After receiving a tip off Shamlapur-based police went to a local businessman’s house where the food and clothing items were being stored to confiscate them,  a police official told the Kaladanpress on condition of anonymity.

The relief items should have been distributed through the local municipal leader Aziz Uddin in Shamlapur village, police sources said.

There are many impoverished Rohingya refugees living in Shamplapur illegally.  They don’t receive support from the UNHCR or the government. In order to address this gap, some foreign NGOs are trying to help food and clothing to those in need, said a Shamplapur elder named Abdullah (not real name).  

Another elder and local named Harron said the refugees have taken shelter in the area to  escape “religious and political persecutions by the Burmese government in Arakan state”. But in Bangladesh, they must struggle to survive as there is no-one to support them and their family, he added.