With Bangladesh’s national polls looming on February 12, spy agencies flag Rohingya refugees as potential threats to electoral integrity. The plan to lock down their camps? Scrapped as unworkable. Enter multi-tiered defenses to keep the process secure.
Dhaka Tribune details the logistical nightmare: sprawling Cox’s Bazar camps lack proper barriers and tech oversight. Post-2017 Myanmar exodus, lakhs of Rohingyas huddle there, some trickling into Indian frontiers.
Election chief Sanaullah pushed for camp closures and border clamps early this month, fearing sabotage or result tampering.
But the January 8 task force pivoted to ‘security bubbles’ around camps, not total shutdowns.
Home Ministry’s latest intel dossier deems sealing a fantasy, citing sabotage plots, voter list hacks for fakes, campaign drags, and weapon caches.
Layered strategy: Revamp CCTVs/walls, checkpoint routes early, nab outsiders, raid for guns, station troops, caution parties.
Amid rigging rows, force neutrality doubts, and rivalries, 127 million+ voters gear up—but Rohingya list intrusions worry all.
Religious fervor in campaigns alarms too: Portals highlight jihadist surges, ‘jannat’ bribes, Islamic law pledges amid democratic decay.