In September media reported up to 15 new Rohingya arrivals fled fighting in
Burma and took refuge in the existing camps. Government officials prevented
UNHCR from registering these new arrivals, and in October, several of these
refugees reported they were in hiding and relying on the generosity of registered
refugees for food and shelter.
Abuse of Migrants and Refugees: The government mostly cooperated with
UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and
assistance to Rohingya refugees, despite significant security concerns in the camps.
NGOs reported human trafficking and smuggling were common in the camps, with
few cases prosecuted in the country’s judicial system. When discovered,
government officials returned trafficking victims to the camps.
International organizations reported gender-based violence directed against women
in the camps. Intimate partner violence comprised 90 percent of the cases. The
reduced footprint of international organizations throughout the COVID-19
pandemic limited reporting and monitoring of gender-based violence.
Accountability for all crimes, including human trafficking, remained a problem.
Rohingya relied on government officials responsible for each camp (also known as
the Camps in Charge, or CiC) to address allegations of crime. The CiCs were
largely autonomous and varied in terms of responsiveness to camp needs.
According to international organizations, some CiCs were susceptible to
corruption. International organizations alleged some border guard, military, and
police officials were involved in facilitating trafficking of Rohingya women and
children, ranging from “looking the other way,” to bribes for allowing traffickers
to access Rohingya in the camps, to direct involvement in trafficking.
After May Eid al-Fitr celebrations, Human Rights Watch reported extortion,
harassment, beatings, verbal abuse, and unlawful or arbitrary arrest by Armed
Police Battalion restricted refugees’ ability to move within the camps for the
purposes of collecting rations and obtaining medication. In April Human Rights
Watch also reported authorities intensified restrictions on Rohingya refugees’
livelihoods, movement, and education. The organization noted officials arbitrarily
destroyed thousands of shops while imposing new obstacles on travel within the
camps in Cox’s Bazar.
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