Politics

Bangladesh arrests 74 Rohingyas for leaving a refugee camp

Dhaka, Aug 24 (EFE).- Bangladesh police Tuesday arrested 74 Rohingya refugees near port-city Chittagong as they had allegedly fled the camp in Cox’s Bazar in the southeast.

Superintendent of Police Rashidul Haque told EFE that the Rohingyas were arrested from the Boalkhali area of the district on charges of illegally leaving their camp.

“A case will be filed against them for illegal movement,” he said.

A duty officer of Boalkhali police station said they arrested the Rohingyas around 5:00 am after a tip-off as they had gathered for work.

Bangladesh does not allow Rohingyas to move outside their designated camps in the Teknaf and Ukhiya area of Cox’s Bazar, where the country is hosting nearly a million members of the prosecuted Muslim minority in Myanmar.

Since December 2020, the authorities relocated nearly 20,000 refugees to a previously uninhabited island in Bhasan Char to de-congest the camp.

At least 11 Rohingyas died, and 16 went missing as they attempted to flee the island by boat earlier this month.

The arrest of Rohingyas in Chittagong came a day before they mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the mass exodus from Myanmar in 2017.

Around 738,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since Aug.25, 2017, following a military campaign in response to an alleged attack by an insurgent group against security checkpoints.

The United Nations has termed the crackdown against Rohingyas as ethnic cleansing and possible genocide.

International courts are investigating the incidents for crimes against humanity.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have twice tried to roll out the repatriation of the members of the mainly Muslim minority.

The attempts have failed as the refugees refused to return until Myanmar guarantees citizenship and security on their native land. EFE

am/ssk

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