Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
A Rohingya refugee named Jasmin Fatema, a mother of one child, was physically and verbally assaulted by a security guard at Friendship Hospital in Balukhali-1 Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, last Thursday, after he prevented her from entering the hospital to receive emergency treatment.
According to details obtained by Arakan News Agency, the guard, a member of the host community, behaved in a humiliating manner and threatened Jasmin with harm inside the camp if he lost his job because of her complaint, sparking widespread outrage among camp residents.
After Jasmin bravely spoke out about the incident, the hospital administration launched an investigation and submitted a report to higher authorities, while humanitarian organizations called for ensuring the protection of women from such abuses within camp facilities.
Jasmin sent a message to Rohingya men and youth urging them to support women in standing up against injustice, saying: “It is your duty to protect your mothers, sisters, and wives, and to support them in speaking up for their rights. If we remain silent, these injustices will continue.” She emphasized that silence perpetuates abuse, and that the dignity of women is the dignity of the entire community.
The incident highlights the ongoing mistreatment faced by Rohingya women—often physical, verbal, or discriminatory—within hospitals, health centers, and humanitarian facilities inside the camps, with many victims choosing silence out of fear of retaliation.
This case is part of a series of previous reports documenting violations against Rohingya women, including harassment and discrimination, at several humanitarian facilities such as Friendship Hospital, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) clinics, Award Hospital, BRAC centers, and Bangladesh Red Crescent facilities.
Bangladesh currently hosts around 1.3 million Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps, recognized by the United Nations as the world’s largest refugee settlement. Refugees there continue to live in harsh humanitarian conditions since fleeing Myanmar in 2017 following the “genocidal campaign” waged by the Myanmar military. Their displacement to Bangladesh has been renewed since the outbreak of fighting in Arakan State between the Myanmar Army and the Buddhist Arakan Army militias in November 2023.
