04/05/2006

In 1971, in the aftermath of Bangladesh’s war for independence, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) gathered the Bihari, who opposed independence and desired to be citizens of Pakistan, into urban camps to protect them from retaliation and provide humanitarian assistance after the new government removed them from their jobs and confiscated their property.

The temporary camps, Refugees International was told, were quickly thrown together and located in unused government buildings, factories, or on small plots of privately owned land. After several years, the camps now come under the Government Ministry of Food and Disaster and ICRC left. Now, 35 years later, these cramped rooms with little light or air, are the only homes many Bihari have ever known, and yet despite long tenure, some now face eviction.

This Bogra family received an eviction notice, which the father, a tailor, is trying to fight in court. He showed RI the sheaf of legal papers (under his arm) and explained he had to go to court almost each day to fight the eviction. He said that earlier this year someone had tried to kill him or scare him by throwing a brick through the roof. Now the rain came into their room and everything becomes mud. He was determined to fight the eviction from the only home his family knew. The eviction threat took so much time in court he was unable to earn enough money from his tailoring. In addition his mother was sick and in the hospital, and he and his wife wanted the girls to go to school.

He asked RI for help in preventing more evictions since ICRC and the government had brought the Bihari to this camp and the government should make it possible for them to stay. Where could a Bihari go if they were evicted? He was not a Bangladeshi, and would have difficulty outside the camp; his Urdu speaking friends and neighbors were all here. He was proud that his skills had enabled him to provide for his family and pay the government for electricity. The conditions in his house and community were bad, but if evicted, they would lose everything.

"A government should provide proper conditions for the people...treat them fairly, not evict them...and if Bangladesh cannot do this, then it should help us to repatriate to Pakistan, where I have relatives..." The United Nations High Commission for Refugees told RI that it would be looking into the threats of evictions from these urban camps, some located in neighborhoods where re-development is occurring. Hopefully, that help will come soon enough to save this family.