the 2012 violence. The Rohingya placed in the so-called “temporary” physical confinement structures still remain there. And even though the repatriation process has been initiated twice (in November 2018 and August 2019), only 350 refugees have left Bangladesh for Myanmar.56 The ambitious repatriation plan appears bound to fail, given that the root causes of the Rohingya’s persecution in Myanmar remains unaddressed. Their future remains uncertain given the ongoing conflict in Rakhine State. Rohingya refugees are unlikely to return unless the Myanmar government offers guarantees of security, freedom of movement and citizenship rights. In the meantime, the Bangladeshi authorities continue to placed greater restrictions on the Rohingya refugees. They are not allowed to work or move freely in the camps and must depend on aid agencies for food. Bangladesh’s Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal announced in February 2020 that the government had started erecting barbed-wire fences around Rohingya refugee camps to “rein in illegal activities” and to control the movement of Rohingya in and out of the camps.57 Other security measures announced include the installation of watchtower and CCTV cameras to “strengthen the surveillance on the Rohingya people and the refugee camps”.58 As of October 2020, human rights organizations report that the barbed-wire fencing around Kutupalong-Balukhali Expansion Site is nearly 90 percent complete.59 “Security” was also used by the Bangladesh government to justify its nearly year-long internet shutdown in the camps.60 In addition to restricting mobile internet service, the government also banned the sale of mobile phone SIM cards to refugees.61 For nearly a year, only Bangladeshis with national identification cards were allowed to obtain SIM cards and access the internet. The authorities reportedly confiscated over 12, 000 SIM cards, of both Bangladeshi and Myanmar operators, from the refugees. It was also announced that any refugee found using SIM cards illegally will be fined 50,000 Taka (US $588) or six-month imprisonment.62 In 2019, the government announced its plans to relocate 100,000 Rohingya from Cox’s Bazar to an uninhabited, flood-prone island called Bhasan Char (“Floating Island”) in the Bay of Bengal, 56 Anis Alamgir, “Bangladesh is being held hostage,” Dhaka Tribune, October 12, 2020, https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2020/10/12/op-ed-bangladesh-is-being-held-hostage. 57 Najmus Sakib, “Bangladesh building barbed-wire fences around Rohingya,” Anadolu Agency, February 16, 2020, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/bangladesh-building-barbed-wire-fences-aroundrohingya/1735369#. 58 Sakib, “Bangladesh building.” 59 “Bangladesh: Remove Fencing That Confines Rohingya to Refugee Camps,” Fortify Rights, October 9, 2020, https://www.fortifyrights.org/bgd-inv-2020-10-09-2/. 60 Munir Uz zaman, “Bangladesh to lift Rohingya internet ban ‘very soon,’” Yahoo! News, August 24, 2020, https://news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-lift-rohingya-internet-ban-120512911.html. 61 Munir Uz zaman, “Bangladesh to lift.” 62 Muktadir Rashid, “12,000 SIMs seized in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh,” New Age Bangladesh, December 7, 2019, http://www.newagebd.net/article/92885/12000-SIMs-seized-in-rohingya-camps 15