DHAKA: Children of the Rohingya refugees sheltered in Cox’s Bazar camps are being given birth certificates but not the citizenship of Bangladesh, said sources from the foreign ministry.  

Several foreign ministry officials said each of the Rohingya children will be given birth certificate only like the Bangladeshi children. But there’s a difference. The certificates given to the Rohingya children include a seal describing them Myanmar nationals.

“Their birth certificates don’t bear any link to citizenship,” they added.  

Despite of being born here, they won’t be considered as Bangladeshi citizen as there parents aren’t citizens of Bangladesh.

Relief Minister Mofazzol Hossain Chowdhury Maya told Banglanews that Bangladesh government has sheltered them temporarily, on humanitarian ground.

“These children won’t be considered as Bangladeshi citizen as both of their parents are Myanmar nationals,” he added.

However, more than 16,000 Rohingya babies have been born in refugee camps and informal settlements in Cox’s Bazar, in the nine months since a spike in violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar forced thousands of families to flee their homes across the border, UNICEF said in a report recently.

Around 60 babies a day are taking their first breath in appalling conditions, away from home, to mothers who have survived displacement, violence, trauma and, at times, rape,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh.

BDST: 1739 HRS, MAY 26, 2018
SI/SMS