An international delegation recently visited Nayapara camp located in Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh.
The South East Asian Refugee Deputy Coordinator (SEARDC) and Ambassador Ms. Lillian Dowe, UNHCR and RRRC were warmly welcomed by Kamruzzaman, the Nayapara Camp-in-Charge. The camp has housed persecuted Rohingya refugees that fled from Burma for over 20 years.
Mr. Zubair, the camp management committee secretary, pressed the visiting delegates for solution for the current refugee crisis. He told them that despite living in the camp nearly his entire life he is still a refugee.
“When I came to Bangladesh with my parents I was only 2 years old. Now I am 23 years. My life has been wasted in the camp. But still I can’t go back to Burma because the Burmese government is denying our right for citizenship. How long will we have to stay as refugees in these makeshift camps?”
Mr. Zubair told the Kaladan Press Network that during the recent visit from the delegation he appealed “to the international community” that “the world most persecuted refugees” are given the opportunities that they deserve.
After visiting the water reservoir, people’s homes and the sanitation area the delegates left at about 3 pm.