Hindu refugees from Myanmar also find sanctuary in Bangladesh

Published September 22, 2017
Young Rohingya boys with their family reach the Bangladesh border after crossing a creek of the Naf River on the border with Myanmar, in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf area. —AP
Young Rohingya boys with their family reach the Bangladesh border after crossing a creek of the Naf River on the border with Myanmar, in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf area. —AP

In a small village in southern Bangladesh, hundreds of Hindu refugees from neighbouring Myanmar are being handed plates heaped with dal and rice, less than a mile from where desperate Muslim Rohingya beg for food and shelter.

The contrast captures the sharp religious and ethnic divides that have only deepened since a convulsion of violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state unleashed a staggering refugee crisis.

The vast majority of those fleeing into Bangladesh are Rohingya Muslims, with more than 420,000 bolting from a campaign of violence that the United Nations has said amounts to “ethnic cleansing”.

Their arrival in less than a month has overwhelmed authorities and aid agencies, and many have received little or no official help since they arrived, leaving them without basic shelter, food and water.

A far smaller but still significant number of Buddhists and Hindus were also caught up in the communal violence, which erupted after Rohingya militants attacked police posts on August 25, triggering a ruthless military crackdown.

While most were displaced within Rakhine, an estimated 500 Hindus fled to Bangladesh, where they initially tried to find space in the overflowing camps dominated by Rohingya.

But communal tensions trailed them there, according to Hindu refugees who have since been given sanctuary by a local Hindu community nearby.

Rohingya children collect food distributed by Bangladeshi men at Taiy Khali refugee camp. —AP
Rohingya children collect food distributed by Bangladeshi men at Taiy Khali refugee camp. —AP

In the small Hindu village in Kutupalong they now call home, the refugees first described attacks on their homes in Rakhine that triggered their escape.

“They came in black and they covered their faces,” said Niranjan Rudro, 50, who worked as a barber in Myanmar.

“In my village there were 70 Hindu families. They surrounded us for three days and we couldn't leave the house even to get food.” Many of the refugees told similar stories, although all are impossible for AFP to verify.

Some said they believed their attackers were from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), the Rohingya militant group behind the ambushes on police posts.

Since the latest eruption of violence, Rakhine's ethnic groups have traded rival accusations over who is to blame for the carnage, exacerbating long-running mistrust between the communities.

Rohingya refugees have blamed the army and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist mobs for killings and arson attacks that have ripped through their communities, turning hundreds of villages into piles of ash.

Buddhist and Hindu groups, meanwhile, say they were terrorised by Rohingya militants whose raids on police posts tipped the region into crisis.

According to the Hindu refugees, tensions spilled into violence even after they arrived in Bangladesh.

Some said they were ostracised and attacked at the nearby Kutupalong camp, where they initially tried to cram in among the hundreds of thousands of newly arrived Rohingya refugees.

Three young men showed AFP bruises and scars that they said were inflicted by the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Puja Mollick, 18, said she came to Bangladesh after losing her parents and husband in the violence in Rakhine.

When she arrived in Kutupalong, men tried to force her into marriage against her will until she was rescued by an uncle.

But she and others have now found safety in the Hindu village less than a mile from the Kutupalong camp.

Local families have taken in around 200, while another 300 are crammed into a basic shelter nearby.

All receive regular meals, paid for mainly by donations from local Hindus.

“We heard that Hindu people were here in Bangladesh, camping out in the forests. So we went to find them and brought them here,” community leader Shapon Sharma told AFP.

“We reached out to Hindu communities... all over Bangladesh to arrange for food and shelter for them.”

Opinion

Editorial

Taking cover
Updated 09 Jan, 2025

Taking cover

IT is unfortunate that, instead of taking ownership of important decisions, our officials usually seem keener to ...
A living hell
09 Jan, 2025

A living hell

WHAT Donald Trump does domestically when he enters the White House in just under two weeks is frankly the American...
A right denied
09 Jan, 2025

A right denied

DESPITE citizens possessing the constitutional and legal right to access it, federal ministries are failing to...
Closed doors
Updated 08 Jan, 2025

Closed doors

The nation’s fate has been decided through secret deals for too long, with the result that the citizenry has become increasingly alienated from the state.
Debt burden
08 Jan, 2025

Debt burden

THE federal government’s total debt stock soared by above 11pc year-over-year to Rs70.4tr at the end of November,...
GB power crisis
08 Jan, 2025

GB power crisis

MASS protests are not a novelty in Pakistan, and when the state refuses to listen through the available channels —...