Abandoned by the Conscienceless Muslim Regimes, Rohingya Muslim Women and Children Refugees Face Starvation, Disease and Death in Bangladesh

Press Release

 On Sunday 17^th September, the aid agency Save the Children warned that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh could die due to lack of food, shelter, and basic hygiene supplies. Over 410,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 25^th due to the genocide campaign being waged by the Burmese army. According to UNICEF, 80% of these refugees are women and children, 92,000 are under five, and there are around 52,000 pregnant or lactating women.

Having escaped the bloodbath, rapes, and indescribable scale of persecution in the Rakhine state, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim women and children now face the prospect of dying from starvation, disease, and lack of basic shelter and medical care in the abysmal refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh. Having survived the harrowing, treacherous journey from Myanmar in search of sanctuary, these destitute and traumatized refugees are now struggling to survive in mud-filled, cramped, make-shift tents made from plastic sheets that offer no protection from the heavy monsoon rains, while thousands of others, unable to find any shelter are sleeping in the open air. Thousands of desperate Rohingya Muslim women carrying their infants in their arms are lining up for hours in the torrential rain at food distribution points but often leaving empty-handed, unable to feed themselves and their children due to the criminal negligence of the Bangladesh authorities in providing adequately for these vulnerable, helpless Muslims. Furthermore, on the 17^th September, The Guardian reported that 400 babies had been born in the no-man’s land between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the previous 15 days. Some Rohingya women have died in child birth due to lack of health care facilities, while some babies have perished due to dire camp conditions or their mothers being unable to breastfeed because of food and water shortages.

Despite witnessing thousands of Muslim women, children, and babies enduring this living hell, the heartless Hasina regime, intoxicated by its vile, inhuman nationalistic beliefs, imposed harsh restrictions on the movement of the Rohingya, forbidding them from leaving these filthy, inhabitable camps, even to live with family or friends, and urging landlords not to rent property to them, labelling them “illegal foreigners” and treating them like jailed animals, while they are the beloved brothers and sisters of this Ummah! Indeed, the only concern of the conscienceless Hasina is how fast she can chase these desperate Muslims from her shores, back into the arms of the savage Myanmar regime! What a huge gulf of difference there is between this callous secular leadership and the honourable benevolent Muslims of Bangladesh who despite facing poverty, opened up their homes and gave generously to provide food and shelter to their needy brothers and sisters, and who demonstrated in their masses to demand the protection and support of the Rohingya. It exemplifies the stark distinction between the sublime beliefs and bond of Islamic brotherhood embodied within the Deen of Haqq and Mercy, and the merciless values and laws of the corrupt secular system and its inhuman nationalistic policies embraced by the regimes across the Muslim lands who have absolved themselves of the Islamic obligation to defend, rescue and care for these desperate Muslims.

O Muslims! Are the Muslim lands not vast; their wealth, resources, and armies not extensive? Then what excuse is there that your Rohingya brothers and sisters are abandoned to suffer such a horrendous ordeal? It is the colonial division of our lands into nation states and imposition of their puppet regimes and secular systems in the region that has led to Muslims being annihilated and deserted with no state coming to their aid. We call you to uproot these despicable regimes, systems and artificial borders that divide this Ummah and establish the Khilafah (Caliphate) based upon the method of the Prophethood that will defend the Rohingya and all oppressed Muslims. The Khilafah will annex Arakan and embrace the Rohingya as full citizens of the State, provide them true sanctuary and ensure that all their needs are fulfilled as commanded by Allah (swt).

[وَإِنِ اسْتَنْصَرُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ فَعَلَيْكُمُ النَّصْرُ]

“…And if they seek help of you for the religion, then you must help” [Al-Anfal: 72]

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Director of the Women’s Section in The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir