Photo Credit: Refugees International
04/20/2006

This 50-year-old woman, Mursha, came to Bangladesh to visit one of her daughters who had left Burma in 1991 because of forced labor and scarcity of food. The daughter is now living in an official Rohingya refugee camp. After Mursha’s visit, she was not allowed to return to Burma. Although Mursha previously had her own house in Bangladesh, she moved to the makeshift camp to live with her other unmarried daughter as she was concerned about her daughter’s security. Mursha believes that life in the two official refugee camps is better than the makeshift camp. This does not say much considering some UN representatives told RI that the official camps are the worst they have ever seen.

Mursha told RI that her husband passed away four years ago because he became ill from working too hard and the family did not have enough money to pay for his medical treatment. Mursha sells a few food items to earn a living. She told RI that the younger women in the camp are harassed by the local population when they go to collect water or firewood. Once when Mursha’s daughter went to collect firewood, an elderly man tried to take advantage of her. Mursha emphasizes that people who could manage to live in Burma, have stayed in Burma. If conditions improved in Burma, she would be happy to leave Bangladesh.