Bangladesh Closes Rohingya Camp Private Schools
2022-04-20
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1The Bangladesh government closed the last private school for Rohingya refugees last month.
2The Kayaphuri School in the Kutupalaung Rohingya refugee camp was founded in 2019 by a Rohingya leader who was killed last year.
3The school was the latest of about 30 such schools closed by the police.
4Some closed on their own because the police were going to shut them down.
5With the March 24 shutdown of the school in southern Bangladesh, no schools remain in operation.
6Mohammad Showife was the head of the school.
7He was working in his office when police raided the building.
8He told VOA the police took his computer and printer.
9The next day, police took seats from classrooms and locked the school door.
10"Police asked whether we had any official permission for the school," he said.
11"We didn't have any in a written format. Our leader...got verbal permission from [an official appointed by the government] to open the school. Now all of a sudden, the Bangladesh government decides to close it down."
12Many of the schools were made of wood with cloth roofs.
13There were few classroom materials inside.
14But they were very important to the thousands of Rohingya children with very limited ability to go to school in the camps.
15The government did not give legal status to the refugee-led schools.
16But the government agreed in 2020 to permit them to operate and promised aid if needed.
17Bangladesh's Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner provides humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees.
18It said on December 13 that all private schools in the Rohingya camps "must be shut down."
19They were "illegal" because they did not have official permission to operate.
20After the order, police began raiding the schools and seizing school materials, including seats and computers, sources told VOA.
21The organization Human Rights Watch said Bangladesh officials threatened to seize Rohingya refugees' identification documents.
22They also threatened to forcibly relocate them to a distant island if they violated the ban on the schools.
23Bill Van Esveld is with Human Rights Watch.
24He said: "First the government blocked meaningful education for Rohingya children, then it closed the schools Rohingya set up for themselves, and now it threatens to banish teachers and students to a prison-like island."
25Showife, the head of the school, said he had been fearing a raid after two other private schools were also closed down by police.
26Eighth-grader Rabeya Akter, 15, said the closure has ruined her dream of becoming an engineer.
27"After we fled Myanmar in 2017, we were idle for a year and a half, but this school gave us" a chance to resume our education, she said.
28"I am worried because my family might want to marry me off. I don't want to get married so early."
29Ayatullah is in ninth grade.
30He said, "I was dreaming of becoming a doctor. Now it's all gone. There are no other ways for us to get further education."
31Officials are defending their actions, saying they have only stopped the operations of "illegal establishments."
32In an interview with VOA, Additional Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Shamsud Douza said, "Would you allow an illegal establishment to operate in your premises for long? I guess not."
33Douza said the Kayaphuri school did not have permission to operate.
34He said that some of its teachers were teaching the official Bangla language, which the government bars.
35It does not want Rohingyas to integrate into Bangladesh and permanently remain in the country.
36Douza said the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is leading the effort to teach Rohingya children.
37The UNICEF office in Bangladesh told VOA that over 350,000 Rohingya refugee children are attending 3,200 learning centers in the Cox's Bazar Rohingya refugee camps.
38UNICEF supports 2,800 of the centers.
39Abdur Rahim is the leader of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, a Rohingya support group.
40He told VOA the learning centers teach children up to age 14, but the teaching does not go past second grade.
41"That's why we had started those private schools inside the camps so that our children could get secondary level education," Rahim said.
42He added that thousands of children between 14 and 18 years old are now left without a place to learn.
43I'm Dan Novak. And I'm Ashley Thompson.
1The Bangladesh government closed the last private school for Rohingya refugees last month. 2The Kayaphuri School in the Kutupalaung Rohingya refugee camp was founded in 2019 by a Rohingya leader who was killed last year. The school was the latest of about 30 such schools closed by the police. Some closed on their own because the police were going to shut them down. 3With the March 24 shutdown of the school in southern Bangladesh, no schools remain in operation. 4Mohammad Showife was the head of the school. He was working in his office when police raided the building. He told VOA the police took his computer and printer. The next day, police took seats from classrooms and locked the school door. 5"Police asked whether we had any official permission for the school," he said. "We didn't have any in a written format. Our leader...got verbal permission from [an official appointed by the government] to open the school. Now all of a sudden, the Bangladesh government decides to close it down." 6Many of the schools were made of wood with cloth roofs. There were few classroom materials inside. But they were very important to the thousands of Rohingya children with very limited ability to go to school in the camps. The government did not give legal status to the refugee-led schools. But the government agreed in 2020 to permit them to operate and promised aid if needed. 7Bangladesh's Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner provides humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees. It said on December 13 that all private schools in the Rohingya camps "must be shut down." They were "illegal" because they did not have official permission to operate. 8After the order, police began raiding the schools and seizing school materials, including seats and computers, sources told VOA. 9The organization Human Rights Watch said Bangladesh officials threatened to seize Rohingya refugees' identification documents. They also threatened to forcibly relocate them to a distant island if they violated the ban on the schools. 10Bill Van Esveld is with Human Rights Watch. He said: "First the government blocked meaningful education for Rohingya children, then it closed the schools Rohingya set up for themselves, and now it threatens to banish teachers and students to a prison-like island." 11Closure of largest school 12Showife, the head of the school, said he had been fearing a raid after two other private schools were also closed down by police. 13Eighth-grader Rabeya Akter, 15, said the closure has ruined her dream of becoming an engineer. 14"After we fled Myanmar in 2017, we were idle for a year and a half, but this school gave us" a chance to resume our education, she said. "I am worried because my family might want to marry me off. I don't want to get married so early." 15Ayatullah is in ninth grade. He said, "I was dreaming of becoming a doctor. Now it's all gone. There are no other ways for us to get further education." 16'Illegal establishments' 17Officials are defending their actions, saying they have only stopped the operations of "illegal establishments." 18In an interview with VOA, Additional Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Shamsud Douza said, "Would you allow an illegal establishment to operate in your premises for long? I guess not." 19Douza said the Kayaphuri school did not have permission to operate. He said that some of its teachers were teaching the official Bangla language, which the government bars. It does not want Rohingyas to integrate into Bangladesh and permanently remain in the country. 20Douza said the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is leading the effort to teach Rohingya children. 21The UNICEF office in Bangladesh told VOA that over 350,000 Rohingya refugee children are attending 3,200 learning centers in the Cox's Bazar Rohingya refugee camps. UNICEF supports 2,800 of the centers. 22Abdur Rahim is the leader of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, a Rohingya support group. He told VOA the learning centers teach children up to age 14, but the teaching does not go past second grade. 23"That's why we had started those private schools inside the camps so that our children could get secondary level education," Rahim said. 24He added that thousands of children between 14 and 18 years old are now left without a place to learn. 25I'm Dan Novak. And I'm Ashley Thompson. 26Faisul Mahmud reported this story for Voice of America. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. 27________________________________________________ 28Words in This Story 29format - n. the form, design, or arrangement of something 30verbal - adj. spoken rather than written 31source - n. a person, book, etc., that gives information 32banish - v. to send someone or something away 33idle - adj. not working, active, or being used 34allow - v. to permit 35premise - n. a building and the area of land that it is on 36integrate - v. to make a person or group part of a larger group or organization