Page 10 - aruba-today-20180825

A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 25 auguSt 2018
A year later, fractured Rohingya community sees little hope

By JULHAS ALAM mar have been over-
RISHABH R. JAIN whelmingly more destruc-
KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh tive and deadly.
(AP) — Forged over gen- Myanmar, the international
erations in villages in Myan- community says, now must
mar, Rohingya communi- create a situation where
ties are now held together Rohingya feel safe to return
in calls over crackling home.
phone lines. The Rohingya "need to
"Mummy! Mummy!" have safety and security
15-year-old Abdullah Raz- when they come back.
zaq shouted to his mother They need to have freedom
earlier this week in their of movement. They need
once-a-week call, nearly to also have a predictable
a year after he and his and a clear pathway to a
brother, along with more citizenship, to those who
than 700,000 other Rohing- are eligible," Knut Ostby,
ya Muslims, fled waves of the U.N. resident coordi-
attacks by Myanmar secu- nator in Myanmar, told
rity forces and crossed the The Associated Press in an
border into Bangladesh. interview. "Basically, they
"Why don't you guys come need to be able to exist in
here?" society, as normal people
"Here" is a ramshackle when they come back."
sprawl of refugee camps In this Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 photo, Rohingya refugees sit inside a newly setup barber shop at A year after the flood of
built amid low rolling hills Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh. refugees, the camps have
and endless monsoon- Associated Press become functional towns,
season mud. First erected with shops, roadside res-
more than 20 years ago village in Myanmar's Rakh- to remain together. in January, but that was taurants and pharmacies.
by earlier, smaller waves ine state, where most Ro- "My son can't call me called off amid concerns There are playgrounds for
of Rohingya refugees, the hingya had long lived. Only whenever he wants. He among aid works and the children and makeshift
camps exploded in size last later did they realize she'd has to call secretly" be- Rohingya that their safety schools run by develop-
year when Myanmar's army been left behind, and re- cause he's being watched wasn't guaranteed. ment agencies. More med-
launched its attacks about mains in their village with by his Buddhist neighbors, The U.N. refugee agency ical clinics are being built
Aug. 25, and hundreds of their eldest brother. said 70-year-old Dildar Be- has said that "conditions in and many shanties have
thousands of Rohingya The brothers call once a gum, who waited all day Myanmar are not yet con- solar panels. Most people
began flooding across the week to check on her. But Wednesday for a call from ducive for returns to be have at least some protec-
border. she tells them the separa- her son on Eid al-Adha, a safe, dignified, and sustain- tion against monsoon land-
One year later, despite tion has been hard. major Muslim holiday. able." slides.
months of discussions "I miss you guys a lot. I can't The call never came. Aung San Suu Kyi, the No- But people are still terrified
among Myanmar, Bangla- eat or sleep properly. I am Her family was also divided bel Prize-winning leader of and angry, facing a pro-
desh, the United Nations getting by somehow," she by chaos. Myanmar, who has seen foundly uncertain future.
and a string of aid agen- said. She, her son and his family her image deeply tarnished Many doubt they will ever
cies, there are few signs The Rohingyas' woes can had fled to the Myanmar- by her government's reac- go home.
that the Rohingya can go seem never-ending. They Bangladesh border as the tion to the crisis, defended Mohammad Arif ran a
home anytime soon. have long been treated as crackdown grew more its actions again earlier this small grocery store in
"I can't see my mother or illegal migrants in Myanmar, brutal. She climbed onto a week, saying Rohingya mili- Myanmar and was com-
my brother and am unable denied such basic rights as boat to cross the Naf River tants remained a serious paratively well-off. Now,
to receive a mother's love," the freedom of movement, with a group of refugees, threat. the only way he can see his
said Abdullah. "I miss them even though some of their but when her son went "We who are living through old house is through video
a lot." families have lived in the back to shore to grab his the transition in Myanmar calls he makes to relatives
The family was broken Buddhist-majority country children, he was surround- view it differently than and friends still living on the
apart in the chaos that be- for generations. Nearly all ed by a Buddhist mob and those who observe it from other side.
gan with a series of Aug. 24 have been denied citizen- hustled away. the outside and who will On Thursday, as he spoke
attacks on Myanmar police ship since 1982, effectively So she came to Bangla- remain untouched by its to a cousin in Myanmar
posts by a small Rohingya rendering them stateless. desh alone. outcome," she said in a on a video call, he was
militant group that left a Anti-Rohingya pogroms One year later, she just speech in Singapore. told there was still a strong
dozen security personnel have been a part of life in wants to see her son. "The danger of terrorist ac- military presence in their vil-
dead. Soon after, Myan- the region for years, and "If Allah wants we will meet tivities, which was the initial lage.
mar security forces and violence against them be- again. My son might die, cause of events leading to "I think there are anywhere
Buddhist mobs responded gan ratcheting up again or I might die. Whatever is the humanitarian crisis in between 100 to 700 (sol-
with brutal indiscriminate in October 2016, as the Allah's will we have to ac- Rakhine, remains real and diers) here right now," his
attacks on Rohingya vil- Myanmar government cept." present today," she con- cousin told him.
lages, burning many down started complaining about Myanmar has promised to tinued. "Unless this security "Ever since I came here, I
and driving villagers away violence by Rohingya mili- take back all the Rohing- challenge is addressed, the have been suffering and
in what many rights activ- tants. In late August 2017, ya refugees, and has built risk of intercommunal vio- have lots of tensions," he
ists see as a calculated at- an influx of Rohingya refu- camps for them on its side lence will remain." said. "But people who are
tempt to drive the Rohing- gees into Bangladesh be- of the border, while Bangla- Diplomats and aid workers still there are suffering even
ya from the country. came an unstoppable desh says it will temporar- say that while the Rohingya more than we are, be-
Abdullah and his 17-year- flood. ily shelter and feed them. militants have launched cause they are constantly
old brother thought their Now, separated families The two countries agreed some small-scale attacks, thinking if they are going to
mother had also fled their depend on mobile phones to begin repatriating them the counterstrikes by Myan- survive or be killed."q