LET US SPEAK FOR OUR RIGHTS - Amnesty International

By encouraging refugee leadership and consultation in decisionsrelated to them, Bangladesh’s government can ensure that theiractions are transparent and do not further violate the human rightsof the Rohingya people.ill-treatment and lack of informationabout access to healthcare servicesin the camps.5 Women in the campshave complained about genderbased violence and discriminationat home and outside during thepandemic.6 More than 100 Rohingyarefugees have been allegedly killed inextrajudicial executions, according toOdhikar, a Bangladeshi human rightsorganization. In May, Bangladeshiauthorities took more than 300Rohingya refugees to Bhashan Char,a remote silt island at the Bay ofBengal. Rohingya refugees on theisland told Amnesty International thatthey wish return to refugee campsin Cox’s Bazar as it is not suitableto stay there.7 The authorities’construction of barbed wire fences8around the camps further threatensto restrict the refugees’ right tofreedom of movement and stoketerritorial sentiments and tensionsbetween Rohingya refugees andhost community.The restrictions and challengesfaced by Rohingya refugees reflecta lack of consultation with themin the Bangladeshi government’sdecisions and actions that affectthem.Amnesty International sent itsfindings to the Ministry of ForeignAffairs and the Refugee Relief andRepatriation Commissioner of theGovernment of Bangladesh on 19August 2020 for comment but todate it has received no response.The participation of the refugees indecision-making about their futureis also a matter of their freedom ofexpression. This is a prerequisitethat ensures the openness andtransparency of, and accountabilityfor, States’ decisions, accordingto the United Nations “Guidelinesfor States on the effectiveimplementation of the right toparticipate in public affairs”.9The Guidelines further mention that,“the right to participate in public affairsrequires that the life, physical integrity,liberty, security and privacy of allmembers of society be protectedat all times. Moreover, the right toparticipate requires an environmentthat values and takes into account thework and contribution of all membersof society, supports and encouragestheir engagement and ensures thatthey are empowered and equippedwith the knowledge and capacitynecessary to claim and exercisetheir rights.”The participation of Rohingyarefugees in decisions related tothem must be ensured so that theycan claim their human rights, andwhen repatriation occurs, it is trulyvoluntary and sustainable.The restrictionsand challengesfaced by Rohingyarefugees reflect alack of consultationwith them inthe Bangladeshigovernment’sdecisions andactions thataffect them.5Amnesty International interview with Rohingya refugees, August 2020678Amnesty International interview with Rohingya refugees, July 2020Amnesty International interview with Rohingya refugees, August 2020The Daily Star, Surveillance of Rohingyas not weak: home minister, 15 February 2020, , Guidelines for States on the effective implementation of the right to participate in public affairs, 2020, Retrieved 26 August 2020, ffairs/GuidelinesRightParticipatePublicAffairs web.pdf9Amnesty International7

“THEY TOLD ME NOT TOUSE WI-FI NEXT TIME”Rohingya refugees use internet for online education and to communicate with relatives buta restriction has denied them access to life-saving information during COVID-19 and addedmore frustration to their lives.A restriction on access to highspeed internet for Rohingyarefugees in Cox’s Bazar sinceSeptember 2019 has made theirlives in the camps even moredifficult.“I was a student when I fled mynative country. I harboured my thirstfor education even after I arrivedin Bangladesh. I could downloadbooks, read newspaper, take onlinecourses from Coursera, Udemy,etc. using the internet. But now allthings about my development havecome to a halt due to the internetrestriction. There is no other wayto acquire knowledge, educationand to be aware about the currentsituation of the world. Restrictinginternet for refugees is likerestricting our access to education,”said Mo Mong Sha, a 22-year-oldRohingya refugee.In September 2019, mobile phoneoperators shut down 3G and 4Gservices in the refugee camps oninstructions from the BangladeshTelecommunication and RegulatoryCommission. The authoritiesclaimed that the cutdown oninternet speed was imposed toprevent drug smuggling andviolent crimes.“Internet helps people more thanfacilitating crimes in the camps.Crimes can never be a reason for8restriction on using the internet,”said Mo Mong Sha. Now, inabsence of internet, not only peopledo not know about crimes beingcommitted in the camps, “wecannot even send urgent messagesto relatives.”On 5 August 2020, police detaineda young Rohingya man for usingWi-Fi internet at a shop in Jamtoli incamp 15. “Is using Wi-Fi a crime?”he asked the police officials. Theysaid that Rohingya cannot use Wi-Fiinternet. “Finally, after one hourthey released me and returned mymobile phone and told me not useWi-Fi next time,” he told AmnestyInternational.These types of restrictionsundermine the dignity and violatethe human rights of the Rohingya.“We have restriction on education,movement, employment and evenon using internet. I have relativesabroad. I communicated with themfrequently in the past. I receivedimportant news and informationwhen I had internet access.If I didn't know or understandsomething, I looked it up on Googleand other places on the internet,”said Samuda, a 20-year-oldRohingya refugee.In April 2020, the UN SpecialRapporteur on the promotion andprotection of the right to freedomof opinion and expression hassaid that the internet is one ofthe leading prerequisites for theenjoyment of the right to freedomof expression. “Internet shutdownsare an affront to the freedom ofexpression that every person isguaranteed under human rightsRohingya refugees said to AmnestyInternational that although in some partsof the camps the internet speed hasimproved it is still not widely available. “Idon't get proper network. I have to climbup to higher places to get [better] speed.”– A Rohingya man in camp 12.“LET US SPEAK FOR OUR RIGHTS” Human rights situation of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Yassin Abdumonab for Amnesty Internationallaw,” and during a pandemic, headded, “this could risk the healthand life of everyone denied suchaccess.”10“The world is passing a hardtime because of the Covid-19pandemic and we the Rohingya arein a difficult situation because wecannot get timely updates abouthealth and safety measures,” saidMuzibur Rahman, a 30-year-oldRohingya refugee.One year since Bangladeshiauthorities restricted access tohigh-speed internet in the refugeecamps, the country’s ForeignSecretary Masud Bin Momen saidon 24 August that they will liftthe “restriction on 3G/4G mobilenetwork”. Rohingya refugees said toAmnesty International that althoughin some parts of the camps theinternet speed has improved it isstill not widely available. “I don'tget proper network. I have to climbup to higher places to get [better]speed,” said one Rohingya man incamp 12. Internet restrictions deny Rohingya refugees their right to freedom of expression. Refugees cannot access life-saving information during COVID-19. Police confiscate phones and laptops of Rohingya refugees for using internet. Rohingya youth says he was detained by police for using Wi-Fi.10 UN, Disease pandemics and the freedom of opinion and expression, 23 April 2020, https://www.undocs.org/A/HRC/44/49Amnesty International9

PROTECT WOMEN FROMVIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATIONProtection services, which include legal counselling and child protection, have beenconstrained by limited scale of operation in the camps during COVID-19.Yasmin Bibi*, 40, said she wouldbe the last person to receive herpacket from the majhi (a Rohingyacommunity leader in every camp)whenever humanitarian agencieswould distribute food or otheritems through camp leaders inthe Rohingya refugee camps. Themajhi would distribute the items tohis relatives and people he likesbefore he turned to her, she said.On another occasion, her neighbourhad damaged part of her shelterwhile fixing his. “I didn’t complainto anyone because if I told themajhi, he would have asked me tocompromise.11 People get away bydoing these because I am a widow,”she says.When Shaheen Ara*, 29, went toregister herself for a World FoodProgramme food card, she saidsome local NGO workers demandedsexual favours in exchange ofservices. They said they wouldgive her a house and ensure herdaughter’s education if she leftthe camp and went with them.“I vehemently refused and sothey kept me waiting until a seniorofficial instructed them to help me,”she says.An activist of Rohingya women’seducation, Shaheen, says that aidworkers have sexually exploitedgirls in the refugee camps. She Fabeha Monir for Amnesty Internationalsaid that some people within thehumanitarian sector have in thepast taken them outside the campswith the proposition of marriage.According to her, the girls would besent back to the camps a few dayslater or they would become victimsof human trafficking.12Amnesty International interviewed10 Rohingya women aboutgender-based violence (GBV) anddiscrimination in the camps. Fiveof them said the frequency ofviolence against women, particularlydomestic violence, has increasedduring COVID-19, as more men are11 Compromise, a term locally suggested to stay quiet or not do anythin12 The Rohingya children trafficked for sex. (2020). Retrieved 26 August 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-4346904310 “LET US SPEAK FOR OUR RIGHTS” Human rights situation of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

“A few months ago, our community [leaders] decided notto allow women to go to work. I couldn’t go to work for aboutthree months,”– Rahima *, a 50-year-old woman of Camp 1 at Kutupalong, who is a field worker and refers pregnant women to hospital.at home. Women said that theirhusbands, aggrieved by the loss ofopportunity to work, put pressureon them to bring in money, andwere violent towards the womenin the household. Four of the 10women believed that

August 25, 2017 November 15, 2018 August 22, 2019 August 25, 2019 September 1, 2019 December 10 2019 November 24, 2019 January 23, 2020 January 28, 2020 May 14, 2020 May 31, 2020 April 16, 2020 Fleeing atrocity crimes committed by the Myanmar military, more than