Bangladesh completes biometric registration of 224,000 Rohingya refugees

Bangladesh has completed biometric registration of 224,000 Rohingya refugees who have crossed the border to escape persecution in neighbouring Myanmar's Rakhine state. Department of Immigration and Passport’s Director General Maj Gen Md Masud Rezwan said that about 12,000 to 13,000 Rohingya are being registered every day at 100 booths in six biometric registration centres at Ukhiya and Teknaf. This will not only allow the administration to identify the Rohingya if they attempt to get national identity cards, driving licenses or passports but also help Bangladesh repatriate them, he said. The registration process started on September 12. “At the current pace, it will be possible to bring all the Rohingya under biometric registration in a month,” he claimed on Friday evening after visiting biometric centres at Kutupalang and Balukhali camps. “We are increasing the number of booths to speed up the process. Such an enriched database will help bring more discipline in relief distribution work  too,” Maj Gen Masud said. Cox’s Bazar Assistant Commissioner and Executive Magistrate Lutfor Rahman told Dhaka Tribune that the refugees were getting registered willingly. “This identification will allow their repatriation once this issue is resolved,” said Rajib Chowdhury, deputy general manager of Tiger IT team which is providing technical support in the project. “The expectation has been raised with the example of how Germany registered the Syrian refugees to ensure everyone is identified,” he added. According to UNHCR, 582,000 Rohingya refugees entered Bangladesh since August 25. Forty percent of them have settled in three camps – Kutupalong, Balukhali and Leda areas. Intelligence agencies said that the previously displaced Rohingya conveyed messages to their relatives in Myanmar about ‘better’ options in Bangladesh which may have contributed to the fresh influx that continues. International Organization for Migration Director General William Lacy Swing said Rohingya numbers would probably reach a million before the flow of people stopped. Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Ali Hossain said the administration had kept the refugees under surveillance and was monitoring their movements. In 2015, the then expatriates welfare and overseas employment minister had said that an estimated 50,000 Myanmar Rohingya were using Bangladeshi passports to stay overseas.