A scathing report by Human Rights Watch has revealed conscious attempts by the Bangladeshi regime to deny the right to education to almost half a million Rohingya refugee children.
In a recent report titled, Are we not human?: Denial of Education for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh, the rights group said the government in Bangladesh was denying aid groups access to hundreds of thousands of school-aged Rohingya children currently being camped in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps.
According to HRW, about 400,000 school-age children living in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps are affected by the fact that the Bangladeshi government does not provide formal or accredited education in the camps and bars UN agencies and NGOs from doing so.
The HRW estimates the number of affected children to be around 400,000 and said they were being denied the basic right to education as envisaged under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The rights groups say the Bangladeshi government is not providing any form of education to the refugee children (formal or accredited education) in the camps and also barring UN agencies and NGOs from gaining access to the refugees.
According to HRW, about 400,000 school-age children living in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps are affected by the fact that the Bangladeshi government does not provide formal or accredited education in the camps and bars UN agencies and NGOs from doing so.
The rights watchdog interviewed some 160 refugee children, officials and staff of human rights agencies to develop the report. The common sentiment observed amongst the Rohingya children was that of disappointment. They believe that education can change their lives and the denial of this fundamental right is nothing but, discouraging.
After suffering persecution, discrimination and displacement at the hands of Myanmar government, it is claimed that the country continues to play its manipulative role in denying access to the refugee children in Bangladeshi camps, by not consenting to the use of Myanmar’s curriculum.
Over 700,000 Rohingya have taken refuge in the Bangladeshi camps since fleeing Myanmar in 2017, after suffering atrocities at the hands of Myanmar military which the U.N claimed were being carried out with the ‘intent of genocide.’
Today, the Rohingya, stripped of their nationality are trying to build some semblance of life in the refugee camps. The human rights organizations and former teachers have relentlessly tried to setup schools however, each time they have been forced to shut down the learning centers.
The case of the children living in the refugee camps without access to education, and other facilities is a stark reminder of how the Rohingya have been failed. HRW’s report makes it vividly clear that instead of rehabilitating the displaced persons, the Bangladeshi government is ensuring the continuous denial of fundamental rights to the tormented community.
There are no reviews yet.