The Stranded Pakistanis of Bangladesh From: Ehtesham Arshad
The Stranded Pakistanis of Bangladesh
iReport — I recently returned from a medical student elective in Dhaka, Bangladesh. There I learned about the so-called "Stranded Pakistanis." These are people who had either sided with Pakistan during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971 or were otherwise considered sympathetic to Pakistan due to having migrated from India. Most of them speak Urdu, whereas the native language of the country is Bangla. The Stranded Pakistanis have been relegated to camps since 1971, some of which are located in Dhaka but the majority of which are in remote locations throughout the country. The Bangladesh government has denied these people full citizenship and prevented many of their children from attending school. Although some were issued national identification cards in 2008, they are unable to obtain many jobs and cannot leave the country.
Instead, they have been entrapped for the last 39 years as the poorest of the poor - with malnutrition and diarrheal diseases causing an astounding number of deaths each year. The conditions are subhuman, with 7-10 people living in each small room or tent, and in some areas 3-4 bathroom stalls per 3000 people. Children roam the streets begging for money and drug use is rampant, which begins at a young age. Recently a U.S. based non-governmental organization named OBAT Helpers, Inc. started schools at various camp sites and now provides interest-free microfinancing. An estimated 300,000 people live in 66 camps throughout Bangladesh. Many of them still wait to be accepted by Pakistan as refugees from the 1971 war.
- Asim Farooq, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine