesday retweeted a false news report that seven Myanmar military personnel jailed for taking part in a massacre of Rohingya had been released as part of the president's New Year's amnesty.

Lee retweeted video footage from Myanmar National Television on her Twitter account on Wednesday, accompanied by the message, "Where is justice? 7 Tadmadaw guilty of Inn Dinn massacre released but the 2 #Reuters journalists remain in prison?" The name Tatmadaw refers to Myanmar's military.

A false news report retweeted by UN rights envoy Yanghee Lee on Wednesday continued to appear on her Twitter account as of Thursday.

The report later turned out to be false.

The false report was first broadcast on Myanmar National Television on Wednesday, but was pulled off the air after an hour. MNTV is a government-affiliated broadcaster run by Sky Net. It is owned by Shwe Thanlwin Company, which is chaired by tycoon U Kyaw Win.

Myanmar President's Office spokesman Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy by telephone on Wednesday that the MNTV report was totally false. He confirmed that the military prisoners are still in jail.

"The news is not true," he said. "They must apologize for it."

MNTV on Thursday apologized for the false report in a post on its Facebook page.

According to official documents, the New Year's amnesty included 55 army deserters, 29 drug smugglers (including some Rakhine and Muslim convicts), and three people convicted of violating the Unlawful Associations Act.

The MNTV report misstated that 97 prisoners from Sittwe prison has been pardoned, when in fact the total was 87.

Pyone Kathy Naing, a Lower House National League for Democracy lawmaker, said it was wrong of Lee, as a high-profile UN official involved in solving the Rakhine crisis, to retweet misinformation, as it could have a negative impact on the situation.

"She shared the information without knowing whether or not it is true. So, it is very questionable whether she wants to tackle the complexity of the Rakhine issue, or is making it more difficult. Myanmar should make [an official] response," Pyone Kathy Naing said.

Lee was not alone in spreading the fake news.

Human rights group Fortify Rights also tweeted: "#Myanmar state-run media announced that seven soldiers convicted for the massacre of #Rohingya in Inn Dinn were free yesterday in a presidential amnesty. Impunity reigns in Myanmar. The time for International Justice is Now."

Fortify Rights also republished the false story on Wednesday but later took it down.

As of Thursday afternoon, Lee had not deleted the post—which had been retweeted 60 times—from her twitter account. The human rights group's post had been taken down.

The Myanmar Army sentenced the seven men to 10 years' imprisonment for the extrajudicial killings in September of 10 Rohingya in the village of Inn Din in southern Maungdaw Township in the north of Rakhine State. Two local reporters working for Reuters who had investigated the killings have been detained since late last year and are now on trial for allegedly violating Myanmar's Official Secrets Act.

Lee has been barred from entering Myanmar since December. The government and military had complained that Lee's reporting on the situation in Myanmar had been biased for about six months leading up to the ban.

The special rapporteur's mandate requires two visits to Myanmar a year, in order to report to the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. Since taking up the mandate in June 2014, Lee has visited Myanmar six times.

The post UN Rights Envoy Retweets False Report of Amnesty for Soldiers Who Killed Rohingya appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

6,000 Homebuyers Apply for 1,000 Low-Cost Housing Units in Yangon

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 02:47 AM PDT

YANGON — More than 6,000 Yangon residents have submitted applications to purchase 1,000-plus low-cost apartments put up for sale by the Yangon regional government, according to the government Public Housing Sale Committee.

"Over 20,000 people bought application forms, but only 6,000 of them have submitted applications," U Nyi Nyi, secretary of the Public Housing Sale Committee, told The Irrawaddy.

The committee is due to meet by the end of this month to determine how the apartments will be allotted. "We'll discuss to whom to sell the apartments at the meeting," he said.

The Public Housing Sale Committee received a total of 6,020 application forms—753 from retired civil servants, 1,761 from civil servants, 843 from company staff and 2,663 from the general public.

The committee, which is staffed by regional lawmakers and department heads, will choose the buyers based on a majority decision by the committee members.

"We will make sure there is no nepotism in selling those apartments," said U Nyi Nyi, who also represents South Dagon Township in the regional parliament.

The apartments up for sale are in South Dagon, Dagon Seikkan, Thingangyun, Hlaing Tharyar, Shwepyithar and North Okkalapa townships.

Application forms were sold from Feb. 5-20 for 1,000 kyats each, according to the Department of Urban and Housing Development.

"The price of an Ava Housing apartment is around five million kyats cheaper than the normal price of an apartment," U Min Min, who has applied to buy a unit in the Ava project in South Dagon Township, told The Irrawaddy.

Buyers are required to place a down payment of 30 percent of the price of the apartment, and then pay monthly installments for a period of 10 to 15 years.

"It is not easy for a middle-class family to buy an apartment today. It may take more than 15 years to save up enough money to buy one. So, the installment system provided by the government is good for us," U Min Min said.

"We don't know yet which is the most popular township. But it seems most of the applicants have applied for apartments in the Ava Housing project. We are trying to sell more apartments," U Nyi Nyi said.

The apartments on offer have selling prices of 10 million to 60 million kyats depending on their location—the cheapest are in Dagon Seikkan and the more expensive ones in other townships— according to the Public Housing Sale Committee.

In his New Year's speech, President U Win Myint highlighted the country's housing problem, and promised that his government would give priority to providing accommodation for retired civil servants.

According to the president, 4,627 apartment units have been built in regions and states for civil servants over the past two years, and 7,000 more would be built in the next three years.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post 6,000 Homebuyers Apply for 1,000 Low-Cost Housing Units in Yangon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Carries Out Live Fire Drills, Unclear if Aimed at Taiwan

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 09:39 PM PDT

BEIJING — China's military has conducted live-fire drills along the southeast coastline, state television reported, but it was unclear if these were the same exercises that had been flagged as taking place in the sensitive Taiwan Strait.

The government had said the drills would happen on Wednesday off the city of Quanzhou, in between two groups of islands close to China’s coast but that Taiwan has controlled since 1949 when defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island at the end of the Chinese civil war.

Chinese state media has said the drills were a direct response to “provocations” by Taiwan leaders related to what China fears are moves to push for the self-ruled island’s formal independence. China claims Taiwan as its sacred territory.

Late on Wednesday, Chinese state television showed footage of helicopters firing missiles during an exercise it said was happening on China’s southeast coast.

State television only showed pictures of helicopters, with no mention of ships or other military equipment such as tanks or amphibious assault vehicles.

The exercises took place from 8 a.m. until midnight, the report said, giving the same time frame for the previously announced drills in the Taiwan Strait.

The Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the exercise, and whether it was the same ones previously reported to be happening in the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan on Wednesday denounced the exercises, saying Beijing was using “cheap verbal intimidation and sabre rattling” to threaten the island.

Taiwan is one of China’s most sensitive issues and a potential military flashpoint. China has ramped up military exercises around Taiwan in the past year, including flying bombers around the island.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday afternoon two Chinese H-6K bombers had flown around the island, passing first through the Miyako Strait to Taiwan’s northeast and then back to base via the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.

The latest Chinese military movements come during a time of heightened tension between Beijing and the island and follows strong warnings by Chinese President Xi Jinping against Taiwan separatism last month.

China claims Taiwan as its own and considers it a breakaway province.

China’s hostility towards Taiwan has grown since Tsai Ing-wen from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won a presidential election on the island in 2016.

China fears she wants to push for the island’s formal independence. Tsai says she is committed to peace and maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, but will defend Taiwan’s security.

Setting aside the tension with China, Tsai began a visit to the southern African nation of Swaziland on Wednesday, one of only 20 countries which maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

The post China Carries Out Live Fire Drills, Unclear if Aimed at Taiwan appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Aid Agencies Fear for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh’s Island Relocation Plan

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 09:25 PM PDT

PHNOM PENH — Bangladesh has failed to persuade aid agencies to sign up to its plan to move 100,000 Rohingya refugees to a remote island in June, internal documents show, amid fears they could be trapped there at the mercy of cyclones, floods and human traffickers.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring Myanmar are living in crowded camps in Cox’s Bazar district where they are threatened by flooding, disease and landslides with the monsoon season expected to start in the coming weeks.

The government of Bangladesh has for months been developing Bhasan Char Island as an alternative location. However it has not allowed aid agencies to view conditions, and officials failed during an April 4 briefing to convince them it was safe.

The Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), which oversees the camps in Cox’s Bazar under the leadership of the humanitarian agencies’ Strategic Executive Group (SEG), expressed deep caution about the plan.

“Basic questions of the island’s habitability remain unanswered,” the ISCG said in an April 10 paper, which has not previously been made public.

“Given the incompleteness of information shared by the government, the SEG should avoid the appearance of premature endorsement of the island as a viable alternative,” it said.

About 700,000 refugees have crossed into Bangladesh since Rohingya insurgents attacked state security forces on Aug. 25, sparking a military crackdown. Myanmar has repeatedly rejected evidence that its soldiers targeted civilians.

Aid agencies are struggling to accommodate the refugees, and a March assessment by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said 203,000 people at risk of floods and landslides in the largest camp should be relocated.

However, in their April 4 briefing, Bangladesh officials said that “land is very scarce” and “no suitable land is available nearby” the existing camps.

Bhasan Char, which means Floating Island, emerged over the past two decades from sediment built up at the mouth of the Meghna River. The government has budgeted $280 million to turn it into a permanent landmass and a temporary home for refugees.

Slides from the government presentation, seen by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, noted that 120 cyclone shelters would be built, along with 13 km (8 miles) of embankments to protect the island from flooding and being washed away.

A summary of the April 4 briefing by Canada’s mission to Bangladesh said work was expected to be sufficiently completed by the end of May, and 100,000 refugees brought there in June.

In an internal report after the presentation, UNHCR said it remained concerned about whether “proper cyclone and flood preparedness measures” had been put in place, among other risks.

“The concentration of a vulnerable population in a restricted environment may lure trafficking networks and extremists to prey on refugees,” said UNHCR.

Its report also expressed concern that refugees would not be given a “free and informed choice” to relocate to the island, which might then constitute "arbitrary detention."

In emailed comments, UNHCR spokesman Firas Al-Khateeb said that "there have also been no official consultations with refugees regarding their views."

“UNHCR is prepared to engage further with the government regarding the island,” he added.

The slides – which were presented to humanitarian agencies and diplomats – showed the government is also building office facilities for aid organizations, along with accommodation for refugees and security personnel.

Bangladesh has asked the United Nations to “support the relocation” to Bhasan Char, said Fiona MacGregor, a spokeswoman in Cox’s Bazar for the UN migration agency IOM.

“We are now in discussion over technical details, trying to better understand the conditions,” she said in emailed comments.

Speaking in London on Tuesday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina confirmed the plan to move 100,000 Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char and dismissed fears that it would put them at the mercy of floods.

“We have prepared a better place for them to live, with houses and shelters where they can earn a living,” she said.

The post Aid Agencies Fear for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh's Island Relocation Plan appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)