Engage army for smooth relief work

The BNP yesterday urged the government to engage army for smooth distribution of relief materials for the Rohingya refugees who have taken shelter in Cox's Bazar following persecution in Myanmar.

“We saw mismanagement in distributing the relief materials. Army engagement for smooth relief work is needed,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan headquarters in the capital.

Earlier, a BNP team led by its standing committee member Mirza Abbas went to Cox's Bazar with relief materials to distribute those among the Rohingyas but was allegedly barred on disciplinary grounds.

Fakhrul said it is now urgent for the government to engage all including political parties and organisations to face the crisis. He said BNP also wants to extend its hand in this regard.

“Let's go for a solution by forging a national unity…,” said Fakhrul.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) also demanded that the government deploy army at the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar for smooth distribution of relief.

The refugees are not getting food due to a lack of coordination in relief activities, said SCBA President Zainul Abedin yesterday in a written statement at a press conference organised by the SCBA in its auditorium.

A team of the SCBA will visit the camps this week, he said. SCBA general secretary AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon also spoke.