UNHCR opened two sites inside the Kutupalong refugee settlement, in December 2018 and January 2019, to treat bamboo. Using a technique established by local NGO BRAC, refugee workers at the sites hollow out the bamboo stalks, make cuts in the exterior in order to increase absorption, and then soak them for 12-15 days in tanks filled with a solution made from boric acid and borax – with 90 percent water for 10 percent of chemicals. The result is bamboo that can last twice as long – or more – than an average bamboo
The military opened Tuesday’s court proceedings at a military base in Buthidaung to the public, and family members of the accused can attend, though Zaw Min Tun said there might be limitations on account of instability in the region
In mid-October, Enamur Rahman, Bangladesh’s state minister in charge of disaster management and relief, said 350 Rohingya families or about 3,000 people had responded positively to the government’s request that they relocate to Bhashan Char this month. The island is 21 nautical miles from Noakhali district in Chittagong
The children’s rights group, Save the Children, says a high number of Rohingya refugee children are suffering from severe mental health problems
The Bangladesh government announced plans almost two years ago to relocate about 100,000 Rohingya to the island. Since then the government has been constructing a housing complex, a retaining wall to protect from flooding and cyclone shelters
Some of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled a brutal military-led crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017 and sought refuge in neighboring Bangladesh say they have not been able to go back to their original villages after returning to Rakhine of their own volition
Following Wednesday’s meeting in New York, Myanmar’s Union Minister Kyaw Tin said his government is working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the U.N., and partner nations “to implement the repatriation process,” and that Myanmar, China, and Bangladesh had agreed to form a “working group” to address the situation
A brutal military-led campaign of violence targeting the Rohingya in Rakhine state in 2017 left thousands dead and drove more than 740,000 others across the border to Bangladesh where they now reside in sprawling displacement camps
Ragu Nay Myint from a Yangon-based humanitarian assistance group that helps Hindus chastised international organizations for ignoring the plight of the Hindus in Rakhine
Several repatriation attempts by Myanmar and Bangladesh governments have failed. The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said that none of those interviewed among the 3,450 people cleared for repatriation in the most recent attempt were willing to go back to Myanmar because they were concerned over their security