findings iII: Justice and corruption
Accessing Justice
Only a minority of survey respondents were familiar with actors that are involved in working
on issues related to justice (including the police, CIC, majis, and humanitarian organisations). The majority of respondents (59 percent) were not aware of any channels available to
seek justice or report issues. For the survey respondents that were aware of these channels,
the vast majority (93 percent) reported that they were not sufficient. In fact, most interview
respondents reported that the current processes in place often do more harm than good
due to high levels of corruption, long waiting times to receive responses, or inaction.
Increases in restrictions have been justified as a way to increase safety and decrease crime in the camps.
However, as detailed above, the justice system is riddled with corruption, enforced through bribes
and extortion that has resulted in impunity for criminals. Additionally, many respondents thought it
unjust that all Rohingya are suffering in the camps due to the actions of a smaller group of criminals.
“All of us are not bad,” said Kamal, a 29-year-old Rohingya man. “Because of one bad person, 10 people are suffering. Not only Rohingya, but also there are bad people around the world and because of one person, the remaining 10
people have to suffer. Not all Rohingya are bad. . . Because of this, we are having such difficulties with movement.” 88
“Whatever we are facing here is because of the government,” said Rabia, a 32-yearold Rohingya woman. “I think the government has ordered the police to torture
us like this. We have reported many complaints against the police for torturing
us unreasonably, but we haven’t gotten any response from anywhere.”
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Interview C20M
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