by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided oversight and strategic guidance for
the overall Rohingya response. The Ministry of Home Affairs coordinated and
maintained law and order for the response, with support from the Armed Police
Battalion. At the local level, the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation
Commissioner, under the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, was
responsible for the management of the camps.
As of November, Bhasan Char hosted 28,760 Rohingya refugees. Media reported
the government spent 31 billion taka ($310 million) to prepare for the eventual
transfer of 100,000 refugees to the island. Current programs operate under a 2021
memorandum of understanding between the government and UNHCR that outlines
the humanitarian and protection framework underlying UN operational
engagements on the island.
On September 11, the government brought charges against 29 Rohingya in
connection with the September 2021 killing of Mohammad Mohib Ullah, chairman
and founder of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, in
Cox’s Bazar. By October 2021, several men were arrested in connection with the
killing. In March the Armed Police Battalion arrested the chief commander of the
Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s Ulama branch, Maulovi Zakaria accused of
having issued a fatwa against Mohib Ullah.
Access to Asylum: The law does not provide for granting asylum or refugee
status, nor has the government established a formal system for providing protection
to refugees. Nonetheless, the government provided significant protection and
assistance to Rohingya refugees residing in the country. Prior to 2017, the
government cooperated with UNHCR to provide temporary protection and basic
assistance to registered refugees residing in two official camps. After the 2017
arrival of more than 750,000 additional Rohingya refugees, the government started
to register the refugees biometrically and provided identity cards with their
Burmese addresses. Despite this documentation system, the lack of formal refugee
status for Rohingya and clear legal reporting mechanisms in the camps impeded
refugees’ access to the justice system. UNHCR continued to operate registration
centers to update individual and family status due to marriages, divorces, births,
and deaths.
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