Shezabeen, a girl who was born in Mohammadpur Geneva Camp in the capital some 14 years ago, was married off last year. Like her, every girl of this camp are married off earlier as their families failed to accommodate them in a small, 64 square feet room. Unfortunately, when she went to her in-laws house, which was at another side of the camp, her new life began with 10 new people in a room no bigger than her own house.
The young generation of the Geneva camp had been long seeking their rights, saying that they were born in Bangladesh and were not interest about Pakistan. They also expressed their frustration that neither of the two countries had acknowledged them fully.
A study by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) says almost 89% of the new generation in the camps wants to stay in Bangladesh. Another research, carried out by Al Falah Bangladesh in Dhaka, Mymensingh, Khulna and Faridpur, states that 70% of them wat to live in Bangladesh, while another 17% wanted to go to Pakistan.
“I agree that our forefathers may have collaborated with the Pakistan army at that time, but what about those who were not involved with such actions or were born after 1971”. Abdul Malek, who has been living outside the camp, said while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.
“It is true that we received our nationality as a Bangladeshi, but we still cannot enjoy any of our rights yet,’ he added.
Those who live in the Geneva camp, especially the girls, are deprived of their fundamental rights. Shejabeen herself was not able to study beyond the 4th grade.
“We are almost illiterate as our parents could not afford our monthly school fees,” says Zubaida, another resident at the camp who was also married off at an early age.
“I don’t want to go Pakistan. I have my work, my own life here. Although we face difficulties in staying in such congested rooms, but this is my country. To me, Pakistan is a foreign land,” she added.
Their communities had been concentrated in the capital’s Mohammadpur and Mirpur areas, and in Khulna, Chittagong and Santahar. According to a latest UNHCR report, there are around 1.6 lakh Urdu-speaking people living in 116 camps in 14 districts across the country. Around 70% of the population in the communities now consists of individuals born after 1971.
Tasneem Siddiqui, a professor of political science at Dhaka University, said although the state acknowledged them as citizens of Bangladesh, they were yet to be considered as a Bangladeshi and denied of their fundamental rights.