DHAKA (Al Jazeera) – Rights groups have called for an investigation into the killing of a prominent Rohingya leader who was shot to death at the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh.
Mohibullah, who was in his late 40s and had eight children, was killed by unknown gunmen in a camp in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday night. He led one of the largest community groups to emerge since more than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar after a military crackdown against the Muslim-majority minority in August 2017.
“He left me with so much responsibility,” his wife, Nasima Begum, told Al Jazeera. “I am devastated, how can I manage the family now? It’s a difficult road ahead. I am scared to live here now, we need security.”
Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from the site where Mohibullah was shot dead, said there was “an uneasy calm prevailing in the camp and a heavy security presence”.
“Rohingya refugees are worried and anxious to find out who is behind the killing.”
Mohammed Qasim, a Rohingya refugee, could not hold back his tears. “For years now, we have been watching and following Mohibullah, he was a gem to us and done so much for us, but we couldn’t save him,” he told Al Jazeera. “He took our case to the global community to seek justice for us.”
Mohibullah came to prominence when he was chosen to represent his community on a visit to meet then-U.S. president Donald Trump at the White House and attend a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva in 2019.
Human Rights Watch called Mohibullah a vital voice for the Rohingya community.
“He always defended the rights of the Rohingya to safe and dignified returns and to have a say in the decisions concerning their lives and future. His killing is a stark demonstration of the risks faced by those in the camps who speak up for freedom and against violence,” Meenakshi Ganguly, the rights group’s South Asia director, said in a statement.
More than a million Rohingya Muslims live in the camps, the vast majority having fled neighboring Myanmar during the military crackdown that UN investigators have said was carried out with genocidal intent.