Archbishop of Dhaka: More than 1 million people’s homes are under water
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"He has great love, and has shown his concern and solidarity with the Rohingyas. Pope Francis is very close to us. He loves us and he prays for us."
In a wide-ranging interview with Pope, Archbishop Bejoy N. D'Cruze, OMI, of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and President of the Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh, offered this viewpoint, as he discussed the reality for the people of Bangladesh, and in particular, the catastrophic floods crippling his country, just ahead of the Holy Father's Apostolic Journey to Asia and Oceania, set for 2-13 September 2024.
The Archbishop discussed the dramatic devastation, the needs of the people, and relief efforts on the ground, while also remembering how the Pope showed his closeness, in person, to the majority-Muslim nation during his Apostolic Journey there, and to Myanmar, in 2017.
In particular, Archbishop D'Cruze recognized the immense ongoing challenges for the Rohingya people, which Pope Francis named in Dhaka during an , and continues to bring to light in various appeals, and speaks of how to help the suffering minority in the impoverished nation, which seems to be shouldering their plight alone.
Q: Archbishop D'Cruze, the flooding in Bangladesh is making international headlines with millions in the country being stranded and really terrible devastation. What is the situation?
Archbishop D'Cruze: At the moment, we are facing terrible floods, in our country, which is small but has 170 million people, which is very poor, and predominantly Muslim. Out of 64 districts, 14 districts are under water, which are mostly in the eastern, northeastern, and southern parts of Bangladesh.
Some 1.2 million people are living in the houses where they are under water. Among them, 200,000 are children. Some more people are old and in very vulnerable situations. Also, five million people were affected by this flood and many have been displaced. Three-hundred thousand people sought refuge in 3527 shelters.
By today, I was informed that 27 people have died. Still, we need to estimate the amount of damage, but thousands of houses were damaged. Fields and vegetable cultivation were completely destroyed. Fish escaped from the ponds. Poultry farms were completely washed away.
Q: What would you say are the needs of the people? And are there elements that give you hope?
Many have already started the relief work. Many NGOs, including Caritas Bangladesh, are working, but the coordination, still is not well done. Many people are hungry and thirsty. In some places, no one has yet been reached.
The students, now, at the moment, who revolted against the previous government, are collecting good medicine. By today, they have collected a voluntary collection of about 600,000 Euros. There are ongoing efforts of the United Nations relief work. Also Caritas, World Vision, Mother Teresa's charitable activities, HEED Bangladesh, and many other NGOs, are working.
Caritas gave shelter to 5,000 people and food to 18,000 people. They would like to do more, but they need lots of money. They want and they need 1.5 million US dollars to do the work, as a kind of solidarity with the suffering people. The Catholic Bishops Conference of Bangladesh is also collecting some money and we hope to give to the chief adviser, a kind of symbolic donation of 25,000 US dollars.
Q: It's being described as the epicentre of one of the country's worst floods in living memory, and our prayers are certainly with you. What does the Pope's upcoming travel back to Asia mean to you and your people, also after the Pope had visited Bangladesh in 2017?
In 2017, Pope Francis visited Myanmar and Bangladesh, and his visit brought Bangladesh and especially the small minority of Christians very close to him. He experienced at that time the suffering of the Rohingyas who escaped from Myanmar, where there has been the military persecution upon this group.
We have about 1.2 million Rohingyas, and the Pope has appealed and helped, in different ways, these Rohingyas. He has great love, and has shown his concern and solidarity with the Rohingyas. Pope Francis is very close to us. He loves us and he prays for us.
Q: The international community warns that Bangladesh cannot continue to bear the burden of the great influx of Rohingya, and is calling for the help of others. Do you have an appeal for how to help the Rohingya people in your country?
Our Caritas Bangladesh is regularly helping the Rohingyas, also through several projects specifically for them. Bangladesh's government has been appealing to different nations, and even to the United Nations, to find some solution to this problem because Bangladesh itself is a poor country. Forty percent of people are poor and at least 30 percent never went to school.
We have lots of problems. Poverty, class, heavy rain, droughts, sometimes... It is very difficult for the government to bear this big responsibility. And now we have the interim government. They still could not settle themselves with the new situation after the revolt and the uprising of the students against the government. Now it is a very vulnerable situation. The students are still on the road and have lots of demands. They are also demonstrating their power.
We had recently had problems with the schools too. They were asking the forced resignation of some teachers. Some were raising their voice against our uniform for the girls in the school. They were demanding the veil, the hijab, which is the Islamic dress, to be imposed in our schools for the girls. But we have very good, decent dress.
We do not make and do not want to make any distinction among the students on the basis of religion, culture, and other groups. We want that they are seen equally as students in the same school. So there are these types of problems. Then, there are of the problems of class and also Rohingyas. It will be very, very difficult for the interim government to face all these problems, and definitely our economic situation will deteriorate very soon.
Q: Do other countries need to help you, in your opinion?
I am very sure that United Nations, then United States of America, Britain, European Union will come forward because they know the situation and because all these countries have expressed their support to this interim government headed by Doctor Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate.
Q: Is there anything that you would like to add that I haven't asked?
My only appeal is: 'please help our Caritas Bangladesh.' It is a well-known organised NGO in Bangladesh and working for all, irrespective of caste and creed, and very especially for the poor. They are very patient and sincere workers, officers, and field workers.
In this situation, they will be able to contribute greatly at this moment, when people are hungry and need food, medicine, rehabilitation, and medical care, to start their lives again, because most of them are poor people.
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