Before becoming interested in this position in Bangladesh I really knew little about the Bihari people here. I am still learning more about the situation and my organisation does a lot of work with them, so I will continue to update you as I go – but thought I would share what I have learnt so far.
Locally, the Biharis are knows as ‘stranded Pakistanis’ but they actually migrated from India (mostly from the Bihar state) during the partition of the subcontinent in 1964 (I am assuming because they are Muslim but I don’t know that for sure). Bangladesh was at that stage, East Pakistan, but fought for independence successfully in 1971 – with the Biharis fighting on the side of the Pakistanis. Pakistan, however, does not want them – they do not want to be part of Bangladesh (or India) – and so they are stateless.
They still live mainly in refugee camps set up by the International Red Crescent immediately after the war and most live in one room houses – with 3 generations crammed in together, in overcrowded slum areas without basic services such as water supply, sanitation and garbage disposal. They are secluded and quite separate from mainstream Bengali society and most are illiterate. Apparently most of the older Biharis want to relocate to Pakistan but the younger ones would prefer to stay in Bangladesh.
I will be working quite closely with this community, as part of our child labour project.
This is a photo of an alleyway in one of the camps.
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