Maungdaw Arakan State: Eighteen Arakanese Rohingya refugees, who were pushed back by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on January 26, from Shapuri Dip of Bangladesh were arrested by Burma’s border security force Nasaka and sent to Buthidaung jail on February 2, said a close relative from Maungdaw.
The 18 Arakanese Rohingyas were arrested by Nasaka personnel of Fatanzar(Padinn) Nasaka camp, Maungdaw Township and were brought to the Nasaka camp and detained for eight days. Of them, two Arakanese Rohingyas hail from Kiladaung (Ducheeyartan) village of Maungdaw Township and the rest are from nearby villages. They recently crossed the Burma-Bangladesh border.
The Nasaka extorted money from them after promising them that they would be released and enlisted in the family list. But, they were not enlisted and sent to jail.
The arrested refugees including women and children were sent to Maungdaw police station a day before their verdict in Maungdaw court. On February 2, they were sentenced to five years in jail each by Maungdaw court for illegally border crossing and then sent to Buthidaung jail, acoording to sources from maungdaw.
On February 6, the BDR Commander Col Mozamal Hussain of BDR Battalion of Teknaf and one of the police officers of Teknaf police station discussed increase in arrests of Arakanese Rohingyas and to push them back to Burma from Teknaf in Bangladesh. According to the two officers, Arakanese Rohingyas came to Bangladesh hoping to be settled in a third country with the help of refugees who have been living in Bangladesh, said a local elder from Teknaf.
On that day, 21 Arakanese Rohingyas were pushed back to Burma by BDR. They were arrested from Teknaf and entered Bangladesh recently. The same day, another 19 Arakanese Rohingyas were pushed back to Burma from Balukhali points. They were arrested from Teknaf-Cox’s Bazaar Highway, said a relative of one of the victims.
The same day, another 11 Arakanese Rohingyas were arrested by police from Burir Dala area of Ukhiya union of Cox’s Bazaar district living in small houses. They were pushed back to Burma from Balukhali BDR camp. They were Ms Fulmoti (35), Ms Hafeza Khatoon (40), Ms Sarmeher (30), Mamtaz (25), Anwar Sadek(18), Md. Shohel (12), Abdu Shukur(21), Kamal Hussain (23), Anwar Islam(8), Nurul Islam(24) and Ms Shuna Meher(19), said a local from Ukhiya
On January 28, four refugees from Leda camp were arrested by local people while they were going to Barsara village to find work. They were handed over to the local police. They were identified as Md. Eliyas (20), Room # 14, Block-F, Mohiuddin (26), the same Room, and same Block, Moktar (20), Room # 107, Block-F Abdu Rahim (23), Room # 159, Block-B. Now, they are in Cox’s Bazaar jail. Relatives did not know about their arrest until February 5. Police filed a case against them for border crossing, said a refugee from the camp.
On the other hand, Burma’s authorities are building barbed wire fences on the Burma- Bangladesh border to resist illegal Arakanese Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh entering. The Arakanese Rohingya refugees who have long been sneaking through the border don’t want to go back and the Burmese authorities are not interested in taking them back. Against this back ground, the Burmese authorities are erecting barbed wire fencing along the border, some local Bangladeshi people said.
What is going unnoticed is the “ethnic cleansing” on the western and eastern borders of Burma. But it seems that most of their targets are Christians in the eastern border and Muslims in the western border. The Bangladesh government and local people want to force Arakanese Rohingyas back into Burma. The ruling military junta has been forcing Karen. Shan and Arakanese Rohingya to flee their homes and they find their way across the border of Thailand and Bangladesh to refugee camps, according to an Arakanese Rohingya leader.
