Dhaka: A Burmese monk was arrested by Bangladesh Rifles forces in a village of Nakhongchari Township in Bangladesh on Sunday because he could not speak Bangla when the BDR personnel questioned him, said Venerable U Thila Wantha.
The monk was identified as U Thu Zarda, who was living in Byin Madauk Chakamar Village of Baisari under Nakhongchari Township in the south of the Chittagong Hill Tract.
U Thila Wantha said, "He was brought to Nakhongchari police station yesterday afternoon after BDR handed him over to police. I don't know whether Bangladesh authorities will push him back to Burma or not."
Many monks in Arakan State have been staying in Buddhist villages in Bangladesh for a decade or more for religious purposes.
"We have never heard of the Bangladesh authorities arresting the Arakanese monks from Burma before. We monks are living in Bangladesh peacefully and have never been involved in any anti-social activities here. Now we are anxious for our security here after a monk was arrested," added U Thila.
In Bangladesh, there are over a hundred Arakanese monks. Among them are some monks who have come to Bangladesh for religious purposes and others who have come for political reasons, because they were involved in the 2007 anti-government Saffron Revolution protests.
"In Bangladesh, some Burmese monks who came after the Saffron Revolution in Burma in 2007 have been recognized by the UNHCR Dhaka office as refugees, but most monks have been denied refugee status by the UNHCR. Monks who are not recognized by the UNHCR as refugees are worried about their security in Bangladesh right now," said U Thila Wantha.
Bangladesh authorities have been pushing Burmese citizens back to Burma after arresting them in Bangladesh and over 1,000 Burmese people, primarily Muslim, have been pushed back to Burma in the last two months.
U Thila said, "If political monks are pushed back to Burma, the Burmese military arrests and sentences them to long imprisonments. For monks who had a leading role in the 2007 Saffron Revolution, the authority will kill them if they are handed over to Burma."
Many monks who are staying in the Chittagong Hill Tract area are now facing an uncertain future after the U Thu Zarda's arrest.
In other refugee matters, a registered urban refugee couple was arrested by police in Teknaf yesterday and are currently being detained at the Teknaf police lock-up.
