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BANGLADESH / ROHINGYA REFUGEES
STORY: BANGLADESH / ROHINGYA REFUGEES
TRT: 1.47
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ROHINGYA / NATS
DATELINE: 18-19 DECEMBER 2012, KUTUPALONG CAMP, KUTUPALONG MAKESHIFT SITE, NAYAPARA CAMP, LEDA MAKESHIFT SITE, TEKNAF FISHING VILLAGE, BANGLADESH
1. Wide shot, refugees carry sacks of food outside food distribution centre in Kutupalong camp
2. Zoom out, corn distribution
3. Wide shot, refugee women line up outside Women’s Centre in Nayapara camp
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Hasan Sharif, Rohingya Refugee:
“We’re not getting sufficient facilities to get a high level education, to get a high level treatment, to have freedom of movement or anything. We just control ourselves inside of the camp.”
5. Wide shot, Kids on the village road
6. Wide shot, kid running through shelters in Leda makeshift site
7. Wide shot, run-down shelters in Kutupalong makeshift site
8. Med shot, boys and men clearing fishing nets on boats on beach in Teknaf
9. Med shot, young men sorting fish in shop
10. Wide shot, silhouette of fishing boats on beach
11. Wide shot, villagers, UNHCR staff walking away, going to meet Aisha in Teknaf village
12. SOUNDBITE (Rohingya) Aisha, Rohingya Refugee:
“Life was tough in Myanmar. It’s also tough here. That’s why he went to Malaysia, to find a better life.”
13. Wide shot, men untangling fishing net on boat in Teknaf
14. SOUNDBITE (Rohingya) Aisha, Rohingya Refugee:
“The smuggling agent called me and said my husband and brother were in their hands. I need to pay to release them.”
15. Wide shot, unregistered Rohingya children in makeshift shelter
16. Wide shot, men untangling fishing net on boat
17. Wide shot, silhouette of fishing boats on beach
Three generations on, Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh still require food assistance to get by. They have little chance to earn money as working outside the camp is not allowed.
After 20 years what these refugees say they want most is self-reliance.
SOUNDBITE (English) Hasan Sharif, Rohingya Refugee:
“We’re not getting sufficient facilities to get a high level education, to get a high level treatment, to have freedom of movement or anything. We just control ourselves inside of the camp.”
Many other Rohingyas live outside the camp in makeshift sites and local communities.
This fishing village in south-eastern Bangladesh has taken in some Rohingya. It offers families shelter. In return, the refugees work on local fishing boats. Younger ones help onshore.
But lack of opportunities has pushed many Rohingyas to get into smugglers boats to escape to other countries.
UNHCR staff spoke to a woman whose fisherman husband left a few months before. Her identity is being protected.
SOUNDBITE (Rohingya) Aisha, Rohingya Refugee:
“Life was tough in Myanmar. It’s also tough here. That’s why he went to Malaysia, to find a better life.”
Last year, nearly 500 people died making this journey. Others are held for ransom by smugglers.
SOUNDBITE (Rohingya) Aisha, Rohingya Refugee:
“The smuggling agent called me and said my husband and brother were in their hands. I need to pay to release them.”
Aisha does not have the 2,000 US dollars the smugglers demanded. She can barely make ends meet. Her young son now collects recycled materials to support the family.
Years of living in limbo have made risking one’s life on the high seas a worthwhile gamble. High stakes against a bleak future that requires a regional solution.
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