Category Archives: Bangladesh

Stateless Rohingya could soon be the ‘new Palestinians’, top UN official warns

Posted on by

Special rapporteur Olivier De Shutter calls for action on neglected crisis after finding ‘absolutely terrible’ conditions on visit to Cox’s Bazar camps in Bangladesh

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are at risk of becoming “the new Palestinians”, according to a UN head, who said they are trapped in a protracted and increasingly neglected crisis.

Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said the almost 1 million people living in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar should be given the right to work in their host country of Bangladesh, and that forcing them to rely on dwindling international support was not sustainable.

Continue reading...

UN denied access to Rohingya refugee camps after Cyclone Mocha

Posted on by

UNHCR says Myanmar government has refused to allow it to distribute health supplies in Sittwe, where an estimated 90% of Rohingya homes have been destroyed

UN staff say they have been denied access to help thousands of Rohingya living in displacement camps in Myanmar who are in urgent need of food, medicine and shelter in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha, which struck the west of the country on Sunday.

People living in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, said they estimated that about 90% of homes of Rohingya people had been destroyed and more than 100 people killed when winds of more than 150 miles an hour hit the region. However, the refugee agency UNHCR said the Myanmar government has refused access to the camps in Sittwe, home to about 100,000 people. “As yet, UNHCR has not been granted access to carry out needs assessments.”

Continue reading...

Climate breakdown made southern Asia heatwave at least 2C hotter, study finds

Posted on by

Temperatures up to 45C recorded in April in parts of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos

A searing heatwave in parts of southern Asia in April was made at least 30 times more likely by climate breakdown, according to a study by international scientists.

Unusually high temperatures of up to 45C (113F) were recorded last month in monitoring stations in parts of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: Cyclone Mocha batters Bangladesh and Myanmar

Posted on by

Refugee camps bear brunt of deadly category-5 storm, while temperature divide is expected in North America

Cyclone Mocha brought strong winds and torrential rain to parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar on Sunday, with refugee camps bearing the brunt of the category-5 storm, leaving at least five dead and causing half a million people to be evacuated.

The region was rocked by sustained winds of more than 160mph as Mocha made landfall, whipping up gusts closer to 200mph and a storm surge of up to 4 metres. The world’s largest refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, was badly hit and more than 1,300 shelters were destroyed. Heavy rain triggered landslides and floods.

Continue reading...

Cyclone Mocha threatens world’s largest refugee camp on Myanmar-Bangladesh border

Posted on by

Predicted to make landfall on Sunday, preparations are under way for a partial evacuation of the camp in Cox’s Bazar

Tropical cyclone Mocha intensified to become “very dangerous”, the World Meteorological Organisation has said, warning of violent winds, floods and possible landslides in Bangladesh which could hit the world’s biggest refugee camp in Cox’s bazar.

Cyclone Mocha is predicted to make landfall on Sunday near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, according to India’s meteorological office, packing winds of up to 175km/h (108mph).

Continue reading...

Bangladesh media in fear after PM’s ‘people’s enemy’ attack

Posted on by

Even stories on cost of living leave journalists facing assault, threats and arrest under Digital Security Act

Four weeks ago, a reporter in Bangladesh was hauled from his office, badly beaten – and then thrown from the roof of his building, leaving him with fractures in his back, three broken ribs and a machete wound on his head.

The journalist, Ayub Meahzi, believes he was targeted for reporting on alleged local government ties to a criminal group.

Continue reading...

Best&Less accused of putting profit before Bangladesh workers by failing to sign safety accord

Posted on by

Company says its own code of conduct goes further than the global accord prompted by the Rana Plaza disaster 10 years ago

Major clothing retailer Best&Less has been accused of putting company profit ahead of the safety of Bangladeshi garment workers by declining to sign a key international accord on worker safety and labour rights.

The Rana Plaza disaster, 10 years ago on Monday, prompted outrage at the abysmal safety standards in the Bangladesh factories supplying major clothing brands and retailers, leading to the establishment of a cross-border agreement known as the international accord.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Bangladesh fire: 600 firefighters tackle blaze in huge Dhaka clothing market

Posted on by

Bongo Bazar and three adjacent markets said to be gutted, as 11 people reported injured

Hundreds of Bangladeshi firefighters have battled an inferno that raged through a popular clothing market in the capital, Dhaka, and covered the city’s oldest neighbourhoods in black smoke.

No deaths have been reported, but shop owners and fire officials told reporters that the famous Bongo Bazar and three adjacent markets had been gutted in the dawn fire.

Continue reading...

Bangladesh journalist charged over story about rising food prices

Posted on by

Shamsuzzaman Shams was taken from his home at 4am and accused of spreading ‘false news’ over article about cost of living crisis

Bangladesh police on Wednesday charged a reporter from a leading newspaper with producing “false news”, stoking fears about media freedom, after an article about high food prices went viral.

Shamsuzzaman Shams was picked up from his home in the industrial town of Savar just outside Dhaka at about 4am by plainclothes police, according to his newspaper, Prothom Alo.

Continue reading...

Huge fire at Rohingya refugee camp leaves thousands without shelter

Posted on by

Fears of future blazes after health, learning and religious facilities also destroyed in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

An estimated 12,000 Rohingya have been left without shelter after a fire tore through part of a cramped refugee camp in southern Bangladesh on Sunday, destroying health centres, learning facilities and mosques.

The fire broke out at Camp 11 of Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, which is home to more than 1 million Rohingya refugees, including 700,000 who fled their home country, Myanmar, after a brutal military crackdown in 2017.

Continue reading...

Bangladesh: at least six people killed in fire after explosion at oxygen plant

Posted on by

Officials say death toll could rise as rescue operation continues in southeastern town of Sitakunda

At least six people were killed and several injured on Saturday when a fire broke out after an explosion at an oxygen plant in southeastern Bangladesh, officials said.

The death toll could rise as a rescue operation was ongoing at the plant at Sitakunda, 40km (25 miles) from the south-eastern port city of Chittagong, they added.

Continue reading...

Bangladesh shuts down main opposition newspaper

Posted on by

Campaigners fear media crackdown under PM Sheikh Hasina after suspension order upheld

The only newspaper of Bangladesh’s main opposition party has stopped publishing after a government suspension order was upheld, stoking fears about media freedom in the south Asian nation.

Campaigners and foreign governments including the US have long expressed worries about efforts by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to silence criticism and what they see as creeping authoritarianism.

Continue reading...

UN warns of ‘unconscionable’ cuts to Rohingya food rations as donations fall

Posted on by

World Food Programme calls for urgent $125m injection after being forced into axing supplies into Bangladesh refugee camps by 17%

The UN has been forced to cut food rations for Rohingya refugees by 17% and has warned of “unconscionable” further cuts in April as a result of dwindling international donations.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it needs $125m (£104m) urgently to avoid the further cuts.

Continue reading...

Sea ‘a graveyard’ as number of Rohingya fleeing Bangladesh by boat soars

Posted on by

UN figures show number of those attempting to escape horrendous conditions in refugee camps increased from 700 in 2021 to over 3,500 in 2022

The number of Rohingya refugees taking dangerous sea journeys in the hope of reaching Malaysia or Indonesia has surged by 360%, the UN has announced after hundreds of refugees were left stranded at the end of last year.

Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps have warned that human smugglers have ramped up operations and are constantly searching for people to fill boats from Myanmar and Bangladesh headed for Malaysia, where people believe they can live more freely.

Continue reading...

Rohingya refugees bet lives on boat crossings despite rising death toll

Posted on by

Woman recounts suffering on perilous journeys taken to escape oppression in Myanmar and squalid Bangladesh camps

Hatemon Nesa recalled hugging her young daughter tightly as the cramped, broken-down boat they were sitting on drifted aimlessly. They had set off on 25 November from the squalid Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh, where they had lived since 2017, when a brutal crackdown by Myanmar’s military forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee over the border.

The 27-year-old, like many other Rohingya refugees, was hoping for a better life in Malaysia. But about 10 days into the journey the boat’s engine stopped working and food and water supplies began to run out.

Continue reading...

About 180 Rohingya refugees feared dead after boat goes missing

Posted on by

Contact lost for weeks with vessel that left camps in Bangladesh and was crossing Andaman Sea bound for Malaysia

About 180 Rohingya refugees are feared to have died after their boat went missing in the Andaman Sea, making 2022 one of the deadliest years for the refugees trying to flee the camps in Bangladesh.

In a statement on Sunday, the United Nations said it was concerned that a boat carrying the refugees, which had left the camps in the Bangladeshi city of Cox’s Bazar on 2 December bound for Malaysia, had sunk with no survivors, which would make it one of the worst disasters for Rohingya sea crossings this year.

Continue reading...

Activists appeal for rescue of Rohingya refugees stranded at sea in leaking boat

Posted on by

Vessel thought to have embarked from Bangladesh is reportedly near Malaysia with 160 people onboard who have no food or water

Activists have called for urgent assistance to rescue 160 Rohingya refugees, including young children, who they say are stranded at sea on a damaged boat and have been without food or water for days.

The boat, which activists say is near Malaysian waters, is believed to have left on 25 November from Bangladesh, where almost 1 million Rohingya live in squalid and cramped refugee camps.

Continue reading...

Two Bangladeshi opposition leaders arrested in government crackdown

Posted on by

Seven killed and thousands arrested as Hasina regime continues repressive campaign against opponents

Two top leaders of Bangladesh’s main opposition party have been arrested amid a violent crackdown on government opponents during which at least seven people have been shot dead and thousands arrested.

Over recent weeks, Sheikh Hasina’s government has launched a repressive campaign against the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), which has been holding rallies calling for her resignation.

Continue reading...

How many migrant workers have died in Qatar? What we know about the human cost of the 2022 World Cup

Posted on by

This year’s tournament has been dominated by off-field matters. We look at the issues around the labor used to build the tournament’s infrastructure

The deaths of migrant workers in Qatar in the build-up to this year’s World Cup have drawn criticism across the world. While the tournament’s organizers put the official count at 40, estimates by the Guardian put the figure in the thousands. Here we explore the key questions around an issue that has tarnished the World Cup for many fans.

Continue reading...

US blogger’s killers escape on motorbikes from Bangladeshi court

Posted on by

Men on death row for murder of secular writer snatched by bikers who sprayed police with chemical

Two Islamist militants who were on death row in Bangladesh for the killing of a US blogger critical of fundamentalist Islam have made a dramatic escape on motorbikes while being escorted to a court hearing in the capital, Dhaka.

The two men were among those convicted of the murder of Avijit Roy, an American-Bangladeshi writer and blogger who was hacked to death with machetes in the streets of Dhaka in 2015.

Continue reading...