The number of Rohingyas who took refuge in Bangladesh has been increasing in Cox’s Bazar through childbirth because of the government ration, religious and social fanaticism and a lack of public awareness.
Registered Rohingyas in two camps at Ukhia of Teknaf have been brought under family planning activities, but many more in other camps and different places are still out of the programme.
According to government statistics, 25,852 Rohingyas in 2,969 families are now living in the two camps at Ukhia.
Around 80,000 unregistered Rohingyas live illegally in two other camps nearby. Another 300,000 Rohingyas are reportedly residing in different places of Ukia and Teknaf upazilas.
Earlier in 1980, a large number of Rohingyas entered Bangladesh.
A total of 46,765 children were born in Rohingya refugee families in the last 21 years, of whom 10,636 had died.
Dr Dipak Talukder, deputy director of Cox’s Bazar Family Planning Division, said there were 33,658 couples in Ukhia who were capable of multiplying. Of them, 25,140 couples (70.66%) were provided with birth control materials.
The number of such couples in Cox’s Bazar district is 373,166, of whom only 78,388 could be brought under the family planning umbrella, which is 21%.
Experts say religious fanaticism and a lack of knowledge are the other reasons behind the increase of childbirth among the Rohingyas.
The number of childbirth is growing in order to get more rations from the government.
Nasrin Akhter Monica, a family planning worker in Kutupalong camp of Ukhia, said most Rohingya refugees did not have the basic literacy. The families already had two or three children when they had come to Bangladesh from Myanmar.
“Birth control is difficult without creating awareness among them,” she said.
