Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh
Chittagong Division is located in the south-east part of Bangladesh. There were a couple of things that interested me based on some research, so I took a bus to Chittagong through Dhaka from Sreemangal. My first preference was to take the train but due to holidays in Bangladesh, it was pretty much impossible to book train tickets. At least that what I understood after being in the train station in Sreemangal a couple of times.
Chittagong
Chittagong is the second largest city in Bangladesh and also hosts the biggest seaport on the Bay of Bengal. During 3 days in Chittagong, I had long walks in the city, visited a museum and made an effort to visit the worlds biggest ship graveyard.
Zia memorial museum
The house museum is dedicated to former Bangladeshi president Ziaur Rahman who was assassinated in the same building during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1981. During the War, Ziaur Rahman was the lieutenant-general of the Bangladesh Forces. He was the one who broadcasted the announcement of the Declaration of Independence of Bangladesh in 1971. He became the president of Bangladesh in 1977
Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard
Situated just north of Chittagong along an 18 km strip of coast, the Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard handles about 20% of the world’s ship-breaking industry. I had previously seen some photos online of the huge container ships being dismantled just next to the coastal areas. These images fascinated me and the idea of discovering the half-broken ships from inside made me really curious. Naturally, it is not a tourist attraction, so while in Chittagong I started to make some research about the possibilities to get close to the ships. With some help from my hotel receptionist, I ordered a motorbike taxi via a local app called Pathao (similar to Uber). I agreed with him that he will help me to get there and get as close to the ships as possible. We made a deal that I will pay for the return trip and also give some tips for his time and help.
There are many different ship-breaking companies active, so the first challenge was to find the right spot. It quickly became clear that it is not possible to enter the territories of the companies. The yards are all closed out with fences and have security guards in front of the gates. All of the companies have become really protective of their territories since they are getting a lot of heat from society. The issues are serious since the companies have been accused of lack of security, safety and environmentally friendly measures being undertaken. The workers are being underpaid and working in really poor conditions – no safety gear and being exposed to chemicals daily bases. This concludes in numerous deaths each year. Probably only a small fraction of the deaths have been actually recorded. Besides that, materials harmful to the environment are being released into the sea.
After some failed attempts to get through the security gates, my guide decided to take me to a pier where it is possible to actually get good views from ships. The long pier reaches into the sea and is located right next to Kumira beach. Based on my experience, this is your best chance of getting photos of the ships. Bring a long lens though (if you have one) to get good captures from the distance.
Cox's Bazar
With a length of 120 km, Cox’s Bazar has the longest natural unbroken sea beach in the world! It is the most visited tourist destination in Bangladesh. Besides local tourists, also some foreigners find their way to Cox’s Bazar. This was the first time in 2 weeks that I saw western people on the streets (just noticed a few though). The beach is actually really nice – wide and pure clean sand. As Bangladeshi are mostly Muslim then if they go into the water they still wear clothes. So naturally, there was no sunbathing happening on the beach though. The beach is quite busy, but since it is really large, you can easily find a quiet place for yourself away from the main spot. Besides hanging out in Cox’s Bazar I also hired a tuk-tuk for half a day to visit some other places along the coast and the Rohingya Refugee Camp. The coastal land area south of Cox’s Bazar is being taken by the rising sea levels, so the local organisations are protecting the soil from getting flushed away and ruining the road by placing huge sandbags and sea-breakers on the coast. The sandbags are placed for tens of kilometres. This is a place where you can visibly see the effects of Global Warming and how the locals are trying to take back the land.
The following is a short video of my visit to Chittagong city, the ship-breaking yards and to Cox’s Bazar.
Rohingya refugee camp
Approximately 1 million (!) Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar and settled down in the camps in Bangladesh during the last 1 year time. The Rohingya population is a Muslim minority in Myanmar who have not been recognised by the Myanmar Government as part of the population. So the military forces in Myanmar are harassing the Rohingyas and causing so much horror that the people are forced out of their homes. I wrote more about it in one of my previous posts about Myanmar – Introduction to Myanmar.
I was interested in seeing how does a camp in that size looks like and learning more about the crisis. This is naturally NOT a tourist attraction and to enter the campgrounds is technically illegal. Not acting according to my words, I still decided to pay it a short visit. I hired a tuk-tuk driver and he took me to one part of the camp. More precisely to Kutupalong Refugee Camp. It was crazy to see the conditions the people need to live at for a long period of time already. The facilities they live at are technically tents – mud floors, plastic walls and roofs. At the same time, there are actual markets and local shops established by the Rohingyas themselves inside the camps. While walking through a small part of the camp, the children greeted us happily and said hello all the time. They are trying to make the best of what they have but the horrors the families have been through are tremendous. In the middle of the tents is a small hill with some trees on it. As my guide explained, this is a graveyard for the people who have passed away in the camp. That moment really put things into perspective. As well as seeing children with no clothes and some of them with bad injuries. Fortunately, there are many local and as well as international aid NGOs who distribute food and take care of the healthcare necessities
I was not that open about filming in the camp but still made some clips with not being too visible about it. Also, I was really hesitant of actually putting the clips together into a video since some of the images are not that pleasant. Nevertheless, I have made the video in order to spread the awareness about the problem. And maybe some more help will be directed towards the refugees. Viewer discretion is advised! If you would like to learn more about the crisis check out the websites of World Vision and UNICEF.
Update! The video has been removed by YouTube.
