The killing of Mohib Ullah, a prominent Rohingya community leader, has drawn international condemnation and renewed deep-rooted fear in the Bangladesh refugee camps. Mohib Ullah was shot and killed on Sept. 29 outside the office of the civil society group he headed, the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace & Human Rights (ARSPH). A relative reportedly blamed members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a militant group active in the camps. Mohib Ullah had become one of his community’s most prominent voices in the aftermath of the 2017 Burmese military assault that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh. He led early attempts to document atrocity crimes, stood up for his community before governments and aid agencies, and addressed the UN (and Donald Trump).
For many Rohingya, Mohib Ullah’s death underscores a sense of insecurity in the sprawling camps—especially at night. Rohingya describe a climate of fear as gangs and militant groups—sometimes referred to euphemistically as “the night government“—extort, kidnap, and commit assault with impunity. Aid groups admit they’ve been largely powerless to protect even volunteer Rohingya workers, and refugees rarely find help from Bangladeshi security forces or the justice system.
From The New Humanitarian, Oct. 1
See our last report on the Rohingya genocide.
Photo: HRW
Another fire in the Rohingya camps
Another fire in the Rohingya camps is spurring renewed calls for safer housing and the removal of barbed-wire fencing. A Jan. 9 fire destroyed hundreds of tent homes in the overcrowded refugee camps. A massive March 2021 blaze made 45,000 people homeless. The Bangladesh government generally limits shelter materials to non-permanent (and highly flammable) bamboo and tarpaulin. (TNH)