BANGLADESH: “River refugee” numbers continue to swell

BANGLADESH: “River refugee” numbers continue to swell

Bholar Basti, a water-logged slum in Dhaka city, accommodates more than 30,000 people, most of whom were displaced by river erosion DHAKA, 1 August 2008 (IRIN) - Bholar Basti, a slum of 30,000 people in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, is not where Alimullah Mia and his wife and three children dreamt of living but that is where they have been for more than a decade. They once lived in a village called Helai Kandi on the western shores of Bhola, an island district in the estuary of Bangladesh’s three main rivers – the Meghna, Padma and Brahmaputra. “We had our home in the village, more than an acre of land, two cows and a plough,” the 45-year-old recalled. “Fifteen years ago, the Meghna devoured everything in a matter of six months, rendering us homeless and poverty-stricken. There was no job, no food, and no security of life.” After two months on the levee, they headed to Dhaka where they found others just like them. “There were other people too. We followed them and ended up at Bholar Basti [slum of Bhola people],” he said. From being a self-sufficient and established farmer, he soon found himself penniless and became a push cart operator instead. “My wife became a domestic servant and my children are nothing but urchins,” Mia lamented. For most residents of Bholar Basti, the story is more or less the same.

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