Rising Tides of Trouble: Piracy Amidst a Pandemic

October 29, 2021

As the pandemic threatens lives globally, it has allowed for unseen tragedies to take hold: Naval vessels are increasingly vulnerable to piracy.

Royal Marines on Counter Piracy Operations Near Somalia. Defense Images. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Many adverse effects result from the pandemic lasting for nearly two years, including one that landlubbers are likely unaware of. For over a year, COVID-19 has exacerbated a problem that has permeated the seas for centuries: piracy.

In the first six months of 2020, fifty armed attacks at sea were recorded throughout Asia, twice as many than the year prior. Though the attacks spanned from the South China Sea to Bangladeshi coasts, Maritime Southeast Asia is the true threat for commercial naval traffic as most Asian naval attacks are concentrated within the Malacca and Singapore Straits. The region’s island geography is responsible for such prevalence of piracy, featuring dense clusters of three archipelagos whose waters are treacherous and often unsupervised.

Beginning in April 2021, naval hijackings in Central America increased significantly. Mexico’s opening of its oil industry to international investments is suspected to be the cause. As Central American pirates target shipping containers and oil platforms within the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. In addition, transnational criminal networks are lured by prospects of lucrative loot, such as technical equipment sold on the black market and inadequate security in Latin American countries.

Maritime security experts are most concerned about the naval violence surging off of West Africa coastlines. Whereas Asia experiences the highest frequency of piracy, West African waters, specifically within the Gulf of Guinea, suffer from the most severe crimes spanning from armed robbery to crew kidnappings. It’s also challenging to quantify the scale of piracy. Shipping companies may resist reporting pirate-related incidents to insurers. Up to 60% of all naval attacks on merchant vessels, fishing boats or passenger vessels occurring within the Gulf of guinea are unaccounted for. Many incidents of West African piracy take place as far as 100 nautical miles from coastlines, in areas unprotected by coast guards or naval forces.

Worsening Factors

The pandemic’s devastating effect on the global economy has increased poverty and unemployment, incentivizing individuals towards pursuing criminal activities. A decline in international trade has prompted shipping companies to decrease crew sizes and armed guard escorts, normally mitigating naval hijackings. Travel restrictions and border closures forced many vessels to be stranded at sea or port for months, yielding such ships as static quarries for premeditated piracy. Lastly, most nation-states prioritized public safety programs to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 among their land-based populations. Government focus has been redirected from possible threats at sea to definite ones on land. Resources and staffing have been shifted away from the security of bulk carriers, product tankers and container vessels—the types of ships most commonly preyed upon by pirates. Quarantines, fragile port security, and inadequate responses to the virus’s spread have enabled a global rise in piracy.

Rohan is an engineering graduate from Brown University. He is passionate about both writing and travel, and strives to blend critical thinking with creative communication to better understand the places, problems, and people living throughout the world. Ultimately, he hopes to apply his love for learning and story-sharing skills to resolve challenges affecting justice, equity, and humanity.

7 Stunning Spots in Bangladesh, South Asia’s Most Verdant Country

March 19, 2021

Known for its lush greenery and fascinating sites, Bangladesh offers many exciting opportunities to travelers.

The Sundarbans in Bangladesh. USAID Biodiversity and Forestry. CC BY-ND 2.0

Bangladesh is a South Asian country that borders India and Myanmar. Originally referred to as East Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947, Bangladesh eventually gained independence from Pakistan in 1971. Although the country is not on many visitors’ radars, Bangladesh boasts both spectacular natural beauty and a rich culture. Here are seven destinations that travelers should check out when visiting Bangladesh.

1. Sundarbans Mangrove Forest

A Bengal tiger in Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangrove. Anindya Majumder. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

If one could only visit only a single attraction in Bangladesh, this would have to be it. The Sundarbans mangrove forest is located where the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers meet the Bay of Bengal. It is the largest mangrove forest in the world and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The forest is well-known for its variety of flora and fauna, most notably the endangered Bengal tiger. Other animal sightings that travelers can look forward to on their visit include spotted deer, rhesus macaque monkeys and a variety of waterbird species, including egrets and herons.

2. Dhaka

Travelers are likely to spend some time in Dhaka, as it is Bangladesh’s capital, largest city and travel hub. The city is a densely populated metropolis with some of the worst traffic in the world. Beyond the hectic rickshaw-filled streets, there are many exciting activities in the Bangladeshi capital, including watching boats dock at the Sadarghat river port, paying a visit to the Ahsan Manzil palace and museum, and touring the Baitul Mukarram Mosque, one of the largest in the world. Dhaka is also a wonderful place to explore traditional markets and sample Bangladeshi cuisine.

3. Cox’s Bazar Beach

A beach sunset in Bangladesh. Lonely explorer. CC BY 3.0

This is one of Bangladesh’s most beautiful beaches. Stretching over 75 miles, Cox’s Bazar is the longest uninterrupted sea beach in the world. The beach becomes less crowded the farther south one travels down its banks. Off the coast of Cox’s Bazar Beach is Maheshkhali Island, a pilgrimage point for Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists alike. Another nearby location is St. Martin’s Island, the only coral island in Bangladesh. Located at the southernmost tip of the country, St. Martin’s Island provides wonderful swimming and snorkeling opportunities.

4. Panam Nagar

The ghost town of Panam Nagar. Nurul Amin Russel. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Located 18 miles southeast of Dhaka, this town was well known for its textile production and Hindu merchant community. Panam Nagar was destroyed in a fire and the town remains deserted to this day. Although the exact dates and cause of the fire are still unknown, the large number of textiles stored in the town’s buildings could likely have caused it.

5. Paharpur

The Somapura Mahavihara monastery in Paharpur, Bangladesh. Stefan Krasowski. CC BY 2.0

Paharpur is one of three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh and was added to the list in 1985. Located in the northern part of the country, Paharpur contains the most important archaeological site in Bangladesh, an ancient Buddhist monastery called Somapura Mahavihara. The monastery is the second-largest structure of its kind south of the Himalayas and contains 177 monastic cells with a large shrine located in the middle. The monastery was a center of learning where the practice of Mahayana Buddhism flourished from the seventh to 12th centuries. It was further known for influencing Buddhist architecture in other parts of Asia, including Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple. Paharpur is also one of the best examples of pre-Islamic architecture in Bangladesh.

6. Srimangal

A woman picking tea in Bangladesh. Mariusz Kluzniak. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Srimangal is a small town located in the northeast of Bangladesh. Well known throughout the country for its tea production, a visit to Srimangal makes an excellent opportunity to learn about one of Bangladesh’s largest industries. Travelers can explore some of the 163 tea plantations that dot Srimangal’s hilly landscape and enjoy local brews straight from the source.

7. Bagerhat

The Shait Gumbad Mosque with 77 domes in Bagerhat. Joe Coyle. CC BY-NC 2.0

The Bagerhat district in the southwestern part of Bangladesh is home to the ancient city of Khalifatabad, which was founded by Turkic general Ulugh Khan Jahan in the 15th century. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city contains excellent examples of an early Islamic architectural style known as Khan-e-Jahan. The site includes 360 buildings such as mosques, public buildings, mausoleums, bridges and more. Unfortunately, the city’s location at sea level makes it vulnerable to rising seas, making cultural preservation a huge priority.

From its beautiful beaches to a fascinating history, Bangladesh makes a wonderful destination for travelers ready to visit a less-discovered piece of South Asia.

During Floods, Floating Schools Bring the Classroom to Students

January 4, 2020

Each year, over one-fifth of Bangladesh suffers from flooding. And when water overtakes already struggling roads, much of life is put on hold—including kids’ education. But if children can’t travel to the classroom, architect and entrepreneur Mohammed Rezwan thought, why not have it travel to them? Welcome aboard the Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha floating school—a network of boats that’s both school bus and schoolhouse for students ages six to ten in Northern Bangladesh.

The Furnace of Broken Dreams

October 19, 2017

On the outskirts of Dhaka you will find hundreds of small brick factories.

The majority of these factories are considered illegal by the Bangladeshi government because the chimney stacks are too low and because they still use coal as their main fuel. Burning wood in kilns has also been illegal since 1989, but nearly two million tons of firewood are burned in ovens annually. The toxic fumes that these countless factory sites emit cause almost half of all the air pollution in the city.

Beside each factory are the makeshift villages or camps, where the workers live. Whole families are forced to labour for twelve hours a day, without rights and with a salary that barely allows them to survive.

The workers rise before dawn, heading up to the furnace in the half darkness. At 9 o’clock they are permitted to take a half hour break from their work. Most return quickly to their homes, wake up their youngest children who still are sleeping, and prepare breakfast for their families.

It is then back to work until 2 o’clock, when they may take another half hour break for lunch. Below you see Imran Uddin, 24 years old, a few minutes before a tropical storm hit the factory site where he was working with his brothers. None of the workers stopped during the storm.

Most of the workers in the furnace are families, including the elderly and also their children, who will begin to work alongside their parents when they are around six years old. The children’s pay is equal to that of adults, and is based on the amount of bricks transported daily. Younger children will spend the day wandering in the camps or around the furnace.

The work day only ends as darkness falls, when the workers will head to the nearest lake or river to wash the grime and dust from their faces and clothes. Returning to their homes, they prepare dinner and fall into an exhausted sleep. It is very rare for a home to have electricity. I was surprised to find that their days were marked only by the rhythm of work, no time even for prayer. They work six and a half days each week.

Most of the workers who we talked with were friendly, despite their fatigue and tiredness, and were glad to speak with someone. They also offered us their hospitality, as best they could, even though some of them told us that they felt ashamed of the conditions they lived in.

Sometimes we spoke with someone who was fearful. Some of the workers were afraid that if the boss knew they had talked to us, they might lose their job. In general, the workers were preoccupied with maintaining a relentless pace of bricks being loaded onto their heads or into the carts.

One of the young men we met, Shakir Kander, was 16 years old. Day in, day out, Shakir shovelled the dusty coal to fuel the hungry brick-baking furnace, from six o’clock in the morning until nightfall.

As with all the other workers, Shakir is allowed only half a day of rest each week. Also below you see a boatman crossing the Bouriganga river, which is considered among the top three most polluted rivers in the world. The many waterways surrounding Dhaka are essential for the transport of materials that are be used in the manufacture of bricks.

Above you see Shamina, thirteen years old, sleeping on the back of her bicycle — used for transporting bricks — during her short lunch break. During my time in Bangladesh, I visited perhaps thirty factories in two months, and met many individuals like Shamina. When embarking on this project, I believed that it was crucial to spend several days at each factory, so that I might more thoroughly capture their moments of everyday life outside of work. Sadly, factory after factory, it became apparent that the daily free time I had imagined for the workers, simply did not exist. Their schedule did not even permit them time to pray before sunrise, and days seemed to pass with an ineluctable cyclicality.

The sun beat down from above, the sweltering furnaces were burned constantly, and the air was always filled with dust and smoke.

I went away upset, with a bitter taste in my mouth. Away from these hellish workplaces, I gratefully breathed great gulps of fresh air, and yet the fate of the workers and their children would remain unchanged.

It was after reading author Kevin Bales’ powerful works on modern slavery and other similar studies, that I felt compelled to move to Bangladesh to tell this story. When I first arrived into Dhaka’s industrial area, and saw the forest of factory chimneys engulfed by thick black smoke, I knew that I had made the right decision. I had to document this. I had to share it with as many people as I could. And so I began.

In the end, what has stayed with me most about these factories, is our remarkable human capacity to somehow find the will to adapt and survive in adverse circumstances, whether environmental, social or economic. Living alongside the workers was, in its own way, a privilege, as I tried to understand and document the depth and truth of their lives.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAPTIA.

RAFFAELE PETRALLA

Raffaele is a documentary photographer focusing on social, environmental, and anthropological issues.

Rohingya Testimony

April 20, 2017

The Rohingya are Muslim Indo-Aryan peoples from the Rakhine State, Myanmar. Human rights organizations have often described Rohingyas as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Rohingya Testimony is a film about young Rohingya women, some as young as 14, who shared with the filmmaker their stories of murder and rape. Shot in Teknaf region near the Myanmar/Bangladesh border. December 2016 & January 2017.

Filmmaker: Shafiur Rahman

BANGLADESH/INDIA: From No-Man's Land to the Unknown

March 1, 2017

For decades, more than 50,000 people have been stranded, without access to basic rights, on tiny islands of no-man’s land locked within India and Bangladesh. 2015 finally saw an end to these enclaves, or ‘chitmahals,’ bringing hope and change to communities living on the world’s most complex border.

The party lasted long into the night across remote patches of northern Bangladesh. As the clock struck midnight people played music, danced and sang using candles for light, and for the first time in their villages they raised a national flag. Similar events were also taking place on the other side of the border in India just a stone’s throw away.

For 68 years, ever since the formation of East Pakistan in 1947 (which later became known as Bangladesh), the residents of one of the world’s greatest geographical border oddities have been waiting for this moment; for their chance to finally become part of the country that has surrounded yet eluded them for so many years.

At 12.01am on July 31st, 2015, India and Bangladesh finally exchanged 162 tracts of land — 111 inside Bangladesh and 51 inside India.

Known in geographical terms as enclaves, or locally as chitmahals, these areas can most easily be described as sovereign pieces of land completely surrounded by another, entirely different, sovereign nation.

Inside an enclave, a man prepares jute by removing the long, soft vegetable fibres that can be spun into coarse, strong threads, and keeping the sticks. For many enclave dwellers, jute is where most of their income comes from and also what they use to build their houses.

Enclaves aren’t as rare as you may think, and until now this part of South Asia has contained the vast majority. Existing around the world, mostly in Europe and the former Soviet Union, they were once much more prevalent — until modern day cartography and accurately defined borders eliminated many. Some still remain, such as the Belgium town of Baarle-Hertog, which is full of Dutch territory. The locals have turned the unusual border into a tourist attraction. However, for this region of southern Asia, where political and religious tensions run high, the existence of enclaves is not so jovial. Life for those who are from these areas is far harder than in neighbouring villages, only minutes away.

Sisters Lobar Rani Bormoni, 11, and Shapla Rani Bormoni, 12, stand in a paddy field in the enclave in Bangladesh where they born.

“These enclaves are officially recognised by each state, but remain un-administered because of their discontinuous geography. Enclave residents are often described as “stateless” in that they live in zones outside of official administration — since officials of one country cannot cross a sovereign frontier into administered territory,” explains Jason Cons, a Research Assistant Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin and author of the forthcoming book, ‘Sensitive Space: Fragmented Territory at the India-Bangladesh Border.’

Muslim men from Dhoholakhagrabari enclave pray in their mosque. Mosques are usually the only solid structures that exist inside the enclaves.

Several folktales tell of the origin of these enclaves being the stakes in a game of chess between two feuding maharajas in the 18th century, or even the result of a drunken British officer who spilt spots of ink on the map he drew during partition in 1947. Captivating as these stories are, the most likely explanation dates back to 1711 when a peace treaty was signed between the feuding Maharajah of Coch Behar and the Mughal Emperor in Delhi. After the treaty their respective armies retained and controlled areas of land, where the local people had to pay tax to the respective ruler, thus creating pockets of land controlled by different people.

Prior to 1947, when this region was entirely Indian territory, living in these locally-controlled enclaves made little difference. However, during the drawing of the boundary between India and Bangladesh, the Maharajah of Coch Behar asked to join India — on the condition that he retain all his land, including that inside the newly formed East Pakistan, which his ancestors had rightly won control of over 200 years ago.

So, through no fault of their own, the lives of 50,000 people turned upside down — for decades they have been stranded on islands of no-man’s land.

A man fishes at dusk using his large bamboo fish trap. This river exists just outside the enclave but as it’s in Bangladesh territory, enclave dwellers are forbidden to fish here otherwise angering the local fishermen.

Enclave dwellers fish in a flooded paddy.

During the early 1970s a framework to find a solution to this problem was put in place — called the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement. For forty years, as governments came and went, neither the Indian nor the Bangladeshi politicians were able to agree with their counterparts at the time. And whilst the politicians squabbled, the residents suffered.

Only informal work, like at this sawmill, is available for enclave dwellers in Bangladesh.

On the ground there are no border fences or security checkpoints, and without realising it, you can walk in and out of India countless times, crossing an international boundary completely obliviously. However, there is a serious lack of infrastructure and this has been one of the most serious problems facing the residents. Paved roads quite literally stop at the boundaries to the chitmahals, as do electricity poles. The enclave inhabitants in Debiganj District of Bangladesh, as non-Bangladeshi citizens, were even barred from sending their children to school, also receiving no state assistance or even the most basic of hospital treatment.

Sheltered within their small bamboo house, located inside the enclave of Dhoholakhagrabari, Eity Rani, 14, and Shobo Rai, 8, carefully do their homework by the light of an oil lamp. Life is much harder for children who are born in enclaves.

A Bangladeshi man sits in a shop in the market of a small town that sits between enclaves.

Every Saturday a jute market is held in Debiganj. For the many inhabitants of the enclaves that surround the town, jute is where most of their income comes from.

Wearing just a lungi — a traditional sarong worn around the waist — Sri Ajit Memo is sitting in the middle of a small muddy courtyard, surrounded by houses made of bamboo and jute sticks. At 55 years old, his family have lived in a Dhoholakhagrabari chitmahal for generations. Chewing on the twig of a certain tree that locals here use as an alternative to toothpaste, he explains, “All kinds of problems exist here. The government doesn’t care about us, or our children, and so it’s very difficult for them to even go to school. Honestly, we are Indian, but how can we feel this way when we get no help from them?”

For enclave dwellers on both sides of the Indian-Bangladeshi border, the entitlement to receive even the most basic of rights has eluded them.

Reece Jones, an Associate Professor in Political Geography at the University of Hawai’i Manoa, who has visited many chitmahals on both sides of the border, explains further, “After decades in this situation many people have found ways around it through bribes to officials or through friends who helped them to obtain the documents they needed, such as school enrolment forms for their children. However, the situation was not stable or secure. They were extremely vulnerable to theft and violence because the police had no jurisdiction in the enclaves.”

Rupsana Begum, 7, (pink dress) and Monalisa Akter, 7, (orange dress) are from an enclave but were able to come and study at Sher-e-Bangla Government School because their parents managed to acquire fake documents and were able to pay the school.

In Dhoholakhagrabari enclave students and their teacher sit in a madrassa class. Because enclave children have a difficult time accessing the education system in Bangladesh the locals of this enclave formed an Islamic Foundation funded on donations.

Today, after decades left living in limbo in these randomly placed no-man’s lands, around 47,000 people on the Bangladeshi side and some 14,000 on the Indian side have finally been given the right make a choice: stay where they have lived for generations with official citizenship of the country that will absorb them, or return to their country of origin.

None of the residents living in Bangladeshi enclaves within India asked to return to Bangladesh and as a result they will now all become Indian citizens. However, on the other side of the border in Bangladesh, whilst the vast majority of the Indian enclave dwellers decided to stay and become Bangladeshi citizens, 979 people requested to return to India. For these families, the enclave saga has yet to end.

Of those 979 individuals, a total of 406 come from Debiganj district. In 2011, a team of Indian officials visited every home in every enclave in Bangladesh and produced the first ever detailed census of all those living within the Indian enclaves. This report formed the basis of all subsequent decisions on the status of each person living in the enclaves.

An old lady inside her home, which has no running water or electricity, in Dayuti enclave.

Dhonobala Rani, 70, gets emotional knowing that she has to leave her son (in the blue shirt) behind in Bangladesh, as she takes Indian citizenship.

Several months after my visit to document the enclaves during the final days of their existence, those who had chosen to leave for India finally crossed the border, leaving their homes in Bangladesh forever. In India they were given land and began the process of integrating into Indian society. Those who chose to stay behind in Bangladesh also started to receive such basic rights as eligibility to vote and access to health care.

Let us hope that after decades of struggle on these isolated political islands, the lives of these ex-enclaves dwellers can begin to reach some level of normalcy. In the end, after so many years of uncertainty, the world’s strangest border region has now become a thing of the past.

A lady from Ponchoki Bhajini village, in the enclave of Dhoholakhagrabari. She has chosen to leave for India, to start a new life as an Indian citizen.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAPTIA.

LUKE DUGGLEBY

Luke Duggleby is a British freelance documentary and travel photographer living in Bangkok.

BANGLADESH: From No-Man's Land to the Unknown

July 20, 2016

For decades, more than 50,000 people have been stranded, without access to basic rights, on tiny islands of no-man's land locked within India and Bangladesh. Last year finally saw an end to these enclaves, or 'chitmahals,' bringing hope and change to communities living on the world's most complex border.

At 12.01am on July 31st, 2015, India and Bangladesh finally exchanged 162 tracts of land — 111 inside Bangladesh and 51 inside India.

ABOVE: Inside an enclave, a man prepares jute by removing the long, soft vegetable fibres that can be spun into coarse, strong threads, and keeping the sticks. For many enclave dwellers, jute is where most of their income comes from and also what they use to build their houses.

ABOVE: Sisters Lobar Rani Bormoni, 11, and Shapla Rani Bormoni, 12, stand in a paddy field in the enclave in Bangladesh where they born.

ABOVE: *Muslim men from Dhoholakhagrabari enclave pray in their mosque. Mosques are usually the only solid structures that exist inside the enclaves.*

So, through no fault of their own, the lives of 50,000 people turned upside down — for decades they have been stranded on islands of no-man’s land.

ABOVE: (Left) A man fishes at dusk using his large bamboo fish trap. This river exists just outside the enclave but as it’s in Bangladesh territory, enclave dwellers are forbidden to fish here otherwise angering the local fishermen. (Right) Enclave dwellers fish in a flooded paddy.

ABOVE: Only informal work, like at this sawmill, is available for enclave dwellers in Bangladesh.

ABOVE: Sheltered within their small bamboo house, located inside the enclave of Dhoholakhagrabari, Eity Rani, 14, and Shobo Rai, 8, carefully do their homework by the light of an oil lamp. Life is much harder for children who are born in enclaves.

ABOVE: (Right) A Bangladeshi man sits in a shop in the market of a small town that sits between enclaves. (Left) Every Saturday a jute market is held in Debiganj. For the many inhabitants of the enclaves that surround the town, jute is where most of their income comes from.

Wearing just a lungi — a traditional sarong worn around the waist — Sri Ajit Memo is sitting in the middle of a small muddy courtyard, surrounded by houses made of bamboo and jute sticks. At 55 years old, his family have lived in a Dhoholakhagrabari chitmahal for generations. Chewing on the twig of a certain tree that locals here use as an alternative to toothpaste, he explains, “All kinds of problems exist here. The government doesn’t care about us, or our children, and so it’s very difficult for them to even go to school. Honestly, we are Indian, but how can we feel this way when we get no help from them?”

For enclave dwellers on both sides of the Indian-Bangladeshi border, the entitlement to receive even the most basic of rights has eluded them.