Brussels meeting discusses terror challenges in South Asia
Manasi Gopalakrishnan
October 9, 2019
A group of Bangladeshi and European experts has recently met in Brussels to discuss how problems like religious fanaticism and immigration have affected not only South Asia, but also people in Europe and North America.
Image: European Bangladesh Forum
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A Bangladeshi diaspora group, European Bangladesh Forum (EBF), last week organized an international conference in Brussels to discuss the security challenges and threats faced by South Asian nations on account of violent extremism, and the role governments and civil society can play to counter them.
Members attending the meeting stressed the need for more concerted efforts to tackle terrorism-related threats in the world. In a globalized world, they said, terror threats were not limited to South Asia; other regions like Europe and North America were also equally affected.
Immigration has been a hot topic in Europe over the past several years. In 2015, Germany allowed nearly 900,000 refugees and asylum-seekers to enter the country under Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy. Many of them were fleeing war and extreme poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Tackling discrimination
The number of asylum-seekers entering Europe has drastically dropped since then. Still, euroskeptic and right-wing groups have seized on the crisis, claiming it undermines the social fabric of the continent and managing to improve their electoral prospects.
Addressing the issue of immigration, Brando Benifei, a member of the European Parliament, underlined the integration problems faced even by second- and third-generation immigrant families in Europe.
He explained how some of these families in Italy were unable to integrate into mainstream society and how extremist groups attracted them toward terrorism. "Under these circumstances, initiatives have to be adopted to stand beside the young people to increase their sense of respectful belonging," he said.
Niels van den Berge, a Dutch politician, said during the meeting that vulnerable groups needed to be brought into the mainstream so that they could discuss their issues openly with other members of society. "It will not bring any solution, if the vulnerable and threatening groups are kept and left behind in seclusion," he said, adding that efforts have to be made to bring them back into the mainstream.
Participants said immigrants face a number of problems, including a lack of self-esteem, insufficient qualifications, mistrust, cultural differences and deeply-rooted prejudices, hurting their social and economic well-being.
Immigrants are also more prone to discrimination in the labor and housing markets as well as in official dealings.
Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island'
Bangladesh has invested $272 million (€248 million) to make the Bhasan Char island liveable for the Rohingya. But the refugees, currently camped in Cox's Bazar district, are reluctant to move to the cyclone-prone island.
Image: DW/A. Islam
Far from the mainland
Bhasan Char, which means "floating island" in Bengali language, emerged less than 20 years ago in the Bay of Bengal. The island is located 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) away from mainland Bangladesh. The government of the Muslim-majority country plans to relocate some 100,000 Rohingya refugees to this island from overcrowded Cox's Bazar refugee camps.
Image: DW/A. Islam
No easy transportation
There is no proper transport for the common people to go to the island. Some people told DW that the roughness of the sea makes it difficult to reach the island on boats during the monsoon season.
Image: DW/A. Islam
Protected by embankment?
The government has erected a 13-kilometer-long and 3-meter-high embankment to protect the island from high tides and floods. Still, the outer part of the embankment goes 3 to 4 feet underwater twice a month during high tides, according to the island's shopkeepers.
Image: DW/A. Islam
Identical buildings
The government has built 1,440 single-storey buildings, with 16 rooms in each, to house the Rohingya refugees. At least four members of a family have to live in a small room. 120 four-storey shelter houses are also available, to be used during cyclones.
Image: DW/N. Conrad
Solar power for energy
All buildings at Bhasan Char are equipped with solar panels to fulfil their energy demands. A big solar field and two diesel generators for electricity have also been installed. The island has a rainwater harvesting system as well as tube wells to provide drinking water.
Image: DW/A. Islam
Protection from erosion
The silt island is called a "floating island" due to its unstable nature. Satellite images detected the island in 2002. Bangladeshi authorities have built a structure with pylons, gravel and sandbags to stop the erosion of the island.
Image: DW/A. Islam
Is the island uninhabitable?
While some experts say the island is still very fragile and uninhabitable, climate change specialist Ainun Nishat is of the opinion that people can live here if the embankment is heightened to 6.5 to 7 meters. However, he doesn't think that farming is possible on the island.
Image: DW/A. Islam
Rohingya fear cyclone, drowning
The refugees fear they could die as a result of a cyclone if they are forcibly moved to the island. Many of their children could drown in the sea, they say.
Image: DW/A. Islam
Will Rohingya move there?
While the island is almost ready to host Rohingya refugees, the government has yet to make a decision on transferring them to it. Several sources say the relocation could take place in November. The Bangladeshi government has hinted it might have to force the refugees to go there if no one chooses to leave the Cox's Bazar's refugee settlements.
Image: DW/A. Islam
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Calling for mutual respect
Debarati Guha, the head of DW's Asia Service, also participated in the event. Addressing the gathering, she mentioned the rise of Hindu fundamentalism in India.
The country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promotes Hindu nationalism and in the past few years, India has witnessed several instances of right-wing lynchings where Muslims were targeted for eating beef or failing to recite Hindu slogans when instructed.
Critics say the ruling party's Hindu nationalism has aggravated religious tensions in the country.
And the BJP's victory in this year's general election was largely seen as a referendum on Modi's Hindu nationalist politics.
And any form of dissent and disagreement with Modi's government or with the idea of Hindu nationalism has often been attacked as being "anti-national."
In Brussels, Guha said it was of no use trying to tag any particular religion — for example, Islam — as "extremist," as this would only encourage conflict. The way to bring about peace in society was through mutual care and respect, regardless of people's social class or religion, she added.
Other speakers also urged mutual understanding, respect, better integration into mainstream society and efforts to foster a sense of belonging, to prevent the youth from veering toward extremist groups and ideologies.
Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits
This year, so far, has seen a huge influx of refugees arriving in Lesbos. Conditions in the Moria camp are steadily becoming worse and refugees are often left to their own devices.
Image: DW/D. Tosidis
A view from above
Moria refugee camp has a capacity of 3,000. Currently, some 14,500 refugees are squeezed into the infamous refugee camp, Greece's largest reception and identification center.
Image: DW/D. Tosidis
Deep wounds
A large majority of those who live in Moria have been deemed as vulnerable and are in need of immediate medical assistance. This girl from Gaza, who lives with her family in a tent in the olive grove outside Moria, was severely injured when an Israeli rocket hit her home.
Image: DW/D. Tosidis
A false dawn?
In August more than 2,800 people arrived in dinghies on the island of Lesbos. A boat carrying 40 people was brought into the port of Skala Sikamineas after it was intercepted by Frontex, the EU's border agency. Eight women and 18 children, including five unaccompanied minors, were on board along with 14 men, all from Afghanistan.
Image: DW/D. Tosidis
The wait begins
After the women and children have been transferred to a transit camp, 18 men wait to be taken away to the same camp by the authorities. Volunteers with the NGO Lighthouse relief assist the authorities in providing food and water to those who have recently arrived.
Image: DW/D. Tosidis
Keeping the tradition alive
An Afghan woman makes bread in a makeshift underground oven which she then sells for €1 ($1.10) to other refugees. Due to deteriorating conditions and food provisions that are below standard quality many refugees who remain for long in the camp of Moria have found new ways to pass the day and remember home.
Image: DW/D. Tosidis
A soothing hand
Countless refugees need urgent medical attention. Doctors without Borders operate an emergency clinic opposite Moria for the most urgent cases, as the main camp currently only has one doctor and the hospital of Mytilene is overwhelmed and in some cases unwilling to treat refugees.
Image: DW/D. Tosidis
Discarded dreams
A "graveyard" of life jackets and boats on the island's north is a stark reminder of the last huge influx of refugees in 2015/16. Lesbos has been at the center of the refugee crisis for years as thousands of people have landed on its shores. Currently there are more than 11,000 refugees spread across the islands. That number is expected to rise sharply by the end of the year.
Image: DW/D. Tosidis
Monotonous routine
Waiting in line has become the main daily activity for those stuck in Moria limbo — even for children. Some wait for hours in order to receive food and water.
Image: DW/D. Tosidis
From the frying pan into the fire
A group of refugees prepares to board a ship which will take them to mainland Greece. After the sudden arrival of 600 people in one night, the Greek government decided to transfer 1,400 people to the mainland. Most were taken to the camp of Nea Kavala in a remote village in northern Greece.
