Report flags extremist activities by Pakistani, Turkish NGOs in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps

Dhaka, June 10 (IANS) Several international Islamic NGOs from Turkey, Pakistan, and the Middle East have established “sanctuaries” in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, both directly and with the assistance of local NGOs, under the guise of addressing the Rohingya refugee crisis.

The activities of these new emerging NGOs have become a matter of concern, with allegations that certain organisations are working to spread extremism among the Rohingya, a report has stated.

“The Rohingya have long been used as pawns in local and international politics, and extremist Islamic organisations are taking advantage of this. During the previous Awami League government, these NGOs worked with some restraint, but in the last two years, they have gained momentum. Now they consider the Cox’s Bazar-Bandarban region as their independent territory,” a report in Bangladeshi newspaper ‘Sonar Bangla’ detailed.

According to the report, officials from senior military intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Turkey conducted on-site surveys during the former Muhammad led Yunus administration. It claimed that various international actors are working on multiple blueprints centred on the region.

The report stated that just as the “headmaster of the extreme damage to Bangladesh,” Yunus and his interim regime were involved in this “blueprint,” the current Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government led by Tarique Rahman is also following the same course.

“Prime Minister Tarique Rahman also believes that by signing a military assistance agreement with Turkey, Bangladesh’s military power against India can be greatly increased,” it noted.

Speaking to Sonar Bangla, a few journalists from Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar and some NGO workers in the Cox’s Bazar region said, “This is the era of Pak-Turkey, which has been in full swing for the past two years. There is no telling how much money is coming in. How many drugs, weapons, and Islamic militants are being produced through all this?”

Citing several journalists who spoke on condition of anonymity, the report said that the growing Rohingya presence has emerged as a major threat for local Bangladeshis, with Bengalis now reportedly constituting a minority in at least two Cox’s Bazar upazilas.

Hamidul Haque Chowdhury, chairman of the Rohingya Repatriation Struggle Committee, said that the “nefarious activities and covert activities” of domestic and foreign NGOs have raised serious concerns, underscoring the need for stricter monitoring and regulation.

“NGOs do not want them to return to their homeland. Even UNHCR has this complaint all the time. Because if the Rohingyas leave, their (NGOs’) business will stop. They want this problem to be long-term in order to keep their business going,” the report mentioned.

It further alleged that several NGOs, including Shura, Iqra, Asiyab, Islamic Relief, Muslim Aid, Mercy Malaysia, SKB (Small Kindness of Bangladesh), Allama Faizullah Foundation, and Pulse Bangladesh, have been involved in “malicious activities.”

Among them, the report said, SKB was identified as one of the most active organizations in the Rohingya camps, while many of its members are current and former leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir, and leadership of the organization is currently held by a former Shibir leader from Chittagong.

“During the previous Awami League government, 41 organisations were banned from the NGO Bureau based on the recommendations of several intelligence agencies. However, the NGOs that were banned at that time resumed their nefarious activities during the previous Yunus government,” it highlighted.

–IANS

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