During and after the clearance operation that resulted in more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, human rights groups and United Nations investigators issued reports accusing the Myanmar security forces of committing not only war crimes but also crimes against humanity and genocide.
A weakness in the ICOE report is that commission members were not permitted to visit Bangladesh, where they had hoped to interview refugees in the camps.
It is suspected that the Bangladesh authorities were concerned that if the commission appointed by the Myanmar government was able to conduct interviews in the refugee camps, its eventual report would be considered more credible and have more influence.
As recommended in the report, it will also be necessary to conduct further investigations and with the permission of the Bangladesh government interview the residents of the refugee camps to determine the full truth.
Moreover, Koofi said there is a social taboo associated with the virus, which makes people afraid of reporting themselves sick.
Covid status of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
The conference was also attended by Shahriar Alam, deputy minister of foreign relations for Bangladesh, and Seetha Arambepola, member of Parliament in Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh has recorded over 80,000 coronavirus cases and over 1,000 deaths so far.
However, he added Bangladesh is learning from its mistakes.
After 2014, When the Modi government came to power, India’s foreign relations with its neighbors deteriorated be it China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, or other nations like USA or UAE.
India Bangladesh Diplomacy decay
Bangladesh is India’s ally just because it is an enemy of Pakistan.
India Bangladesh had good diplomatic and trade relations after 1972.
But India’s stand on Rohingya Muslims, CAA, NRC, and recent pro-Hindu and Pro majoritarian developments has lead Bangladesh to record its dissatisfaction.
It has also condemned and criticized India over CAA and statements of atrocities on Hindus minorities in Bangladesh.
China Bangladesh’s recent trade deal may help Bangladesh come out with a stronger stand on these issues.
The current China–Bangladesh trade deal may be seen as an attempt of China to compensate its losses with India.
It is expected to triple Bangladesh export to China.
We live in a country where menstrual health is still a taboo, and mothers almost never talk to their teenage daughters about menstruation.
The concept of keeping everything about menstruation behind the doors still exists in Bangladesh.
It aims at spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene amongst the underprivileged community of our society by manufacturing low-cost, biodegradable sanitary napkins made of kochuripana , which is easily available across Bangladesh.
Also, due to the taboo revolving around the topic, they were not able to dispose them or wash and dry them properly which led them to either use the damp, unwashed cloth or bury them in the ground.
When asked what has been the biggest achievement for them so far, the members of Resurgence replied, «Starting from winning the title of the ‘Most Inspirational Female Startup’ at the WIL Fest in 2018 to our CEO, Mashiyat Rahman, being able to represent Resurgence at the Women Deliver Conference in Vancouver, expressing her views and opinions regarding the new menstruation emoticon, our CMO, Naziba Naila Wafa, being able to get the opportunity to represent Resurgence and Bangladesh in Macau as GSEA winner of Bangladesh, and a massive win in the local scene with our CFO, Ivana Murtaza Asfara, representing Resurgence to become champion at a2i’s Udhbhabok Er Khoj E, supported by the government of Bangladesh, to all the mention that we got in every channel of social media has been nothing but a short of milestone in its own way».
«Currently, we are trying to develop the first messenger bot about menstruation in Bangladesh that will be able to answer any and every question one can have about menstruation. Also, we are planning to hold more campaigns emphasizing on periods and consent».
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi meets with Rohingya children taking part in a mental health programme at Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh.
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh – The camps have the size and complexity of a city, a city of refugees.
Abdul Sukker, 16, a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, poses for a portrait at a community centre in Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh.
Myshara, 13, a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, sits with friends at a mental health programme for children at Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh.
According to the World Economic Forum‘s Global Gender Gap Report 2018, Bangladesh has made great strides when it comes to women‘s empowerment.
The country currently ranks 48th — far ahead of neighboring South Asian countries — but the indices do not reflect the overall condition of women in Bangladesh, who often face obstacles both inside and outside the home.
Despite such challenges, a group of Bangladeshi women, co-founded by doctors Sakia Haque and Manashi Saha, vowed to travel to each of the country‘s 64 districts in order to educate young women about their own potential.
In Bangladesh, discussing «female» issues like menstruation and reproductive health is considered taboo — Bangladesh is yet to effectively roll out sex education at the high school level — and as a result, many girls endure different types of physical problems that could otherwise be prevented, or at least better managed.
Haque’s novel idea was supported by a number of her friends, who dubbed the initiative «Bangladesh through the eyes of women».
The group has also created a website and Facebook page, Travelettes Of Bangladesh.
Via Facebook Messenger, Global Voices talked with Haque about her group’s travels and its mission to empower young women in Bangladesh.
From your experience, how safe is Bangladesh for a woman traveler?
SH: I would not say that Bangladesh is absolutely safe for women travelers; that any girl can travel anywhere without giving much thought about safety.
They think menstruation is a taboo topic.
The motto of our Travelettes of Bangladesh group is to achieve the empowerment of women through travel, so we chose to disseminate information about these topics and help local girls to raise their voices, come out of their homes, speak out and see the beauty of our country through their own eyes.
SH: We started the Facebook group in November 2016 with the goal of encouraging the women of Bangladesh to travel more.
In 2017, the Travelettes of Bangladesh organized the country‘s first travel photography exhibition.
You can check out the album of her travels across Bangladesh here.
The coverage of rural sanitation facilities is generally better in Bangladesh.
The hygiene situation in Bangladesh
According to Bangladesh National Hygiene Baseline Survey 2014, around one-tenth of adolescents and a quarter of adult women used disposable pads during menstruation.
The text of this article was generated by the Breaking The Silence system that collected 8 news articles posted on the web from January 2019 to September 2020 and clustered for the taboo subjects related to Bangladesh
