The Voice Of Rohingya

Buthidaung, Arakan State:  A young man was killed by lightning strike at Maunu Para (village) under the Paungdaw Pyin village tract of Buthidaung north, Arakan    (Rakhine) State on September 16, said Abdullah from the locality. 

The deceased was identified as Dil Mohamed (48), son of Abu Talek, a resident of aforesaid village. 

 

Witnesses said a streak of thunderbolt struck Dil Mohamed while he was working in his yard at about 11:00 am, leaving him dead on the spot, according to his relative. 

 

The dead body was brought to Buthidaung general hospital for postmortem, said an elder from the locality who did not identify his name.

The Voice Of Rohingya

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Police in plain clothes had used Bangladeshi mobile phone to extort money from Rohingyas on September 15 at about 4:00pm in Khonzabill village under Maungdaw south, said Hashim Ullah, a local elder from the local.

The victim Rohingyas are identified as Shamsu (20), son of Hossain Ahamed and Zalia Ahamed (18), son of Abdu Sukkur, hailed from Khonzabill village under the Ali Than Kyaw of Maungdaw Township.

 

A relative of Shamsu said that two policemen in civilian dresses went to Konzabill village, on their way, the policemen suddenly called the said Rohingya youths. After meeting, the policemen alleged them that they had been using Bangladeshi mobile phones. 

On the spot, they wear beaten up and took a statement as using mobile phone by policemen, the relative further said.

 

According to sources, Shamsu and Hussain had no Bangladeshi mobile phones but policemen gave mobiles in their hands which was bring with them. Policemen used these method for extorting money.

 

However, policemen informed the village admin officer Sayed Alam of Khonzabill regarding the matter. Policemen demanded huge money for their release, but the admin officer solved the problem after giving Kyat 120,000 the policemen per head, said an aide of police.

The Voice Of Rohingya

16 Rohingyas were arrested by BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh) and sent back to Burma 0n September 16, according to Hafez Mohamed Khasim from Teknaf. 

On that day, in the morning, BGB personnel arrested two men, two women and 4 children, in total 8 persons from Whykhong Check-post after searching line-bus, which was plying from Teknaf to Cox’s Bazar and then pushed back to Burma through Lamba Bill point, said Major Najamul Sadat Musa of Teknaf 42 BGB Battalion.    

 

Besides, the same day, from Ullo Bonia, border area, the BGB personnel also arrested 4 men, one woman and 3 children, in total 8 persons.  After that, they were pushed back to Burma from the same place. 

 

Rohingyas come to Bangladesh for taking medical treatment, to visit their relatives in refugee camps and to work in Bangladesh as there (in Burma) is no work for them to support their family

The Voice Of Rohingya

Sittwe, Burma:  Three boat-people including one man and two women were dead while going to Malaysia from Sittwe (Akyab) by boat after sinking at the sea on September 11, at about 9:00 pm,  said  Shaker, one of the boat people from Sittwe. 

“There were about 38 Rohingya boat-people including man, women and children were leaving Malaysia by boat from Ohn Taw Gyi IDP camp of Sittwe, Arkan, the capital of Arakan State.” 

Suddenly, a group of Hluntin (riot police) arrived to the spot and fired 12 rounds of bullet to air to stop the boat. As a result, the boat-people were terrified and jumped into water and tried to escape from the arrest of Hluntin. However, among them a man and two women were dead because of boat sinking and 25 boat-people are still missing and 10 others could reach to the bank after swimming. But, they were arrested by Hluntin and sent to No.1 police station of Sittwe. The concerned authorities have been looking for the missing passengers. 

The three dead bodies were taken to Sittwe General Hospital for postmortem and then the dead bodies were sent to Baw Du Pha cemetery where they were buried at about 2:30 pm, on September 12, said a local elder, on condition of anonymity. 

According to UNHCR, there are more than 24,000 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia today

Nearly 140,000 mostly Rohingya residents are displaced in Burma following inter-communal clashes between Rohingya and Rakhine residents. Most of the displaced are staying in nine overcrowded camps in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says more displacements are likely. "The situation is still very, very volatile, it's very tense. The government is doing it very best to keep the situation under control, but it's still very fragile,” said Jens Laerke, an OCHA spokesman.

The voice of Rohingya

32,000 Rohingya refugees are now entitled to have the facility as the World Food Program (WFP) in cooperation with the government introduced digitized Food Cards at Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps since September 11, according to WFP officials. 

“The move aims at ensuring better food distribution among the refugees.”

They only can buy items from the registered food shops inside the camps for a certain amount of money.  The costs are borne by the WFP. There are six food shops in the two refugee camps, the WFP officials added.

Under the new system, the refugees will get eight more items--- potato, semolina, green leaf, dried fish, onion, garlic, chili and turmeric. Earlier, each Rohingya family maintained a log to collect--- rice, pulses, sugar, salt and oil.

Each family will be allocated a Food Card and each member of the family will have over Bangladesh Taka 700 loaded on the card for a month.

 

Whenever a cardholder will produce the Food Card at a shop, the staff there will check the card with a machine for the balance amount in it.

“I'm happy to have the opportunity to buy most of the essentials from the shop inside our camp. Previously we could buy only five items from there, but now we can have 13 items,” said Sayeed, a government-registered Rohingya refugee.”

Once the shopping is complete, the staff will adjust the amount from the card balance, said Jessica Staskieqicz, program coordinator of WFP.

“I think we'll be able to ensure the food security and nutrition of the refugees in a much better way with the new system which gives them choice and dignity,” said Ms Christa Rader, country representative of WFP in Bangladesh.

To prevent misuse of Food Cards, fingerprints of cardholders will be stored in a database and it will be verified during every purchase of commodities, she added.

Mesbah- ul- Alam, secretary to the disaster management and relief ministry said that   he hoped the new system will help ensure nutrition of the refugees while he was speaking at the card launching program. 

Officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) and Cox's Bazar district administration were present while distribution of Food Cards. 

There are about  500,000 unregistered Rohingya refugees inside Bangladesh, according to estimates by the UNHCR. They are refugees fleeing sectarian conflict of Rakhine ( Arakan) state.