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Swiss president announces $12.9 million in aid for Rohingyas during Bangladesh visit

Human Rights Report
Switzerland will give an additional aid of 12 million francs ($12.9 million) for the Rohingyas, who fled to Bangladesh facing persecution in Western Rakhine state.
Swiss President Alain Berset, who is now in Dhaka on an official visit, made the announcement on Monday after official talks with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
In a joint statement, he pledged his country's full support to Bangladesh on the issue.
The aid comes on top 8 million francs ($8.6 million) the country gave last year for the hundreds of thousands of refugees in southeastern Bangladesh district of Cox's Bazar.
There are now more than 900,000 Rohingyass in the country after nearly 700,000 fled violence in Myanmar that flared up in late August.
During the joint press briefing after the official talks on Monday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina said that the root of the crisis lies in Myanmar and the solution has to be found there.
Describing the talks with meeting with Berset on Rohingyas as "productive," she said that Bangladesh emphasises on immediate implementation of recommendations made by the Kofi Annan panel.


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Total 184 persons killed in February, 2018

Human Rights Report:

The documentation section of Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (BHRC) and International Human Rights CommissionIHRC jointly furnished this human rights survey report on the basis of daily newspapers and information received from its district, subdistrict and municipal branches. As per survey it appears that 184 peoples were killed in February, 2018 in all over the country. It proves that the law and order situation is not satisfactory. Bangladesh Human Rights Commissions extremely anxious about this situation. In the month of February, 2018 average 6.5 people were killed in each day.
The Law enforcing agencies and related Govt. departments should be more responsible so that percentage of killing February be brought down to zero level. To institutionalize the democracy and to build human rights based society the rule of law and order must be established everywhere. Through enforcing rule of law only such violation against human rights can be minimized.
It appears from documentation division of BHRC:
Total 184 people's killed in February 2018
Killing for dowry 5, killing by family violence 33, Killed due to social discrepancy 58, Political killing 7, Killed by Law enforcing authority 11, Killed due to BSF 2, Killed due to doctor negligence 4, Kill due to abduction 5, Assassination 9, Mysterious death 41, Women & Chilled killed due to rape 9
Killed by several accidents:
Killed by road accident 275, Suicide 31
Besides victims of torture:
Rape 37, Torture for Dowry 6, Sexual Harassment 9.

 

 3 female Nobel laureates to Suu Kyi: Wake up or face prosecution

 

Human Rights Report:
Three visiting female Nobel laureates made the demand at a Press Conference in a city hotel on Wednesday called on the fellow laureate Suu Kyi and Myanmar military to put an end to killings and the prosecution of the Rohingya people.
The three female Nobel Peace laureates--Tawakkol Karman, Shirin Ebadi and Mairead Maguire - on Wednesday called upon Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi for an immediate end to the "genocide" of the Rohingya people.
"If she fails to do so, her choice is clear; resign or be held accountable, along with the army commanders for the crimes committed," said Tawakkol Karman.
Karman said this when the three Nobel laureates were addressing a press conference in a city hotel in Dhaka with the conclusion of their visit to Bangladesh on the six-month anniversary of the current Rohingya crisis that forced millions to flee into Bangladesh from Rakhine State of Myanmar.
"She (Suu Kyi) must stop turning a deaf ear to the persecution of the Rohingya or risk facing trial," Karman said.
The three Nobel laureates urged Suu Kyi to speak out about violence against the Rohingyas, often dubbed one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
The laureates are calling on Suu Kyi and the Myanmar military to put an end to the killings and the persecution of the Rohingya people.
As the trio committed to peace, the laureates are urging Aung San Suu Kyi to exercise her personal and moral responsibility to stop the "genocide".
The Nobel laureates came to Bangladesh on Saturday and began a visit to the Rohingya camps to assess the allegations of violence against Rohingya women and the overall refugee situation.
The Nobel Women's Initiative, a platform of six female peace laureates established in 2006, organised the visit in partnership with Naripokkho. On Sunday, they visited the refugee camps in Kutupalang and Balukhali..

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US expects fair polls in BD: Bernicat
 

Human Rights Report:
Mentioning that they have no favourite party and political personality in Bangladesh, US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat on Wednesday said they just expect fair polls here.
"We hope to see election is fairly run and run well. We like other embassies are meeting different political parties, mainly major two parties, to better understand the election condition here," she said.
Bernicat further said, "The US government has no favoured party and it has no favoured political personality in Bangladesh. Who is elected to lead the government is the choice and the only entity of Bangladeshi people."
She was talking to reporters after attending a civil rights panel discussion session at the EMK Center in the city's Dhanmondi area.
The public affairs section of the US Embassy in Dhaka and the EMK Center jointly organised the programme.
Noting that what they care about is the process, the US envoy said, "We both are democratic parties. We have democratic rules and the fundamental basic of democracy is people who have the right to choose and change their government. So for us, it's a matter of process. If the process is truly representative and fair, then you have the basis for stability."
 

 

 The Marma Sisters are Our Girls Too
 

Human Rights Report:
The series of extraordinary events that culminated on February 15 with the dramatic discharge, under a court order, of two sisters belonging to the Marma community from the Rangamati General Hospital, serves to demonstrate just why the peace prevailing in the Chittagong Hill Tracts is such an uneasy one.
As long as the state continues to rely on a heavy military presence in those dreamy, rolling hills of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari - a presence that is an affront to the region's indigenous population, and contributes towards permanently positioning them as the 'Other' in the minds of the dominant Bengali population, there can be no meaningful move towards normalisation in the Hills. Other than what is already in place, in the form of the "normalisation of militarisation."
The circumstances of the discharge from Rangamati General Hospital were rendered all the more dramatic, and indeed, deeply sensitive for the Jumma, as the indigenous peoples of the CHT are collectively known, by the presence at the scene of Yan Yan, the Chakma Queen. It was her 20th consecutive day visiting the hospital to stand by the beleaguered Marma sisters, who themselves had been in there since January 22. At stake was the release and custody of the two teenaged sisters, whose main purpose in getting admitted to the hospital had long been served, yet their Kafkaesque ordeal meant they needed a judge's verdict rather than a doctor's signature to get released. Let us recount why they were there in the first place.
According to a report filed by the Bangladesh Indigenous Women's Network, as soon as it sent dark on the evening of January 21, 2018, a patrol party of Farua Army Camp of Digholchari Zone of 13 Bengal, led by Warrant Officer Subedar Mizan, began a random search operation in Orachari village. The patrol party stormed a number of houses in the village indiscriminately. They arbitrarily interrogated the people and asked for their identity cards. This kind of raid by the military is part of life in the CHT, that we living in the capital or other parts don't quite appreciate. Despite being full Bangladeshi citizens, they are forced to endure such harassment, during which the military men may cast their flashlights right on the faces of the civilians, as a part of their daily existence.
At some point, well past midnight, around 2:30 am (22 January), two army men entered the house of the victims and forced their parents to get out of the house. Then, one of them raped the elder sister while the other man in uniform kept guard with the gun in the door.
 

Aid agencies, GoB for humanitarian plans for Rohingyas
 

Human Rights Report:
The six-month short term inter-agency "Humanitarian Response Plan" from September 2017 to February 2018 expires at the end of this month.
The interim plan, focusing on life-saving and protection assistance for the most vulnerable people, was developed jointly by Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) for Rohingya refugees along with the government of Bangladesh (GoB).
Since 25 August 2017, an estimated 688,000 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh, fleeing violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State and increasing the total Rohingya population in Cox's Bazar to over 900,000. The fresh exodus has put immense strains on infrastructure, services and the host population, overwhelming the existing response capacity, states a UNDP report.
This plan has been developed, when Bangladesh and Myanmar yet maintain official contacts regarding repatriation of Rohingya refugees from several makeshift camps in Cox's Bazar and Bandarban.
The international aid agencies and the Bangladesh are poised to finalize an additional ten-month strategy for "Rohingya Refugee Crisis Response Plan" for the months of March to December this year.
The Humanitarian Response Plan for the period from September 2017 to February 2018 identified the need to immediately scale up activities in the areas of WASH, health, nutrition and food security and shelter to save lives in both settlements and host communities.
The Rohingya Refugee Crisis Joint Response Plan, covering the period from March to December 2018, will ensure that the needs of the most vulnerable population will continue to be addressed.
An initial strategy workshop was held in Cox's Bazar on 13 December last year to review and discuss the needs analysis, overarching operational strategy, and structure of the plan. On 31 January the draft was endorsed in principle.
ISCG will review and consolidate feedback from field coordinators by 24 February. On 1 March the Rohingya Refugee Crisis Response Plan is expected to be released for donors and aid agencies.
The United Nations earlier appealed for funds of USD 83.7 million for interim emergency response from Sept 17 to Feb 18. Unfortunately only USD 15.9 million was received and USD 10.5 million still remains committed in the pipeline.
Robert Watkins, UNDP Resident Coordinator for Bangladesh, writing in the foreword of Humanitarian Response Plan (Sept 17-Feb 18) report, lauds the GoB and said that Bangladesh has triggered a wide response across ministries, agencies, and the military for providing humanitarian response swiftly. National and international humanitarian agencies have rapidly responded in support of government efforts, he observed.
According to ISCG's rapid needs assessment, 58 percent of new arrivals are children and 60 percent are girls and women, including a high number of pregnant (3 percent) and lactating women (7 percent). This includes 720,000 affected children in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, including critical life-saving interventions.
The UNDP Resident Coordinator did not hesitate to mention that many of the new arrivals are visibly traumatized and disoriented, suffering from the consequences of extreme violence, from the loss of or separation from family members, and from the ordeal of displacement.
Rape, human trafficking, and survival sex have been reported among the existing perils for women and girls during flight. Children's well-being and mental and physical development is affected by the incidents that led to their flight and there are growing numbers of separated and unaccompanied children being reported. Most newly arrived children have not been able to access education since they arrived,


 

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