Dhaka (Mizzima) - In a crackdown on illegally settled Burmese in Bangladesh the local authorities in Cox’s Bazaar town, Chittagong District arrested a number of them.
At least 30 Burmese nationals were arrested in Cox’s Bazaar town in Bangladesh between January 2 and 4.
"Yesterday, a rickshaw puller was checked by the police. When he could not produce the necessary documents and identity card, he was arrested and his rickshaw seized," an eyewitness in Cox's Bazaar told Mizzima on January 4.
"The arrested Burmese are detained in Cox’s Bazaar jail. They are charged with illegal stay in the country, said police MD, Arbu Kalam of the Cox’s Bazaar police station.
There are over 150 Burmese detained in Cox’s Bazaar jail, said Haradon, who runs a betel shop in front of the jail.
The crackdown came in the wake of Bangladesh and Burmese foreign secretary level talks in Dhaka on 29 December where the junta agreed to take back 9,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh.
Earlier, illegal Burmese nationals staying in Bandarban district and some villages in Taknaf Township were arrested. They were handed over to Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), which deported them to Burma. But now the arrested Burmese are being charged with illegal entry.
In the past, many Burmese were arrested for illegal stay in the country. However, even after they served their sentence, most of them remained in jail because of the procedural delay in verifying whether they were citizens before deportation.
The Burmese in Cox’s Bazaar are anxious and are maintaining a low profile because of the crackdown.
“We can only worry and be scared. I have not gone out for three days and dare not to do my job making it difficult to earn if this goes on. I am thinking of finding a job in a fishing boat, where I don’t need to be afraid of the police,” Kofil Arlan, a Burmese migrant in Cox's Bazaar, told Mizzima.
Kofil Arlan, who is a rickshaw puller, came from Buthidaung Township in Arakan State in 1991. After he was denied refugee status by the UNHCR in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukiya, he came to Cox’s Bazaar to eke out a living.
There were similar crackdowns against illegal Burmese nationals in Bandarban and Taknaf last month.
There are now an estimated 50,000 Burmese who fled Arakan state and now live illegally in Cox’s Bazaar, according to Tin Soe, Assistant Editor of Bangladesh-based Kaladan Press. Most of them survive by working as rickshaw pullers, and other work in fishing boats and construction sites.
