Kutupalong, Bangladesh: Burmese Rohingya refugee who are living in Kutupalong makeshift camp – unregistered camp – are facing hardship for their survival, said a refugee watcher from Cox’s Bazar, named Hamid Husson.
In Bangladesh, there are two types of refugees or asylum seekers – one is recognized by state government and another one is not recognized by the government. The unrecognized asylum seekers are living along the border with local people, some are living together in two places – Kutupalong and Lada – as camps, Hamid said.
The two camps are not getting any support from government, or other any organizations for not allowing any access by the authority of Bangladesh. So, the asylum seekers from camps are searching for their own sources to survive like engaging in the fields – fishing, agriculture, rickshaw pullers and day laborers, Hamid more added.
Refugee shack destroyed by heavy rain and winds in Kutupalong
The Kutupalong camp condition looks like miserable as it shacks are built with bamboos, plastics, bushes and branches, and mud. The Lada camp looks like a little more standard than Kutupalong as the shacks were built by EU, said Monir Ahmed, an asylum seeker committee member from Kutupalong.
The health situations are same in both camps – Kutupalong receives from Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors without Borders (MSF) and Lada supports by Muslim Aids, Monir said.
There was no education system for children from government side in the camps, but in Kutupalong, some young Rohingya asylum seekers are teaching basic education for children. In Leda, there was no school for children. Both camps have religious schools for children, Hashim, an elder from the camp said.
Young Rohingya refugee kids are learning the basic education in the camp
Both camps faced water shortage in the summer especially in Lada camp faced more, but in rainy season the Kutupalong faced more hardship than Lada. Most of the shacks were destroyed by heavy rain and winds. The asylum seekers have to work more for their shacks and their survival, Anis Ullah, a camp leader from the camp.
When the head of family member was arrested by authority and sent to jail, that is the more difficult for asylum seekers’ families in the camps. The remaining family members became helpless as their sources of income was in the jail and have no financial income for them and become starvation in the camp. Later, this type of asylum seekers are begging and young children are trying to find the jobs, said Anis Ullah.
Lada refugee camp always faced water crisis in the summer season
The big problem for Rohingya asylum seekers in Bangladesh is not accepting their asylum status, they are living like illegal migrants and their lives security is not stable, Hamid Hussion said.
The Bangladesh government restricted to grant asylum / refugee status to Rohingyas since 2005 and other ethnics of Burma – Rakhine (Mogh), Chin and Burman – are being granted asylum status within a short time, Hamid said.
