Two more NGOs withdrawn from Cox’s Bazar
The government has banned the activities of two more NGOs – ADRA Bangladesh and Al-Markazul Islami -- for providing financial assistance for the August 25 rally of Rohingyas and campaigning against the Rohingya repatriation, reports UNB.
The NGO Affairs Bureau issued an order on Wednesday in this regard, said Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Mohammad Ashraful Afar.
Bank transactions of the two NGOs were also halted, he said, adding that they were asked to wrap up their activities in Cox’s Bazar.
On August 31, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said 41 non-government organisations (NGOs) have been withdrawn from all kinds of activities in Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps for their wrongdoings.
On August 25, thousands of Rohingyas staged a huge rally in Ukhiya demanding that the international community step up pressure on Myanmar to meet their five-point demand, including repatriation, citizenship and trial in the international court of those involved in killing and persecution.
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas and most of them entered the country since August 25, 2017.
Despite all the preparations, no Rohingya turned up on August to avail of the “voluntary” repatriation offer given to them to go back to their place of origin prompting the authorities to suspend the repatriation process.
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation deal on November 23, 2017, but there has been little progress.
On July 29, Bangladesh handed a fresh list of 25,000 Rohingyas from around 6,000 families to Myanmar for verification before their repatriation to Rakhine State.
With the latest list, Bangladesh has so far handed the names of around 55,000 Rohingyas to the Myanmar authorities and around 8,000 of them have been verified.
On January 16, 2018 Bangladesh and Myanmar inked a document on “Physical Arrangement”, which was supposed to facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland.
The “Physical Arrangement” stipulates that the repatriation will be completed preferably within two years from the start.
The first batch of Rohingyas was scheduled to return on November 15 last year but it was halted amid the unwillingness of Rohingyas to go back for lack of a congenial environment in Rakhine.
