Government plans to provide SIM cards to Rohingyas, 10,000 in first phase

The government has taken a plan to legally give mobile SIM cards to monitor the movements of Rohingyas. Rohingyas who are 18 years of age or above will get these SIM cards against the Progress ID. After the distribution of new SIM cards, all illegal SIM cards held by the Rohingyas will be deactivated. The Chief Advisor will visit the Rohingya camps on August 25. During this period, 10,000 SIM cards of a special series may be allocated. About 1.2 million Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to escape the persecution of the Myanmar junta regime and are living in 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar. According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and mobile operator sources, 6-7 lakh domestic SIM cards are used in about 3.5 lakh mobile phones in these camps. With the help of locals, various camp-based terrorist groups have been accused of committing criminal acts using these SIM cards. The government has taken the initiative to provide the Rohingyas with the opportunity to use SIM cards legally for security reasons. Two rounds of meetings have been held with mobile operators in this regard. BTRC and operator sources say that a separate number series will be kept for the Rohingyas. SIMs will be issued to those over 18 years of age based on the registration number of the Rohingyas of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The cost of each SIM will be borne by the UNHCR or the government. Operators will offer three types of packages. Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus will visit the Rohingya camps on August 25 and in the first phase, 10,000 numbers may be allocated by that date. As per the agreement with the government, the UNHCR database will be stored in the data center of the Bangladesh Computer Council. Grameenphone and Banglalink have welcomed the new decision. They say, ‘As a result, the movements of the Rohingyas will be known, transparency will come and many will be able to use SIMs legally.’ However, after issuing new SIMs, active SIMs taken illegally without a Bangladeshi national identity card will be deactivated. Robi has objected to the matter. The company’s Chief Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Officer, Shahed Alam, said, “Currently active SIMs can only be newly registered against Progress ID.” Earlier, it was planned to provide Teletalk SIMs to the Rohingyas in 2023, but the matter did not progress further.