Bangladesh launches virtual court hearings for Rohingya refugees
Initiative will allow Rohingya refugees to participate in court proceedings from camps, reducing travel, checkpoint delays and security barriers
DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Bangladesh has launched a virtual court hearing system in the world’s largest Rohingya refugee settlement, allowing refugees to participate remotely in judicial proceedings without making difficult journeys from the camps to courts.
The initiative was launched in Cox’s Bazar by the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR and the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), with support from the Bangladeshi government. It will serve Rohingya refugees living in the Ukhiya and Teknaf camps as well as surrounding host communities.
The system is intended to address practical barriers that can make access to courts particularly difficult for refugees, including long-distance travel, delays at checkpoints and security concerns. It could also make it easier for refugees to obtain legal assistance and participate in proceedings while remaining inside the camps.
“Access to justice is a right, not a privilege of proximity,” UNHCR Bangladesh said in announcing the initiative.
The virtual hearing facility has been established at the office of the Camp-in-Charge at Camp-2 West in Ukhiya, one of the sprawling settlements that form the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp complex.
Officials from UNHCR, Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, the Law and Justice Division, the Supreme Court and BLAST inspected the infrastructure and discussed how the system would operate and coordinate with the country’s formal judiciary.
UNHCR Bangladesh Representative Ivo Freijsen said distance and other practical obstacles should not prevent refugees and people in remote areas from seeking justice.
“Technology can help bridge these gaps when virtual proceedings are safe, confidential, inclusive and properly integrated with the formal justice system,” he said.
Officials said the system could bring judicial services closer to refugees who face logistical difficulties reaching courts outside the camps. Discussions during the launch also focused on ensuring adequate infrastructure and arrangements so refugees can participate effectively and confidentially in remote proceedings.
The initiative could be particularly significant in Cox’s Bazar, where more than a million Rohingya refugees live after successive waves of persecution and violence forced them to flee neighboring Burma, with the largest influx arriving in 2017.
Most Rohingya in Bangladesh live in densely populated camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf and face restrictions on movement outside the settlements, making physical access to courts and other government institutions more complicated than for the general population.
The virtual system is also intended to benefit Bangladeshis living in surrounding communities who face distance or other difficulties reaching judicial services.
Authorities have not yet publicly detailed which courts and categories of cases will be covered by virtual hearings, how refugees will request access to the service or whether the system will eventually be expanded to other camps.
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