Rohingya refugee Shonjida has experienced years of boredom, misery, and violence in Bangladesh, but the recent overthrow of autocratic former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given her renewed hope for the future.
Approximately one million stateless and persecuted Muslim minorities live in a sprawling network of Bangladeshi relief camps after fleeing violence in their homeland, Myanmar. Hasina was praised by the international community in 2017 for allowing around 750,000 Rohingya to enter Bangladesh following a military crackdown in Myanmar, which is now under UN genocide investigation. However, the subsequent years have been marked by rampant malnutrition and frequent gun battles in the camps, with residents hoping that Hasina's removal will bring renewed attention to their plight.
"We and our children live in fear at night due to the shootings," said 42-year-old Shonjida, who uses only one name. Shonjida teaches at one of the few informal learning centers established for school-aged children in her camp, providing her with a troubling insight into the multitude of issues facing her community. These centers can only accommodate a small fraction of the camp's families, who, as refugees, are excluded from Bangladeshi schools, universities, and the local job market. Many of her students are undernourished due to declining international aid, which has led to successive ration cuts. They are also terrified by the sound of rival militant groups fighting for control of the camps, with over 60 refugees killed in clashes so far this year, according to local media reports.
"We want peace and no more gunfire. We want our children to not be scared anymore," Shonjida said. "Now that the new government is in power, we hope it will give us peace, support, food, and safety."
Hasina was ousted last month in a student-led uprising that forced her to flee into exile in neighboring India, just before thousands stormed her palace in the capital, Dhaka. The revolution ended her 15-year rule, which was marred by extrajudicial killings, press restrictions, and crackdowns on civil society. Her decision to welcome Rohingya fleeing Myanmar earned her some diplomatic respite from Washington and other Western capitals, who otherwise regularly condemned abuses during her tenure. However, her government's struggles to accommodate the refugees in the following years were also frequently criticized by rights groups.
At least 36,000 Rohingya were relocated to the previously uninhabited and cyclone-prone island of Bhashan Char to alleviate overcrowding in the camps. Many of those sent there claimed they were forced to go against their will, with one refugee describing their new home to Human Rights Watch as "an island jail in the middle of the sea." The dire situation in the camps also prompted thousands to undertake dangerous sea journeys to find new refuge in Southeast Asian countries, with many drowning at sea.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who is leading an interim government ahead of fresh elections, began his tenure last month by promising to continue supporting the Rohingya. Many refugees said they were encouraged by the initial weeks of the 84-year-old's administration. "We saw on Facebook and YouTube that many of our community leaders had spoken with them and met with them," said community leader Hamid Hossain, 48. "I am more hopeful now."
Yunus also emphasized that Bangladesh needed "the sustained efforts of the international community" to care for the Rohingya. This week, he traveled to the United States and lobbied for more foreign aid for the group, with the State Department announcing nearly $200 million in additional funding after Yunus met privately with President Joe Biden. Yunus has also called for accelerated resettlement of Rohingya in third countries, as the prospect of refugees safely returning to their original homes appears increasingly slim.
The Rohingya have endured decades of discrimination in Myanmar, where successive governments classified them as illegal immigrants despite their long history in the country. Hasina's government and Myanmar made several unsuccessful attempts to establish a repatriation scheme, opposed by refugees who did not want to return home without guarantees of their safety and civic rights. The security situation has deteriorated dramatically since last year, with Rohingya-majority communities in Myanmar becoming the site of intense clashes between the military and a rebel army fighting the country's junta.
"There are killings there," said refugee Mohammad Johar, 42. "How can we go back?"
