Myanmar Rohingyas have nowhere to go except Bangladesh

Nobody's people in a noman's land with nowhere to go -- none fits the description better than the battered Rohingyas of Myanmar's Rakhine State.

Shankar Barua Rumi Cox's Bazar Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 Dec 2016, 10:05 AM
Updated : 3 Dec 2016, 10:24 AM

Myanmar troops are burning down their houses, killing them on remotest suspicion, raping their women mercilessly in a retaliatory move after militants attacked border police outposts and killed 9 policemen in October.

As they desperately try to escape the mayhem, touts prey on their insecurities and force them to fish out much of their savings to provide boats.

Bangladesh border guards have been stopping these Rohingya boats, their officials claiming to have pushed back 86 such boats in recent weeks.

But many of these desperate Rohingyas do manage to sneak in, recounting their ordeals.

Azza Begum, who lived at Maungdaw's Poakhali area, crossed the border into Bangladesh on Thursday midnight.

She along with seven others of her family have taken shelter at a relative's place, in a Rohingya refugee camp at Cox's Bazar's Teknaf.

"The army and the Rakhines have vandalised and looted all the houses in our neighbourhood. They burnt my daughter-in-law to death," 50-year-old Azza Begum told bdnews24.com.

She says the army has killed at least five persons in her area. "Everyone in the area has fled fearing for their lives."

Begum said seven out of her 11-member family, including children, had to walk for six days before entering Bangladesh through Bandarban's Ghumdhum. "I have no idea where the others (of the family) are."

The military crackdown, which began after the Oct 9 attack on police, is tantamount to crimes against humanity, according to the UN Human Rights Council.

Rights groups claim that more than 100 Rohingyas have died, but authorities confirmed 86 deaths and said that 69 of them were suspected militants.

Myanmar has also rebuffed claims of rape, arson and killing of civilians by troops.

Bangladesh, which has been providing shelter to over half a million Rohingyas since the 1980s, has now decided not to let anymore of them in.

Amid escalating violence, more than 10,000 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh in recent weeks, UN officials say.

Azza Begum said they paid human traffickers Tk 2,000 for each family member to cross the border.

Shamsuddin, who has also sneaked into Bangladesh, said the smugglers snatched all their valuable possessions, including gold ornaments as they could not pay them.

On Nov 30, three sisters, aged between 15 and 20 years, entered Bangladesh. These Maungdaw residents claimed that troops have looted, set fire to homes and raped 20 to 30 women, including themselves.

"Our parents were locked up in their own home and burnt to death. Nine out of the 13 members of our family have managed to enter Bangladesh. The others are missing," said the eldest of the three.

They said they had tried several times to cross the border, but failed. Finally they paid human traffickers and sneaked into Bangladesh with 80 others.

Mohammad Elias, a refugee at a camp in Teknaf, said that every house in the camp has given shelter to at least four to five fellow Rohingyas, who have fled in recent weeks.

"Despite the BGB's heightened security along the border, Rohingyas are coming every day," he said, adding that over 300 entered between Friday midnight and morning.

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) admits that Rohingyas are sneaking into the country through several points with the help of human traffickers.

"Some Rohingyas are entering Bangladesh through the border including that along the river Naf. But it is not possible for the BGB alone to provide 100 percent security along the 271-kilometre border that includes 63 kilometres of waterways," BGB chief Major General Abul Hossain said at Cox's Bazar on Nov 25.

The BGB and police say they have already managed to nab some involved in human traffickers.

"On Wednesday, four have been nabbed from Ukhia," said Cox's-Based BGB Battalion chief Lt Col Imran Ullah Sarkar.

Superintendent of Police Shyamal Kumar Nath said they have already started to gather intelligence on the human trafficking rackets.

"We have a list of 51 people and it continues to grow. Already 31 have been arrested from Teknaf and Ukhiya Upazilas," said the Cox's Bazar police chief.