We Are Grateful, but We Must Speak Out

A Rohingya Refugee’s Story

Welcome to Refugee Voices, a new section of the Rohingya Refugee News Newsletter. This space is for Rohingya refugees to share their stories, reflections, and hopes in their own words.

In this piece, one refugee thanks Bangladesh for providing shelter but also highlights the corruption and injustices faced in the camps. A version of it was originally posted on twitter by “@RoSurvivor” on 3rd February, 2025. I invited RoSurvivor to reproduce it below.

We are deeply grateful to the people of Bangladesh for giving us shelter and standing with us in our hardest times. But we must speak up about the injustice happening on Rohingya in the camps!

Under Hasina’s govt, DGFI looted Rohingya by falsely accusing individuals & extorting money. Now, ABPN is doing the same—seizing smartphones from individuals & demanding at least 10k tk ($86)! This money comes from selling food, which is already limited to just $13 per person

Another injustice: Marriage certificate corruption! The Camp-in-Charge (CIC) delays issuing marriage certificates for 6 months to a year. Rohingya couples suffer, and on top of that, they demand bribes of at least 15,000 taka ($123) to process it! We suffered the same oppression in Myanmar, but here, in a Muslim country, the struggle for marriage certification is even worse. Ya Allah, where do we go? What was our crime?

You are watching, and we can no longer bear this corruption. Despite everything, we remain grateful for the shelter we have been given. But we urge everyone to stand against these injustices happening in the camps on Rohingya genocide survivors!

We urge Dr. Yunus and the interim government to take immediate action! Please stop those who are exploiting and oppressing the Rohingya in the camps. This injustice must end!