Hundreds of Rohingyas living in Cox’s Bazar and along Bangladesh’s border have been rounded up by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police during joint operations that started the beginning of November, according to anonymous official sources.
Twenty-nine people were arrested and deported back to Burma from Gumdum, Taungbro, Palong Khali and Balu Khali, according to a BGB aide. Nine people were arrested from homes in Inani, Cox’s Bazaar, during a night raid on November 12. Police suspicious they were planning to travel to Malaysia by boat sent them to the Cox’s Bazar court.
“Rohingyas are fleeing because they have no jobs. They are are living in villages like they are in a big jail. They are starving,” said one village elder on condition of anonymity.
The arrests comes on the heels of sectarian violence in Arakan State that re-erupted in October bringing the total number of displaced well over 100,000 people – most are Rohingya Muslims.
The United Nations criticized the Bangladeshi government for turning back boatloads of Rohingyas carrying women and children fleeing mob fighting in June and October. But the government responded that the country was already burdened by the estimated 300,000 Rohingya living in official and unofficial camps along its borders.
