The Election Commission (EC) has not yet been given access to a database of more than one million Rohingya, despite a March agreement intended to prevent their inclusion in the country’s voter list.
EC officials said that using the database through the automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) would make it far easier to detect whether Rohingya refugees are attempting to register as Bangladeshi voters.
The EC has been seeking access to the Rohingya database created in Cox’s Bazar to prevent their inclusion in the voter list.
Although discussions and technical meetings on this matter have been ongoing for six months, the UNHCR has not granted the EC access.
“If we had the UNHCR’s Rohingya database, the EC’s job would become much easier,” said ASM Humayun Kabir, director general of the commission’s National ID Wing.
“We could instantly check fingerprints and know if someone is Rohingya.”
Despite progress earlier this year, Kabir confirmed on Sunday that the database remains out of reach.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get it in the end,” he said.
“The foreign ministry later informed us that after a home ministry meeting, the decision was made not to give it to the EC but to another ministry.”
The EC maintains it would have no objection if any ministry, whether local government, home, foreign, or ICT, had access, as long as the commission could verify applicants through it.
In the absence of access, the commission has been relying on its own checks.
Applicants in sensitive areas such as Cox’s Bazar must submit their parents’ NIDs and other documents, including land deeds and educational certificates. Verification committees involving local administrators, police, and community representatives also review cases.
“These steps wouldn’t be necessary if we had the database,” Kabir said.
“But since we don’t, we are going through these laborious checks.”
Bangladesh began issuing photo-based voter IDs in 2007-08 and has since introduced various safeguards.
Yet Rohingya refugees, who fled Myanmar’s military crackdown in 2017, with more than 750,000 joining 400,000 already in camps, have repeatedly attempted to obtain Bangladeshi IDs using forged documents. Several cases have been exposed.
“We can’t guarantee 100 percent, but the current commission has sent a strict message. Whenever involvement is found, immediate action is taken,” said Kabir.
He added that such attempts have since declined.
At the same time, the EC has simplified voter registration for Bangladeshis abroad. Even holders of expired passports can now apply, and three expatriate NID-holders may certify a person’s citizenship.
Kabir dismissed fears that this could help Rohingya obtain IDs.
“First we need to establish whether the person is Bangladeshi. After the application is made, we investigate all details on the ground. If investigations confirm they are Bangladeshi, there’s no problem.”
The EC database currently holds information on more than 123 million voters. Data on over 4.6 million citizens was collected in the most recent door-to-door campaign and they will be added to the voter roll on Aug 31.
