Camp administrators are working to combat abuse, violence, and exploitation of women in Rohingya refugee camp. Dressed in a safari vest, cargo pants, and combat boots, Mr. ShamimulHuqPavel looks more the part of a military instructor than refugee camp administrator. He is fed up with seeing Rohingya refugee women single-handedly carrying their babies while hauling heavy food rations home. So he has issued a warning to the men among the 70,000 refugees he oversees: “If any woman is seen carrying a big sack and she has a competent male person at her home, that male person would have to answer to me.” It has been over five months since nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled an army crackdown in Myanmar to Bangladesh, bearing horrific memories of arson, murder, torture and abuse.
The hills in southern Cox’s Bazar have been stripped of foliage and packed instead with thousands of bamboo-framed, tarpaulin-lined huts. Aid agencies, working together with the Bangladeshi government, have met the most pressing needs of food, shelter and immediate medical attention of women.As the world’s largest refugee settlement takes shape, the authorities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh are grappling with the implications of the Rohingyas’ conservative social order.
Mr. Pavel, a senior assistant secretary with the Ministry of Land, has been administering a section of Kutupalong camp for over three months. “I have given all the males a very strong message,” he tells The Sunday Times. “If anything happens unjustly with any girl, any child, any mother, or sister, things might get worse for them.”The number of refugees who have arrived in Bangladesh from Aug 25, after fleeing an army crackdown in Myanmar including Rohingya refugee girl at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh has finally found hope. Nearly 700,000 people have fled to Bangladesh since last August. MR SHAMIMUL HUQ PAVEL, refugee camp administrator has taken the responsibility to speak up for the women of Roshingya.
Source: AseaNews
