The Election Commission (EC) is making a renewed effort to seek assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to prevent the inclusion of Rohingyas in the country’s voter lists.
While the commission previously requested direct server access, officials confirmed on Monday that they are now considering the acquisition of an Application Programming Interface (API).
According to relevant officials, an API would allow the EC to easily identify Rohingyas by cross-referencing applications with the UNHCR database, which contains records of those who have arrived from Myanmar.
This would enable the verification of any suspicious applicants during the registration process.
A similar initiative to acquire the full database was undertaken last year but stalled due to a lack of consensus regarding whether the data should be managed by the government or the Election Commission.
Consequently, the EC is now pursuing the API option.
Speaking to the media on Monday, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed stated, “We are sending a letter to the UNHCR. We did not receive it last year, which is why we are sending the letter again.”
Reports indicate that the UNHCR holds records for 1,184,864 Rohingyas currently residing in Bangladesh. Concerns have been raised as some Rohingyas have reportedly moved to mainland areas, married local residents, or utilised brokers to obtain National Identity Cards (NIDs).
There are also instances of individuals obtaining passports to travel abroad, which the EC notes has damaged the country’s international image.
In response to these challenges, the Election Commission has designated 32 upazilas in the Chattogram region as “special upazilas,” where voter lists are prepared through a specialised verification process and committee.
Under this system, any individual applying to become a voter in the Chattogram region is placed into “A” or “B” categories. If an applicant cannot be identified under either of these categories, the application is referred to a “C” category for review by a special committee.
