Bangladesh has shut the largest private school for Rohingya refugees, officials said Monday, in a further blow to the educational prospects of thousands of children stuck in vast camps in the country’s southeast.
Bangladesh has been sheltering about 850,000 Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar since a military offensive in 2017 that the United States this month designated as “genocide”.
Since December, Bangladeshi authorities have been shutting down schools set up by the Rohingya, and late last week it closed Kayaphuri School.
“One cannot simply open up and operate a school without having adequate permission. This is unacceptable,” a senior Bangladeshi government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The school was set up by Mohib Ullah, a prominent Rohingya community leader who was gunned down in September, allegedly by a Rohingya militant group that is accused of murdering opponents in the camps.
First the government blocked meaningful education for Rohingya children, then it closed the schools Rohingya set up for themselves, and now it threatens to banish teachers and students to a prison-like island,” Bill Van Esveld from HRW said.
A second Bangladesh government official called the statement “meaningless” and said any transfer to the Bhasan Char island was voluntary.
They always see problems in our work. Can anyone simply erect a school anywhere and start charging students for it? It has to be done with proper paperwork,” the official told AFP on Monday.
Community leader Shamsul Alam said the shutdown of private schools and madrassas would have a “dangerous impact”. If they cannot go to schools, they will get involved in bad activities,” he said, alluding to rampant drug-trafficking and other crimes rife in the camps.
Source: eNCA
In other news – A look into Mihlali Ndamase’s new house – Video
Mzansi media personality Mihlali Ndamase has flaunted her newly acquired property. Yeah, Mihlali is one of Mzansi’s celebrities who rewards herself after hard work.
The influencer has just bought herself a massive home and we are happy for her. Learn more
