Deforestation due to Rohingyas eats up land worth Tk 741.31cr: ICCB

NTV Online: Bangladesh faces the worst manmade disaster from Myanmar without any war or any conflict andthe total value of 6,000 acres of deforested land in Rohingya camps is equivalent to Tk 741.31 crore or USD 86.67 million, said a leading chamber on Sunday.
The influx of Rohingyas has created a pressure on the economy and overall security of Bangladesh, said the International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICCB) in its editorial of the current News Bulletin (April-June 2018), reports the UNB.
This also has adverse impacts on the environment and climate of Bangladesh.
Some 6,000 acres of land have already been deforested  by the Rohingya camps.
According to an estimate, the total value of 6,000 acres of deforested land in the Rohingya camps is equivalent to Tk 741.31 crore or USD 86.67 million.
The government of Myanmar had signed a repatriation agreement with Bangladesh, which continues to host the Rohingyas.
Butnot a single Rohingya refugee has returned under the formal framework agreed with Bangladesh, ICCB observed.
Besides, it said, many of those who have returned home have been detained. Between January and April this year, 58 Rohingyas who returned were arrested and convicted on unspecified charges.
They then received a Presidential pardon, but have simply been transferred from Buthidaung prison (in northern Rakhine province) to a so-called ‘reception centre’. So, more Rohingyas continue to seek shelter in Bangladesh.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh on July 2.
After visiting Rohingya camps, he said the violence they had faced at home in Myanmar since last August was probably one of the most ‘tragic stories’ of ‘systematic violation’ of human rights ever recorded.
The UN chief was accompanied by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, which announced nearly$500million in grant-based support to help Bangladesh address the needs of refugees. World Bank President Kim called on everyone to ‘stand in solidarity’ with the Rohingyas so that they can live a life of dignity.