Teknaf, Bangladesh: Incidents of illegal detention of Rohingya refugees for extortion are increasing, according to a refugee leader, who declined to be named.

A police officer in civilian clothes entered Nayapara refugee camp on November 19 and detained a man identified only as Yusuf from Block B, while he was walking along a road in the camp.

Yusuf was charged with possessing yaba or methamphetamine tablets, though the police officer found no evidence of drugs, said the refugee leader.

The police officer took Yusuf into custody and threatened to send him to jail in Cox’s Bazaar if he failed to pay 10,000 taka, which he ultimately did out of fear of further detention.

A relative of the detained man said the arrest was the result of an altercation with the officer, and that there was never any evidence of drugs.

He added that such arrests have become a common occurrence and that refugees have no recourse but to pay bribes for their release.

A refugee leader from the camp said that it was simply to harass and extort money from helpless refugees and constituted a severe human rights violation.

"It is similar to what Burma’s border security force Nasaka does to the Rohingya community in Arakan State. They arbitrarily arrest people and only release them when they have extorted money," said a refugee teacher, who asked not to be named."