New Rohingya population figure in Bangladesh is accurate: official
A Bangladesh government official has confirmed that the latest figure of some 850_000 Rohingya refugees currently residing in the country was "accurate". The remarks were made by Mohammad ShamsuDouza_ the government's additional commissioner of refugee_ relief and repatriation_ Friday. "At first_ a large number of Rohingya refugees arrived together. We did a calculation with our officials. The Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) tracked the population movement and our passport department conducted a survey. They quoted a number there too_" he said. "There were inconsistencies in the previous data. As a result_ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have recently launched a joint verification process. The move has led to the actual information." Also Read - Microsoft's new work-from-home option Meanwhile_ the UNHCR has said the difference was less than 6 per cent between the previous estimate of 914_998 and the current figure of 8_60_697. The latest figure is based on biometric registration conducted in joint venture with the Bangladesh government until August 31_ 2020. ShamsuDouza told that the bigger challenge was to ensure food and shelter for the Rohingya after they started entering the country in massive numbers from August 2017 onwards_ rather than calculating the exact number. "In European or other countries of the world_ five-10 people are given shelter at a time and are registered in a proper manner. If the same policy was followed here_ these people would have starved to death. There were times when 30_000-40_000 people entered the country every day. Since the Rohingya exodus began in 2017_ Cox's Bazar_ the southeast coastal district_ now has the world's largest refugee camp. The Bangladesh government has allowed the Rohingya to camp on 6_500 acres of land_ which is about 27 square kilometres.
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