Bangladesh Announces New Refugee Camp

Three months after Human Rights Watch reported that Bangladeshi authorities had destroyed a camp sheltering 6,000 Rohingya refugees from Burma, Bangladesh announced on June 20, World Refugee Day, that it will build a new camp to house 9,500 people. In addition to denouncing the camp’s destruction, Human Rights Watch urged Bangladesh to uphold its obligation to protect Rohingya refugees and allow their unfettered access to humanitarian aid. Over 250,000 Rohingya Muslims from western Burma were forced into Bangladesh by the Burmese military in 1992 in a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Arakan state. Since then, thousands have been detained in crowded camps in Bangladesh, and many have been repatriated to Burma, where they face repression by that country’s military dictatorship. We will continue to urge Bangladesh to provide safe refuge and access to services for Rohingya refugees.