Council of Minorities & Cadasta:
An Impact Story
Meet Mohammad Salim
Mohammad Salim lives in the Geneva Refugee Camp in Dhaka, Bangladesh. As a Bihari, his family has lived in the camp since 1971.
“Bihari" is a term commonly used in Bangladesh for non-Bengali Muslims who originate from India's eastern state, Bihar.
When Pakistan was established as a Muslim-majority nation in 1947, many Muslims from Bihar left for East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). However, when Bangladesh gained independence in 1971, many Biharis, who largely identified as pro-Pakistani, were not able to relocate to Pakistan. Their support for Pakistan caused tension with Bangladeshis and limited their ability to integrate into Bangladeshi society. As a result, hundreds of thousands of members of the Bihari community have been left stranded in Bangladesh since 1971, sequestered in camps that lack basic infrastructure.
Mohammad is just one of over twenty thousand residents in the Geneva Camp.
He shares an 8 by 10 foot room with his wife and daughter. The rooms are separated by two foot wide passageways shared by residents, goats, and chickens. It is common for three generations to share a room.
In many of the refugee camps in Dhaka, the building structures are weak and crumbling. When it rains, the camp toilets flood the streets. The walls and stairways expose rusted steel and rotting concrete with frayed electrical wires hanging above.
To help upgrade the conditions of the camp and prevent eviction of the residents, Bangladeshi NGO Council of Minorities worked with camp community leaders and used tools, training, and a grant from Cadasta Foundation to conduct a household survey in order to collect geographic information and establish the first demographic profile of the community.
The survey collected population information, housing investments and quality, feelings of tenure security/insecurity, and ideas for their long-term rehabilitation from all residents in the camp.
Commenting on the data collection process, Mohammad said,
“With the comprehensive camp data, we know more about our camp population and family information. This is the first time we came to know population data of the Geneva Camp with the support of Cadasta.”
Council of Minorities’ survey also includes a mapping component that links the household data to house location, as well as identifies block structure and the location of current communal infrastructure such as water taps and toilets to make a rehabilitation plan for the camp dwellers.
“We can use this data to demand a rehabilitation process with the government and with NGOs,” said Mohammad,
“We camp dwellers are demanding our proper rehabilitation and for that we need data, now we can use data and start working on a rehabilitation project.”
The Geneva Refugee Camp is situated on private land owned by the Liyaqat Housing Society, which has filed a petition to the Bangladesh High Court to evict the camp residents.
Mohammad explains,
“We the camp residents do not have any land documents or rights because in 1972 the Red Cross built this camp for the Biharis who lost their housing and property in the 1971 War of Liberation. Since 1972, we have been living in this camp. My daughter and I were born in this camp. We are very worried about our land. Everyday we live in the fear of camp eviction….Our biggest hope is rehabilitation, which is most important because camp life is very painful and unhealthy. We need adequate housing and rehabilitation. Lastly, I want to say thanks to Cadasta and Council of Minorities for providing us with such important and useful data.”
Our Project Partner:
The Council of Minorities is a human rights organization that works for establishing the rights of different minority communities in Bangladesh. Since 2013, the organization has been working for promoting the rights of the Urdu-Speaking people, in particular, who are living in 116 refugee camps spread across the districts of Bangladesh. For establishing legal rights, Council of Minorities (COM) has been creating awareness and accessing services among the camp dwellers regarding their birth certificates, death certificates, passports, trade licences, national identity cards, commissioner certificates, bank accounts, etc. In addition, COM distributes winter clothes and blankets, as well as emergency food and supplies, and educational materials among students. In order to connect minority youth with each other and with mainstream society, the Council of Minorities also organizes an Annual National Youth Leadership Summit.
Learn more about Council of Minorities work and partnership with Cadasta in this video:
Chatting with Cadasta Grantees at Council for Minorities!
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Learn More at: Cadasta.org
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