The group was arrested from the Whykong Check-post following a raid by the BGB, which apprehended the men in different vehicles.

All of the arrested are residents from different places in Arakan State, Burma, sources said.

Among the arrested, some have been living in local areas of Teknaf illegally for a long time with members of their families, while others were new arrivals.

An arrested man who has been living in Bangladesh for nearly one year said, “We fled to Bangladesh from Burma because of human rights abuses, such as movement restrictions, marriage restrictions, forced labor, extortion, arbitrary arrest, etc.”

After arrest, they were kept in BGB custody for further interrogation.

Lt. Col Zahid Hassan of Battalion 42 confirmed that all forty-five men were forced back again to Burma.

In addition, members of the Detective Branch (DB) arrested 14 Burmese citizens from the capital of Dhaka on April 24, officials said.