Eid reminds Rohingya of deprivation in their homeland

Jaber Hossain, one of over a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, is celebrating Eid al-Fitr in a crammed makeshift camp in Cox's Bazar district, but he is happy to welcome the biggest festival of Islam.

"I can perform my Eid prayer here without any fear of attack, and we need not keep engaging some of our people in guarding us at the time of the Eid prayer as we had to do in Myanmar," Hossain told Anadolu Agency.

He said while living in his homeland of Myanmar, he saw that the Azan, or call to prayer, was prohibited in most mosques by the Myanmar authorities.

"Extremist Buddhists frequently came to us, rebuked us and physically assaulted us on the way to the mosque and on the way back home after the prayer.

"Now I feel how deprived we were in Myanmar as Muslims" he said, adding practicing one's religion here without any interruptions is a great consolation for him during Eid.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017. There are now 1.2 million Rohingyas staying in Bangladesh.

Nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar's state forces since Aug. 25, 2017, according to the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA), while more than 34,000 were thrown into fires and over 114,000 others were beaten.

Another 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar's army and police and more than 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned and 113,000 others vandalized.

"Bangladesh is not my country. We are living here by the mercy of others. We want to go back to our own country, but we need citizenship rights and safety first," Rohingya refugee Mahmud Ullah told Anadolu Agency.

"Eid is for free people who have their own homes, land and identity. It's not for us. We are not free. We are like prisoners."

Despite such frustration, Ullah managed to buy a new dress for his child. But Ullah's neighbor at the camp, Hamida Khatun, could not purchase anything for her two children.

Khatun's husband, Mohammad Toyab, was killed by the Myanmar military in 2017 when they were fleeing the crackdown in Rakhine.

"What a happy life I had. My husband worked in the field and I managed home. He came home in the evening, and we both cared for our babies. Now I am alone. I have no home, no property, no one to share my sorrows," said Khatun.

Some aid agencies and non-governmental organizations working in Bangladesh's Rohingya camps have already distributed special relief to the refugees.

"During the holy month of Ramadan, we have distributed monthly relief two times, including a special package on the occasion of Eid," Saiful Islam Doyal, assistant coordinator of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), told Anadolu Agency.

He added that around 24,000 Rohingyas from 5,000 families have been covered under the relief scheme at Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar.

"A total of 12 items, including five kilograms of onions, five kilograms of sugar, three liters of milk and five packets of semai, or vermicelli, have been distributed as Eid special relief," Doyal added.

But frustration among Rohingya people is mounting day by day due to the uncertainty over their safe return to their homeland with dignity and citizenship rights.

In November 2017, Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to start repatriating Rohingya refugees within two months following talks between Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Bangladesh's Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali.

But due to international concerns about safety and dignity issues, the repatriation process has been delayed and there is no visible sign of it starting in the near future.

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued three recommendations to the UN last September for resolving the Rohingya crisis, including the abolition of discriminatory laws, policies and practices of Myanmar against Rohingya, creating a conducive environment inside Myanmar for guaranteeing protection, rights and a pathway to citizenship for all Rohingya and a fair trial over Myanmar's atrocities in Rakhine in light of the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission on Myanmar.

But Myanmar's authorities still regard Rohingya people as illegal Bengali and have not shown any inclination towards removing the controversial 1982 Citizenship Act.

Amnesty International said in a report last February that human rights violations are continuing in Rakhine State.

"The Myanmar military is blocking access to food and shelling villages and 5,200 people have been displaced since December 2018," it said.

A recently published report by Human Rights Watch also expressed concern over the cycle of human rights violations in Rakhine.

"Myanmar security forces continued to commit grave abuses against Rohingya Muslims throughout 2018, deepening the humanitarian and human rights catastrophe in Rakhine State," it said.

Joseph Surjamoni Tripura, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman in Bangladesh, told Anadolu Agency that the best option was that they could return to their homeland with safety and dignity and celebrate Eid in their own country.

"Throughout the whole month of Ramadan, we have operated a campaign among Rohingyas to keep alive their hope and remove frustration," he said, adding the UNCHR has also held some iftar parties with Rohingya people.

The Rohingya are frustrated over their future and "the main challenge for us is to keep their hope alive", Tripura said.

What do Rohingya people feel? They want peaceful repatriation with safety and due rights. Until this is fulfilled, proper education is a must for the more than 500,000 Rohingya children under 12 years old.

"Please do something to make a good future at least for our children," said Nasima, a mother of four.