Shapuri Dip, Bangladesh: Bangladesh security forces, or the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) arrested 25 Burmese nationals today at about 5 a.m. when they were going to Cox's Bazaar along the seaside after crossing the Burma-Bangladesh border, said Noor Alam from Shapuri Dip.
 
The arrested Burmese nationals are mostly women and children with a man accompanying them.  They all to belong to Sittwe (Akyab), the capital of Arakan State and had a run in with a BDR patrol.
 
The group came to Rathedaung Township from Akyab and then crossed Naff River in a rowboat. Stricken by poverty, given the skyrocketing prices of essentials commodities and being jobless where they were unable to support their families, they decided to move to Bangladesh , according to a woman who is in BDR custody.
 
The arrested Burmese nationals are in BDR custody in Shapuri Dip. They are likely to be pushed back to Burma .
 
According to villagers in Shapuri Dip, everyday one or two families cross the Burma–Bangladesh border illegally.
 
A village elder in Inn Din village, Maungdaw Township predicted that more Burmese nationals will cross the Burma-Bangladesh border in the coming days as the Burmese regime's export of rice to Bangladesh is causing scarcity in Burma .