COX’S BAZAR: Bangladesh’s army was ordered Wednesday to take a bigger role in helping hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled violence in Myanmar, amid warnings it could take six months to register the new refugees.
Troops would be deployed immediately in Cox’s Bazar near the border where more than 420,000 Rohingya Muslims have arrived since Aug. 25, said Obaidul Quader, a senior minister and deputy head of the ruling Awami League party.
Soldiers would help build shelters and toilets for the thousands of refugees still sleeping in the open under pounding monsoon rain, Quader told AFP.
“The army presence is especially needed on the spot to construct their shelters, which is a very tough task, and ensure sanitation,” he said.
The latest order came from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Quader said.
The soldiers would also ensure order and assist with distributing relief, a chaotic process that seen stampedes as donors have hurled food and other staples from moving trucks.
Previously troops had been tasked with transporting foreign relief supplies from the country’s port city of Chittagong airport to Cox’s Bazar where the overcrowded camps are located.
As the handful of ill-equipped camps rapidly reached capacity, Bangladesh announced it would create a new site capable of housing some 400,000 refugees within 10 days.
Extra water pumps have been installed at some locations, and concrete rings for latrines stockpiled along the roadside.
But there were few signs of major construction work underway, with many refugees complaining they were being ordered to move on without any idea where to go.
“We don’t know where would we go. We are poor. We managed to buy the bamboo and tarpaulin with people’s help, and now I have to relocate again,” said Mujibur Rahman, a 48-year-old Rohingya father of 10.
“I don’t know when this moving game will stop.”
The government has been trying to herd refugees into designated areas, fearful that nearby cities could be overwhelmed if they are left unchecked.
“I tried to go to the place where the Bangladeshi government said they set aside land for us. But locals drove us out asking for money to settle us down,” a Rohingya community leader, Yusuf Majhi, told AFP.
Local authorities have set up a dozen relief centers and several emergency kitchens to streamline aid distribution.
But efforts by the army to officially register the new arrivals amid the crowded camps has been moving at a glacial pace, said Brig. Gen. Saidur Rahman.
“We are aiming to finish it within five or six months,” said Rahman, who heads the registration drive.
More registration boothes would be erected to complete the mammoth task, he added.
Monsoon downpours are compounding the misery.
Cox’s Bazar has been pounded with 21.4 cm of rain in the past five days, raising fears of landslides in the unstable, muddy hills on which thousands of refugees were camped.
Hundreds of refugees were forced to abandon their shanties Wednesday in a rubber plantation after heavy rain flooded the area, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.
“My tent has been flooded in knee-deep water. The children are suffering from the cold,” said Nur Mohammad, a 62-year-old Rohingya man who arrived in Bangladesh with 16 members of his family.
Rohingya, who are predominantly Muslim, are reviled by many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
The UN human rights chief has described the systematic attacks against the Rohingya minority by Myanmar’s security forces as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”
Bangladesh Army steps up as refugees suffer heavy rain
Bangladesh Army steps up as refugees suffer heavy rain
Trump says Greenland will ‘work out’ after Denmark fails to bridge gap
- Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland — which he views as in the US backyard — since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro
WASHINGTON, United States: US President Donald Trump held open the possibility Wednesday for a resolution on his designs over Greenland after Denmark’s top diplomat said he failed to change the administration’s mind on wanting to conquer the island.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous territory under Copenhagen’s sovereignty, met at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a meeting the visitors had requested to clear up “misunderstandings” after Trump’s bellicose language toward the fellow NATO member.
Trump, speaking after the meeting which he did not attend, for the first time sounded conciliatory on Greenland, acknowledging Denmark’s interests even if he again said he was not ruling out any options.
“I have a very good relationship with Denmark, and we’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out,” Trump said without explaining further.
He again said Denmark was powerless if Russia or China wanted to occupy Greenland, but added: “There’s everything we can do.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, speaking after leaving the White House, said a US takeover of Greenland was “absolutely not necessary.”
“We didn’t manage to change the American position. It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Lokke told reporters.
“We therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree.”
He said the issue was “very emotional” for the people of Greenland and Denmark, a steadfast US ally whose troops died alongside Americans in Afghanistan and, controversially, Iraq.
“Ideas that would not respect territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable,” Lokke said.
He nonetheless said the tone was “constructive” and said the sides would form a committee that would meet within weeks to see if there was possible headway.
Referring to the British prime minister who trumpeted his diplomacy with Hitler, Lokke said, “I am not a Chamberlain to say “Peace for our time,” but we must seize the opportunities that present themselves.”
Mocking tone
While the talks were underway, the White House posted on X: “Which way, Greenland man?“
The post included a drawing of two dogsleds — one heading toward the White House and a huge US flag, and the other toward Chinese and Russian flags over a lightning-bathed Kremlin and Great Wall of China.
Neither country has claimed Greenland, and Lokke said no Chinese ship had been spotted there in a decade and that there were no major Chinese investments.
Denmark promised ahead of the meeting to ramp up its military presence further in the vast, sparsely populated and strategically located island.
Trump has derided recent Danish efforts to increase security for Greenland as amounting to “two dogsleds.” Denmark says it has invested almost $14 billion in Arctic security.
Denmark also announced immediate military exercises that will include aircraft, vessels and soldiers, with Sweden also participating.
In another show of solidarity with Denmark following Trump’s threats, Germany and France both said Wednesday they will send troops to Greenland. German’s defense ministry said it would send a 13-person team.
Signs of relief
On the quiet streets of the capital Nuuk, red and white Greenlandic flags flew in shop windows, on apartment balconies, and on cars and buses, in a show of national unity during the talks.
Ivaana Egede Larsen, 43, said she felt relief that the meeting appeared to be cordial.
“I am more calm now, and I feel more safe. I had felt very much unsafe lately,” she said.
In Copenhagen, Thomas Fallesen, 56, voiced similar sentiments.
“They are now at least talking together instead of talking through the press. I think it’s a very positive thing,” he said.
Vance, who slammed Denmark as a “bad ally” during an uninvited visit to Greenland last year, is known for a hard edge, which was on display when he publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last February.
Wednesday’s meeting, however, was closed to the press, meaning there was no on-camera confrontation.
Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland — which he views as in the US backyard — since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro.
