Bangladesh opens first refugee camp center to preserve Rohingya heritage, identity
Dhaka: Inside the crowded camps of a coastal Bangladeshi district, where makeshift shelters are home to over 1 million refugees, a new center aims to preserve the heritage of the Rohingya people, an entire generation of whom has been growing up disconnected from their historical roots and cultural identity.
Funded by Bangladeshi authorities in late February, the Rohang Heritage Center is housed in one of the small bamboo huts in Camp 6. The modest space is filled with documents, photographs, historical maps, and recordings preserving the Rohingya language.
“In total, more than 200 items are currently on display at the heritage center,” Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, told Arab News.
“The items have been collected from old newspaper clippings, books published on Rohingya history, and various historical documents. These materials were brought by Rohingyas who managed to carry them while fleeing to Bangladesh.”
