Some of Rohingya refugees land on Bangladesh soil

Teknaf, Bangladesh: Some of Rohingya refugees entered the Bangladesh without knowledge of Bangladesh authorities who have been floating since last Monday after fleeing from Akyab (Sittwe) of Burma.


More than 2,000 Rohingya refugees carrying by 13 boats and have been floating in the Naff River where to take refuge in Bangladesh to escape sectarian riots. Rohingyas are fleeing to Bangladesh from Akyab because of violence in Arakan State where Rohingya villages were burnt down and many innocent Rohingyas were killed by police, Hluntin and Rakhines.

According to Nazim Uddin, upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), some Burmese nationals (Rohingyas) had secretly entered into the territory of Bangladesh escaping strict vigilance.”

According to different sources, 39 victims of Rohingyas including women and children entered the Saint-Martin Island on June 12 and more than 200 entered into Shapuri Dip yesterday night.

Among them, some Rohingya refugees have been suffering from crisis of rations. There are some wounded persons and taking shelter in the local areas where they have been facing many difficulties.

A local source said on condition of anonymity that five Rohingya young girls have been missing from the groups who reached at Shapuri Dip yesterday night. They were kidnapped by a group of local youths and some local youths also tried to attempt to sexual assault to the women including girls. Some other Rohingya refugees are floating in the Naff River in the bad weather.

The local also said, most of the children are now suffering from diarrhea, phenomena, fever and cough who reached at the Bangladesh soil. It is very important to provide proper treatment and adequate food immediately by International Community and Bangladesh authorities because of heavy rain in the border.

According to an aide of BGB, despite several light signals the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB men), who were out there to prevent Rohingya influx, could see no human movement or hails in the boat. It was quite difficult for them to get close to the boat as it was moving irregularly. When they managed to get close they found no one in the trawler.

He also said that he was surprised, as one of the BGB men went for a look in the dark engine room, he suddenly noticed movement of tiny hands and legs.

“It was a newborn baby,” Maj Saiful Wadud, the operation officer of BGB said that they had a tough time getting on to the unsteady boat and brought the baby out. It took them two and a half hours to execute the rescue.

Maj Saiful said, the baby was in a terrible condition and did not have the strength to even cry. The Major also said they had already informed the higher authorities of the matter and necessary steps would be taken.

BGB suspects that the trawler, in which the baby was, might have been attacked by robbers and the passengers abandoned the boat leaving the newborn behind.

BGB and locals provided the refugees with food, water and saline yesterday as the intruders had to be kept waiting in Bangladesh due to bad weather. They were finally escorted out of the territory around 5:00pm.

A Rohingya in tears pleads with BGB and Coast Guard personnel to be let ashore with his family on the Naf River near Teknaf yesterday. The border guards gave them water, food and fuel and sent them on their way back home from which they had run away, according to Daily Star.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said at a news conference in Dhaka that it was “not in our best interest that new refugees come from Myanmar”.

Similarly, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called on the Bangladesh government on Tuesday to let the Myanmar refugees enter the country who are fleeing sectarian violence in their country.