Muslims of Trinidad & Tobago two-person delegation have attained their objective of bringing relief aid to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. In a report texted into Caribbean Muslims, Imtiaz Mohammed provided a first-hand description of their experiences in Bangladesh.
“First, I must recognize the Bangladesh youths who assisted us to pack the hampers and to load a 22 ft container truck and a 2-ton truck with relief supplies from after Jummah to 4:30 am Saturday morning. May Allah reward them and their families immensely and make their lives easy and comfortable. Our journey started at 5 am to Cox Bazaar where all the Rohingya refugees camps are located.
We arrived in Cox Bazaar at 9:30 am. We met with the army officials at the control Centre and they assisted us to get all the necessary documents and authorization to fulfill our mission in the camps. It was a sweltering day as the sun came out in all its glory. With no sleep the night before, you could imagine the tiredness with the heat was overwhelming. Anyway, we had a job to do and we set about getting it done.
It was my first opportunity to meet the Rohingya Muslims and they did not disappoint. They are strong and holding onto their religion Islam. The Bangladesh government must be given credit for the role they played in trying to assist them. There are twenty-eight camps with Rohingya Muslims. Each camp is divided into eight blocks and managed by a leader. Different army personnel manages each camp.
I noticed today that most of the people in the camps were children. Some are orphans and others have their parent or parents as the case might be. As we drove through the camp, I saw many male children below the age of three years naked and playing. This is happening because the parents cannot work to buy the necessities and they have lost all their belongings while in Myanmar. The Rohingya Muslims refugees in Bangladesh are not allowed to work. So they survive by the UN World Food Programme providing rice, lentils, and oil once a month to each family. Obviously, at least half of the month, other NGOs try to give support by providing some food and other necessities. I was told today, only once a month an NGO might show up. The UN and other NGOs are also giving support by providing children with some schooling and recreational activities.
Today’s activities have brought our mission to an end here. On Monday we fly to Nairobi, Kenya to assist the Somalis refugees in Dadaab camp on the border of Kenya and Somalia.” Imtaiz Mohammed was accompanied by Manwar Ali to undertake this noble task.
Meanwhile, Canadian lawmakers have unanimously voted to declare Myanmar’s military actions against the Rohingya people a genocide.
The House of Commons endorsed the findings of a UN fact-finding mission on Myanmar that found “crimes against humanity have been committed against the Rohingya” and that these acts were sanctioned by top Myanmar military commanders.
Canadian lawmakers said they “recognise that these crimes against the Rohingya constitute genocide” and urged the UN security council to refer the case to the international criminal court, while also calling for Myanmar’s generals to be investigated and prosecuted “for the crime of genocide”.
