Rohingyas to be sent back, says home minister
With hundreds of newly-arrived Rohingyas crowding unregistered Rohingya camps in Teknaf and other areas of Cox's Bazar, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday said they would be sent back to their country at a convenient time.
The minister made the remark while talking to reporters after attending a programme organised by Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence in the capital's Mirpur area.
He said the government was providing humanitarian assistance to the Rohingyas who already entered the country crossing the border illegally.
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Coast Guard were patrolling round the clock to check the influx of Rohingyas, Asaduzzaman added.
Hundreds of Rohingyas, a Muslim minority in Myanmar's Rakhine state, have sneaked into Bangladesh through several border points, including the Naf river, since the Myanmar army started crackdown on them in October.
The United Nations on Wednesday said at least 10,000 Rohingyas had entered Bangladesh in recent weeks after fleeing violence in Myanmar.
However, locals and the president of Cox's Bazar civil society claimed that at least 30,000 Rohingyas crossed into Bangladesh in the last one month.
The newly-arrived Rohingyas were making temporary huts in Teknaf's Leda and Ukhiya's Kutupalang camps, reports our Cox's Bazar correspondent.
Meanwhile, more than 200 Rohingyas entered Teknaf through six border points -- two in Hnila and four in Whykang unions -- yesterday morning.
Of them, 15 families comprising nearly 100 people, including women and children, took shelter at the Kutupalang camp, said Abu Siddique, president of Kutupalang Rohingya camp management committee.
He said about 11,000 Rohingyas had taken shelter in that camp alone since the violence started in Myanmar in October.
Dudu Mia, president of Leda Rohingya camp management committee, said at least 60 people took refuge in the camp yesterday.
Humayra Begum, a Rohingya woman, said she arrived in the Kutupalang camp from Myanmar's Khiyari Para village early yesterday morning. Then a broker helped her reach the camp and find a shelter there.
The 30-year-old woman gave birth to a son just seven days ago. She along with her three sons entered Bangladesh, leaving behind her husband in Myanmar.
Lt Col Abujar Al Jahid, commanding officer of 2 BGB Battalion in Teknaf, said they prevented 11 boats, carrying 10 to 15 Myanmar people each, from entering the Bangladesh territory through the Naf river between Wednesday night and yesterday morning.
Lt Col Imran Ullah Sarkar, commanding officer of 34 BGB Battalion in Cox's Bazar, said they stopped 19 Rohingyas from crossing into Bangladesh through Ukhiya and Ghumdhum border point in Bandarban yesterday.
He added that 453 Rohingyas had been sent back to Myanmar in the last one month.