The executive or other appointing authority appoints the notary in accordance with the law of the land. The overall goal of the project is to address and prevent violence against women in Bangladesh through a coordinated, integrated, interdepartmental approach. During the pilot phase of the project, two OCCs were established at Dhaka Hospital and Rajshahi Medical College.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are more than 200,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh today, including more than 32,000 documented refugees living in two government-run camps [Kutupalong and Nayapara] within 2 km of the Burmese border. There is a collection of laws that constitute an international protection regime and even in the constitution of Bangladesh the protection of life and property of non-citizens is mentioned. Problem arises when they sometimes violate the existing laws of the country and commit different types of criminal activities in the host country.
The methodology of the study was based on both secondary and primary collection of data. The signing of the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees by Bangladesh will surely provide a legal framework and certain rights to the refugees in the region. SGBV programs must have a mobilization element that involves the participation of the survivors of violence.
Psycho-social counseling of victims of both sexes must be introduced as part of the ongoing legal aid programme.
Chapter-1: Introduction
- Context
- Legal and Social Protection of Refugees International protection regime for refugees
- Research question
- Objectives
The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol form the core of the international legal framework for refugee protection. If the state violates the refugee's rights, UNHCR's role is to intervene on behalf of the refugee. Regional adaptations of the above protection regime have been made effective in the following instruments: the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Convention on Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems at the Time and the European Convention of 1950, the Cartagena Declaration of 1984, the Bangkok Principles of 1966 (Bangladesh is a member of the latter).
Other rights granted to the refugees include freedom of movement within the territory of the contracting state and the facilitation of assimilation and naturalization. It is enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) of 1966, the 1984 Convention against Torture and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. Civil and criminal courts are also equipped with the task of looking after the interests of the refugees.
In most cases, refugees are not in a good financial position to pursue their claim. Therefore, the lack or almost lack of protection for this population is one of the main reasons for the study.
Chapter-2: Methodology
- Review of secondary sources of information
- Primary data collection through survey
- Focus Group Discussion
- Key Informant Interview
- Limitations of the Study
- Data analysis and presentation
3 government officials posted in Cox's Bazaar, 2 journalists, 2 NGO officials, 3 teachers, 2 Union Parishad members, I Upazila Vice President and I Union Parishad male member were interviewed using a checklist to collect their perceptions, opinions and suggestions for better accessibility. population to protective measures. Since we were unfamiliar with the local dialect, communication was difficult and took extra time. BNWLA staff also took time to interpret for us.
Collecting data for the study took additional time as BNWLA personnel had to do this in between their regular duties.
Chapter- 3: Key findings
Profile of the Sample Composition Demography
After appearing at the notary public, the villagers began to tell Tahera's mother that they feared for Tahera's well-being as she will surely be tortured by the family. It was both a cultural as well as a situational feature of the region due to the influx of UMNs in the area. In the kabinnama (nuptial agreement), no clause has been added about whether the woman has been given the right to divorce.
This has lured many men into second marriages as these are also available in the region, despite the fact that the man's responsibilities towards the UMN women are relatively low. Maybe it's because she came from a very wealthy family in Rakhine State of Myanmar. When she was 16, driven by hardship, she and her neighbor left home to work in the garment factory in Chittagong.
Other stories of irregular migration of Bangladeshis were also told to us in the same pattern. But this human trafficking often meant a lot of tragedy for the women in the family, as can be seen in the following case. They settled in a village in Teknaf, and Ayesha met her future husband when he lived in the same neighborhood.
BNWLA staff members informed us that most of the men in the area are Yabba addicts and that much of the violence against women is a result of this addictive behavior. The stated reason was to stabilize the situation of the street child, he/she is given some kind of identity in the form of a birth certificate, name, etc. A statement obtained from Cox's Bazaar Thana in the month of March 2016 confirmed the above representations.
This confirmed the above observation that drug abuse was a major driver of criminality in the region. Since the population of the areas where IDUs live is very dense, the environment and surroundings tend to be unclean and therefore considered unsanitary by many in the host community. Their intermarriages with members of the host community are frowned upon by many as they feel they disrupt normal family life in the area.
Due to the long-term presence of the UMN in the region, the interdependent relationship between the host community and the UMN has grown. He also threatens Lila that he will kill Lila's children in the same manner if they do not comply.
Recommendations and the Way Forward
It is understood that the solutions must be as complex as the problems themselves and can only be made possible with the joint effort of many through a series of multifaceted and multifaceted variety of interventions. We list them below according to the different stakeholders to be addressed: the government of Bangladesh, international development partners, local and national NGOs and civil society. Protection of people's welfare needs and systems of justice must be seen as parallel to development policy, otherwise the development of a region will benefit only a few at the expense of many.
The government of Bangladesh should therefore have a protection system that permeates the administrative, social and legal apparatus of the state. For example, there should be a clear procedural code that allows victims of violence, whether from the host country or the refugee community, to access government services such as a one-step crisis center or other medical facilities. Following the enumeration of the undocumented population, the government should set clear policies regarding the services of the state to which this population has access in terms of their fundamental rights, to stop further speculation and misinterpretation of laws and policies.
District-based meetings of the SGBV platform led by the DC's office should call for reports from all stakeholders and publicize them in the media. However, one must be aware of the reality that no laws can give the refugees their due rights if the administration at various levels does not have the 'will' to help, one of the most disadvantaged groups in the world. The Foreigners Act of 1946 should be amended so that UMNs are not further harassed by arbitrary arrest and detention.
Support for psychosocial counseling for victims of violence should be provided in government bodies such as the One Stop Crisis Center (OCC) and other related institutions. Funds should be released for improving and scaling up measures to prevent, implement and advocate for SGBV-related issues among both host and refugee populations. Existing programs dealing with GBV or related needs such as psychosocial counseling of victims should be scaled up by establishing a stand-alone GBV component or wing.
Community mobilization on protection issues should engage with male members of the community and also include discussions on notions of masculinity and how they affect social customs and behaviours. Door-to-door follow-up of cases of violence should be mandatory and supported by sufficient resources, manpower and training. Legislation of refugee-sensitive laws by the respective national parliaments would be a positive step in protecting the rights of refugees.
It would be better if the South Asian countries deal with the refugee problems in a unified manner. Statement by Volker Türk, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, at the Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean 29 May 2015 Bangkok, Thailand.
Annexure
