News stories by Rafiqul Islam, page 3

DHAKA, May 31 (IPS) - Kajol Miah is a rice farmer from the Bangladesh side of the Meghna River Basin. And in towns on the Indian side of the river basin, Bangladeshi rice is in great demand.

DHAKA, Apr 09 (IPS) - Although learning centres in Cox’s Bazar Kutupalong Refugee Camp are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mariom Akhter, a Rohingya mother of four, is grateful not only for the schooling her children have had but the training sessions she as a parent was able to attend. The skills she learnt has helped her assist her children with their education at home in a crisis.

It’s something she’s likely needed to help her children with over the last few weeks after a Mar. 22 fire spread through the camp, destroying the shelters of at least 45,000 people as well as important infrastructure, including hospitals, learning centres, aid distribution points and a registration centre. At least 15 people were reported dead and 400 missing.

COX'S BAZAR, Apr 21 (IPS) - Last week almost 400 Rohingyas were rescued off the coast of Bangladesh after being at sea for two months after their boat failed to reach Malaysia. But the case is not a new one as each month thousands board boats from refugee camps in Bangladesh in an attempt to irregularly migrate to Malaysia.

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Apr 15 (IPS) - Nine-year-old Mohammad Rafique used to collect vegetables from Kutupalong Bazaar and sell them at a market inside Kutupalong camp, a camp of some 600,000 Rohingyas, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 12 (IPS) - When Feroza Begum was first diagnosed with leprosy in 2006, it felt as though she had been struck by a thunderbolt due to the deep-seated prejudice in her society that the disease is a curse from Allah (God).

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 12 (IPS) - Chairman of The Nippon Foundation and Sasakawa Health Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa, has assured Bangladesh of continuing support for the Zero Leprosy Initiative announced by the country's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, aimed at eliminating leprosy by 2030.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 11 (IPS) - In the light of limited access to education for displaced Rohingya children, the Nippon Foundation has announced US$ 2 million support to BRAC to launch a project to ensure educational facilities to both Rohingya and local community children.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 11 (IPS) - Leprosy is not a curse but should be detected and treated early, Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has told delegates at a gathering in her country's capital to discuss the elimination of the disease.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 09 (IPS) - Despite having remarkable success in leprosy control in the last decades, the Bangladesh government is now moving forward with a vision to build a leprosy- free country.

BHOLA, Bangladesh, Nov 28 (IPS) - It was almost a decade ago when Ruma Begum and her family left their home in Bangladesh's coastal Tazumuddin upazila or sub-district and travelled some 50 km away to start a new life. They had been driven out of their home by an extreme and changing climate that has continued to ravage the district of Bhola.