Spændingerne er stigende i den overvejende buddhistiske delstat Rakhine i Burma (Myanmar). Her beskyldes de muslimske rohingyaer for at tage del i narkosmugling. Det kan ske pga. deres sårbarhed og mangel på indtægt, siger FN-repræsentant.
DHAKA, 19 June 2014 (IRIN): Tensions are rising as the deteriorating humanitarian situation and limited access to livelihoods for Muslim Rohingya in Burma’s largely Buddhist Rakhine State lead to accusations that some are smuggling drugs across the border into neighbouring Bangladesh.
“We have rounded up many Rohingyas with ‘yaba’ in their possession, which means they are being used as yaba carriers,” Major General Aziz Ahmed, director general of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) told IRIN.
“Recently we have opened six new camps along the border to prevent illegal entry of Rohingya and drugs.”
“Yaba” is a drug that contains morphine and amphetamine, and creates intense hallucinogenic effects. Users can remain awake for days at a time – se mere på http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen
The Bangladesh government’s Department of Narcotics Control has reported a surge in yaba seizures in recent years – from approximately 4,000 tablets in 2009 to more than 150,000 in 2013.
The 2014 Global Synthetic Drugs Assessment by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that the yaba seized in Bangladesh originates in Burma.
Deplorable conditions
The approximately 800,000 Rohingyas have long faced persecution and discrimination, including being stateless in the eyes of Burmese law.
Burma’s government claims that historically they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and labels them ‘Bengalis’.
The Bangladesh government would like the Rohingya refugees in its territory to be repatriated.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are 200,000 to 500,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh, of whom only 30,000 are documented and living in two government camps assisted by the agency, both within two km of Burma.
Most live in informal settlements or towns and cities in what Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has described as “deplorable conditions”.
Communal violence in Rakhine state in 2012 displaced more than 140,000 Rohingya, and forced many to cross into Bangladesh. Conditions are far from ripe for their return.
Increasing exploitation and risk
In March international aid workers were forced to flee western Burma after being targeted by Buddhist mobs that threw rocks at homes and offices in Sittwe, over perceived humanitarian bias towards Rohingyas.
Agencies have been maneuvering to re-enter western Burma at full scale since then.
During a 13 June visit to IDP camps (lejre for fordrevne) in Rakhine State, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kyung-wha Kang, called the situation “appalling, with wholly inadequate access to basic services including health, education, water and sanitation.”
More than 140,000 Rohingya live in camps for displaced
Officials and experts say the lack of humanitarian access, intense security on both sides of the border, and the ongoing misery in Rakhine, coupled with the humanitarian reticence across the border in Bangladesh, is exposing Rohingyas to increasing exploitation and risk.
In a 2013 security survey in the area, 60 percent of respondents identified drug trafficking with the “most economically insecure and marginalized people to smuggle drugs” as a major cross-border activity.
“While we do not have any confirmation that Rohingya have been involved in moving drugs across the Burmese-Bangladesh border, exploiting extremely vulnerable people in low-level and dangerous labour… is common around the world,” said Jeremy Douglas, Southeast Asia and Pacific regional representative for UNODC in Bangkok, Thailand.
“It’s not about placing blame on the Rohingya for their involvement, but understanding that this happens because of their vulnerability and lack of other options for income.”
Rejecting the Rohingyas
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