Rohingya mothers try to make Eid special despite growing uncertainty 

DHAKA: As they prepared for Eid Al-Adha celebrations on Thursday, Rohingya mothers tried to create a special moment for their families despite growing uncertainty and food deprivation after the UN decided last month to further cut their rations.

The World Food Programme said in May that a lack of funding forced it to cut food aid for around 1 million Rohingya starting in June, the second time in three months that the UN agency slashed rations for refugees sheltering in Bangladesh.

As millions of Muslims around the world celebrated Eid Al-Adha, Rohingya mothers in the cramped camps of Cox’s Bazar also tried to make it festive.

“Everything is limited and the cut in rations made us feel so depressed. It narrowed our choices,” Shahida Begum, a 53-year-old mother of two, told Arab News. 

“We are currently living in extreme hardship, but Eid is something very special for us Muslims.”

She hoped that her children would also mark the moment as important.

“No matter what, even if I have nothing special, I can exchange greetings with families and friends,” Begum said. “The smiles on the faces of children make me very happy although I could provide them very little on this auspicious occasion.”

As Eid Al-Adha is a festival during which Muslims around the world slaughter sacrificial animals, some remembered how they celebrated Eid before violence and persecution forced them to flee Myanmar six years ago.

“We used to invite neighbors on Eid day to treat them with beef and mutton,” said Noor Shehara, a 43-year-old mother of four. “But now, here we are, forced to live a life without any hope.”

Mohammed Reaz, 13, also had some memories from his childhood.

“It makes me very sad,” he said. “This Eid reminds me of the old days in Myanmar when we used to sacrifice cattle in our home … Here, we are refugees and families can’t think of sacrificing any animal.”

Authorities in Cox’s Bazar said they were distributing sacrificial meat among the Rohingya in the camps.

“Like the previous years, we managed some sacrificial animals for the Rohingya on this Eid Al-Adha also. A total of 2,500 cattle have been distributed for sacrifice in the camps,” Shamsuddouza Nayan, additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, told Arab News.

For some mothers, that offering was all they had to give their family for Eid.

“It’s a very painful situation for my children. The only good thing I could expect is a beef package from camp officials,” said Taslima Begum, a 25-year-old mother of two.

“Our lives are becoming miserable day by day, especially after the cut in the food budget. We can hardly meet the nutritional demands of our children.”

But for 11-year-old Anwar Shah, there was some respite this year, during Eid lunch.

“My mother managed to prepare some beef for our family,” he said. “So, I had the chance to taste some beef after a long time. I was happy to have such a good meal.”