Rohingya LGBTQ
Transgender Rohingya seek refuge and acceptance on Bhasan Char
As I write this post to highlight my new opinion piece about LGBTQ Rohingya, I am acutely aware that people in the camps and in Bangladesh generally will not see this post – possibly not for days.
There are soldiers on the streets, a nationwide curfew in place, and a complete communications blackout in Bangladesh. After weeks of widespread unrest, marked by massive violence, many deaths, and numerous injuries and arrests, the Supreme Court has altered a controversial quota system for government jobs. However, despite the ruling, the protests seem far from over. Initially led by students, the movement has expanded to include people frustrated by rising inflation and high food prices.
Bangladesh has a clientelist political system, where political life is maintained through patronage and the exchange of goods and services between those in power and their supporters. The shift towards a more autocratic governance model has further entrenched clientelism, as the government relies on a network of loyalists for survival and stability at the expense of democratic principles.
The quota system for government jobs in Bangladesh epitomises the country's deeply entrenched clientelist political system. Attempted in 2018, this system proposed reserving a staggering 30% of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. This move is nothing short of blatant patronage, disproportionately benefiting supporters of the ruling Awami League party. It is a glaring example of how political support is shamelessly exchanged for material benefits, favouring familial connections over merit and reinforcing a corrupt and undemocratic structure.
Following up on this, I must express my profound disappointment with the Rohingya diaspora spokespersons. They remain completely cut off from their people in the camps due to the communications blackout. Yet, except for Dr Ambia Parveen, Chair of the European Rohingya Council (ERC), they have not uttered a single word about the current situation. It seems they prefer to preserve their cosy relationships with the Hasina government (Tun Khin, Reza Uddin, and Nay San Lwin have all been recent guests) rather than acknowledge the dire implications of the communication blackout. None of them have posted anything, not even a simple repost of news. Their organisations have not peeped a squeak. Wai Wai Nu and others have also maintained a shameful silence.
It is outrageous that, while the students in Bangladesh are courageously fighting for jobs, these spokespersons, whose own young refugees are overwhelmingly jobless, show no sense of solidarity. Cox's Bazar has not been free of violence; four deaths were recorded on 18th July alone. It is an absolute travesty that these so-called spokespersons are so devoid of courage and integrity that they cannot even speak up for their own people. Yet, mark my words, they will continue to parrot their gratitude to Bangladesh in their speeches. Do they not realise that a regime capable of treating its own citizens with such brutality will have no hesitation in doing the same, if not worse, to the Rohingya? Indeed, as they have been doing since 1978? Their silence is not just complicity; it is a betrayal.
Here is the OpED
Transgender Rohingya seek refuge and acceptance on Bhasan Char