Rohingya refugees are issued ID cards through digital registration from September 14. In the last 15 days, 27,471 Rohingya have issued ID cards. Now the registration is going on in three centers. According to the concerned authorities, the registration process is running slow as Rohingya people who had lost everything are busy in collecting reliefs, lack of awareness among them about registration, infrastructure, and technical problems.
They also informed that, after getting these fingerprint and photo attached ID cards, Rohingya refugees will not be able to make national ID cards or passports through cheating. They can be detected by automatic software. However, many Rohingya refugees, who took shelter in Bangladesh before, made a passport illegally to move to other countries. Many of them were caught by the immigration police in the Dhaka International airport. In this situation, this biometric registration system is introduced so to prevent the Rohingya refugees from getting Bangladeshi passport illegally.
On Thursday (September 29th) at Nayapara registered Rohingya camp in Teknaf, it is seen that in the management of the Immigration and Passport Department
Registration of Rohingya Refugees and supplying them identity cards were going on with the assistance of the BGB and army. In separate queues, male and female refugees were given serial numbers. However, no crowd was seen there. Only around 100 Rohingya were seen in the queues to collect ID cards.
Saidul Islam, Deputy Director, Immigration and Passport Department and Supervisor of this camp said, ‘Registration is being done from 9 am to 5 pm daily. In addition to the Nayapara camp, this activity is going on in Kutupalong and Teng Khali camp. After registering the name, fathers name, mothers name, date of entering into Bangladesh, address of their homes in Myanmar and taking fingerprints and photos, the refugees are given ID cards. Arrangements have been made for giving them identity cards immediately after laminating.”
This official of passport department further said, “After the decision to register the refugees through a digital system, the work was started by creating software in two days. The number of centers is increased gradually. However, due to infrastructural problems, lack of electricity and lack of necessary items, work is running slow. However, including increasing the numbers of centers, efforts are being made to register the names as quickly as possible.”
However, worries have upraised as only 27,000 Rohingya refugees within 15days. In the last one month, five lakhs Rohingyas have entered into Bangladesh. If registration work goes on in this way, it is expected that they will take more than a year to register them all.
On the other hand, after talking with the officials and Rohingya refugees it is learned that Rohingya refugees are not interested in registering their names through this digital system. Many of the refugees have no idea about this matter. Even no campaign has done in the camps on this matter from the concerned authority.
Raju young man refugee of Nayapara Rohingya camp said, “After the infiltration, Rohingya people create a shelter at first. After that, they have to fight every day to collect foods. If you do not get any relief, you have to starve. In this situation, will they run to collect food or go to register their names?”
An official at the registration center said ‘Though the administration and the army are jointly working for relief aids, still discipline has not returned completely. If there is a declaration that no one will get relief without registration, then everyone will register the name first. If this initiative can be implemented, the tendency to get registered will increase among the Rohingya Refugees.”
This official further said, to register the Rohingya refugees, in every new camp registration center should be introduced. This will make the registration process fast. If registration is not done, Rohingya refugees will spread across the country. If they are not registered they may make national ID cards and passports with the help of brokers. The concerned authority of the government should keep eyes on this matter.
Assistant Director of Immigration and Passport department Azizul Islam said, “We are trying to increase the number of registration centers. Besides, we are making arrangements to make the registration compulsory for the Rohingya refugees. Through this, it will become possible to bring the Rohingya under registration.”
Since last 25 August, more than five lakh Rohingyas have been infiltrated into Bangladesh according to public and private statistics. Already, more than five lakh Rohingyas are staying in different camps of Cox's Bazar area.
