TİKA Continues to Support Arakanese Muslims with Agriculture and Livestock Activities

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) continues to support Arakanese Muslims in Bhasan Char island in Bangladesh.

Nearly 750 thousand Arakanese left Myanmar and took refuge in Bangladesh in 2017 due to their houses and shops being set on fire and the violence and assault they had to endure becoming unbearable.

Taking action because of the number of Arakanese Muslims who were relocated to the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar, exceeding 1 million, the Bangladesh government made the Bhasan Char island in Bengal Gulf, one of the islands formed in the last 60 years, into a development area and created a new living area that 100 thousand refugees can live in.

30 thousand Arakanese Muslims have been relocated to the island within the cope of the transport works since 2021. It is aimed that this number will reach 100 thousand in a few years.

International organizations started to carry out aid activities on the island

After the agreement between United Nations (UN) and Bangladesh, signed on 9 October 2021 and aimed at the humanitarian activities in Bhasan Char island, the international organizations took action and started to carry out aid activities on the island.

Being one of the first aid organizations to take action within this scope, TİKA developed a project in the agriculture and livestock field on the island by cooperating with Alliance for Cooperation and Legal Aid Bangladesh (ACLAB).

TİKA develops agriculture and livestock projects on the island by cooperating with Alliance for Cooperation and Legal Aid Bangladesh (ACLAB). Vegetable gardens were created in a 1-hectare area to include the surplus labour in production. 1500 kg vegetable production is expected from the firstling of the garden which has 11 different vegetable types planted.

Zucchini, okra, aubergine and bean are preferred as the climatic conditions of the island allow some vegetable types to bear 3 times a year.

Also carrying out projects on livestock, TİKA built the first cattle barn on the island and provided 16 cattle. Fresh milk will be provided to the people living on the island by getting 30 litres of milk daily at the first stage.

Arakanese Muslims having better living conditions and living on their hump were aimed by TİKA’s activities on agriculture and livestock.