Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh: Bangladesh authorities have launched a fresh crackdown on Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh since May 24, said sources from Cox’s Bazaar.
Officials in Cox’s Bazaar and Ukhiya stationed in various places are checking vehicles which are plying from Cox’s Bazaar –Teknaf- Cox’s Bazaar route, said the sources.
Recently, authorities from Cox’s Bazaar station at the Link Road junction, which is on the Cox’s Bazaar - Chittagong and Cox’s Bazaar–Teknaf road, checked vehicles and arrested Rohingyas, said a local from Cox’s Bazaar.
On the other hand, the authorities of Ukhiya have also stationed near Ukhiya College, check Rohingyas and arrest those mostly from Kutupalong makeshift camp, said a refugee from the camp.
The Cox’s Bazaar and Ukhiya authorities arrested about 45 Rohingya refugees. Some were pushed back to Burma and others were sent to jail yesterday, said sources.
Moreover, the Ukhiya authorities arrested over 30 Rohingya refugees today and kept them in police custody, sources said.
After demonstrators of the Rohingya Resistance Committee based in Ukhiya, blocked INGO vehicles entering the camp in the first week of May, the authorities are trying to control entry of INGOs to the unregistered Rohingya refugee camp in Kutupalong. News agencies are also banned, said an NGO worker.
“Most refugees from makeshift camps are facing starvation again since May 24, after the crackdown on the refugees started for those who go out of the camp for ‘work for food’,” the NGO worker said.
