Most Rohingya in Bangladesh camps listed as Jan. 1 on U.N. IDs

Most Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh camps are recorded as having a Jan. 1 birthday on U.N. refugee cards, a date that appears on hundreds of thousands of registrations across more than 30 camps including Camp 7. When Rohingya fled Myanmar in 2017, overwhelmed U.N. aid workers often put Jan.

1 on paperwork used to register arrivals, the article reports. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said 67 percent of Rohingya living in the camps are registered as born on Jan. 1. Md Tajwar Rashid Ayan, who worked at a U.N. registration center, said staff 'didn’t have much time, and the refugees needed a document.' Refugees and aid workers describe the shared, arbitrary birthday as a reminder of lost identity and statelessness.

Some residents, including Mohammed Faruque, said the wrong date on their only identity document makes them feel erased; Faruque said he was actually born on Sept. 13 and 'When I see the date, I feel like I am no one.' Others keep their papers protected and say the incorrect date has followed them into job applications and resettlement processes.

The U.N. agency said it could not rule out mistakes and has invited refugees to specify their dates, according to Astrid Castelein, head of protection for the agency in Bangladesh. Refugees say updating records is difficult: one woman said she tried to change her card last year but was told it was impossible after five months.

Key Topics

World, Rohingya, Unhcr, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Statelessness