Refugees, rice and reticent returnees

The meandering line from Myanmar

The meandering line of refugees winding its way from Myanmar’s Rakhine state into Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district told a harrowing tale of horror. It was a tale of torture, cruelty untold and inhumanity unbound. It was a tale that made its way through 2017 and continues on to the New Year.

The plight of the Rohingyas darkened the later part of 2017 and Bangladesh bore the brunt. Discarding pragmatism and prudence, Bangladesh opened its arms to the fleeing Rohingyas, adding to the refugees who had already taken refuge here in previous years. The nation and its leaders won international accolades (if not a certain coveted prize as yet!) for this unadulterated display of humanity, but at what price? Indeed, as the new year begins, a question looms large, ‘what next?’

Leaving aside the figures and statistics to the pundits, the picture is not a pretty one. The burgeoning number of refugees is taking its toll on the local populace and environment. The socio-economic and security repercussions hang menacingly overhead like Damocles’ sword.

UNDP has sounded the alarm bells for the environment, saying that the Rohingya camps pose as a threat to the biodiversity of the area. Trees are being felled for fuel, animals are being killed and public health is at risk. The UN body has a long list of risks to forest, land, water, animals and human health.

Then there is the economic impact of the crisis. Despite camp restrictions, the refugees are encroaching on the already scarce resources and employment scope, generating animosity among the otherwise generous locals who have been hospitable hosts all along.

Social menaces in the shape of yaba and other drugs, human trafficking and the sex trade have also raised their ugly heads.

All these pose as challenges in 2018. The repatriation process is supposed to begin, but the flimsy bilateral agreement gives little hope. Will Bangladesh manage to garner the required international support to tackle the issue? Will the crisis be resolved or will the Rohingya issue linger on?

Rice price reaches high

If you haven’t eaten rice, you haven’t eaten at all. That’s the Bangali way of life and it won’t change anytime soon. Subsequent governments have tried to change the diet of the masses, introducing innovative alternatives, promoting potatoes, wheat and other sources of carbohydrates. But the people remain intractably ‘maache-bhaate Bangali’, where fish and rice are the intrinsic identity of the Bangali.

But 2017 has seen rice prices spiralling out of control. The writing had been on the wall, but the authorities apparently chose to look the other way. The government’s food grain reserves dwindled, while rice prices skyrocketed. With coarse-grained rice going up to as high as Tk 46 per kg, the common people have been hit hard. In fact, according to studies, the 30 per cent increase in rice price has pushed more than 500,000 people below the poverty line.

The government took steps, but a little too late. Decreasing import duty on rice hasn’t brought prices down an iota. Reserves remain near rock-bottom. At one point of time, even costly fragrant fine-grained rice was cheaper than the common coarse grain. The people were told to go for that, but that rice hardly fills a hungry stomach. It was something on the lines of ‘let them eat cake’. And everyone knows the fate of Marie Antoinette who uttered those infamous words.

It is imperative for the government to monitor the market and replenish its rice reserves. If the new year is to usher in fresh hope, things simply cannot be so bleak when it comes to rice - the very basic requirement for the undemanding masses.

Amnesia of the abducted

Enforced disappearances and abductions have been the talk of the the past few years. Over 400 have disappeared in the past nine years. The year 2017 has been no exception. According to the human rights watchdog Ain O Salish Kendra, from January to November 2017, a total of 54 persons were abducted, victims of enforced disappearance. Some surveys show an even higher number of disappearances. Some of the victims have returned, some haven’t and some have turned up as lifeless corpses. As for those who return alive, they have all been assailed by a strange sense of amnesia, a selective amnesia from the moment they were abducted to the moment they were dropped off at random locations. They are strangely reticent to disclose details of their detention.

North South University teacher Mubashar Hasan was whisked away, only to return with his lips sealed. Journalist Utpal Das was similarly abducted and also turned up with nothing to say. Recently, MM Aminur Rahman, the secretary general of Kalyan Party, was also recovered as mysteriously as he went missing. For him too, mum’s the word!

Also vanishing during the year were businessmen Aniruddha Kumar Roy and Syed Sadat Ahmed, Ishrak Ahmed who was a student of McGill University in Canada and others. The families of those who have not returned wait in trepidation. After all, many have returned dead or in detention. The dead tell no tales and so the enigma of enforced disappearances deepens.

Human rights activists and even the common man on the street, invariably point to the law enforcement as the agencies behind these disappearances. The agencies deny any involvement whatsoever, suggesting family feuds and business rivalries as the cause of the abductions and deaths. Interestingly, though, a police official recently did admit in public that they were behind some of the abductions. The fact remains that, even in the implausible event that they had nothing to do with the enforced disappearances, surely it is their responsibility to recover the missing persons and nab the abductors. If they cannot do that, then to whom will the people turn?

As the new year begins, the families of the victims pray that their lost ones return. The nation hopes for a safe year, where one can step out of the house without being assailed with the fear of never returning. Surely the law enforcers do not want the people to take the law into their own hands? The result of that can only be anarchy.

Adieu 2017, welcome 2018

As we bid adieu to 2017, we also want to bid a firm farewell to the fears and insecurities that gripped us throughout the year. We want the Rohingyas to return home, safely and securely. We want those in our country who have fallen below the poverty line, to rise above it and live in dignity. We want a safe land in which to live. It can only be a happy new year if the powers-that-be want it to be so. Let 2018 bring us peace, prosperity and a life worth living.