Who We Are

OBAT Helpers is a 501(C) 3, non-profit organization committed to providing aid, support, education and economic empowerment to displaced, stranded and refugee populations residing in camps in Bangladesh.

OBAT was initially formed as a family initiative and is an acronym formed by the first letters of the names of the parents (Obaid, Bilquis, Aman & Tayyaba) of Anwar and Afshan Khan, the founders of this charitable initiative.  At the time of OBAT’s inception, the population it started serving was commonly known as stranded Pakistanis, Biharis or Urdu speaking people. This community has been suffering silently in the countless slums or makeshift camps scattered across Bangladesh, for the past 50 years. Their displaced status and dire living conditions were a consequence of a civil war between East and West Pakistan and the unresolved political conflict between the two regions. Altogether, there are more than 300,000 people languishing in one hundred and sixteen makeshift camps in extremely poor conditions- they live in abject poverty with no access to basic amenities of living.

Since October of 2017, OBAT also started responding to the critical situation that came about after an influx of Rohingya refugees  who were escaping persecution and genocide in Myanmar, into Bangladesh.

The proximity of OBAT’s projects to the Kutupalong Rohingya refugees camp and the organization’s experience in addressing the needs of displaced people, placed it in a unique position to help. OBAT started several initiatives for them beginning with providing emergency relief items, cooked food and fulfilling the severe medical needs by holding medical camps. With time, OBAT started partnering with the UNHCR and several other local NGOS’s. At present, it is running a fully functional medical clinic (the clinic is staffed by volunteer doctors and treats about 150 patients in a day), and 10 learning centers. OBAT has also built shelters and bridges as well as community centers for the refugees.