Conflicting emotions over influx of refugees
Bangladeshi locals navigate frustration and compassion toward Rohingya Muslims
GUNDUM, BANGLADESH— The sudden arrival of half a million Rohingya Muslims has upended life in this humble village, which is now overshadowed by one of the largest concentrations of refugees in the world.
The village’s rundown school and a smattering of rice paddies sit across the road from hundreds of hectares of bamboo huts covered by black tarp, a safe harbour for the refugees fleeing ethnic violence in Burma.
Last Saturday, the midday teasipping crowd hung out in front of Munwara Begum’s provisions store here. In their discussion were echoes of a conversation happening around the world about the costs of compassion toward refugees. It was one filled with conflicting emotions.
“The price of rice has doubled since they came. The price of rickshaws has doubled. Vegetables, soap, you name it, and the price has gone up,” Begum said. Basic economics is at work here: When demand rises sharply and supply lags in catching up, prices rise.
“And the Rohingya are rich!” she said. “They have nice phones, solar panels. The ones who’ve been here since ’91 are in better shape than us.” Joshimuddin, an elementary school teacher who, like many here, goes by one name, chimed in.
“If a Rohingya beats someone or even murders them, they can just hide in the refugee camp,” he said. “Then what are we supposed to do? They outnumber us.”
“It’s not like I don’t have sympathy — they had their own lives and now they have to stand in line for an hour just to use the toilet,” he continued. “But . . .”
Begum completed his thought with an echo of the Burma state line she said she’d heard somewhere: “Their boys attacked the military first. What did they expect to happen?”
Eklash Mian, a sharecropper, was visibly uncomfortable. He put his arm around his young son, drew him close and said, “They are poor. They are in trouble. Let them come. We’ll get by.”
The recent arrivals are most certainly poor and in trouble. Many arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Others who had time to bring along livestock or heirlooms sold them for to the boatmen who ferried them to safety. As aid organizations struggle to cope with the need, thousands of Rohingya line the main road here, begging for alms.
Then again, Bangladesh is not exactly a beacon of prosperity. Nor is it a land of wide, open spaces.
Bangladesh has far and away the highest population density of any sizable nation. The overcrowding, the poverty and the underdevelopment are amplified in the country’s southeast, where the half-million new arrivals have joined hundreds of thousands who fled earlier waves of violence. The latest exodus from Burma began Aug. 25, when a band of Rohingya militants attacked police posts in Rakhine state, prompting a violent military crackdown.
Returning to Burma any time soon is simply not in the cards. Despite living in Burma for generations, they are considered Bangladeshi interlopers, not citizens, and the question of whether Burma will ever grant return to those who have no paperwork is viewed with great doubt here.