Thursday, 07 November, 2024
Police have rescued 12 Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar’s Teknaf Upazila during an attempted trafficking operation bound for Malaysia by sea.
Four individuals have been arrested in connection with the trafficking scheme.
Teknaf Police Station chief Muhammad Gias Uddin reported that the rescue operation occurred early Monday in the tourist market area of Lambari, located in Teknaf Sadar Union.
The rescued Rohingya include three women and nine teenage girls. They used to live at various camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf.
The suspects apprehended for their role in the trafficking are Nurul Amin, 25, and Nurul Afsar, 19, from Teknaf Sadar union’s Dakshin Lambari; Minhaj Uddin, 20, from Hnila union’s Jadimura; and Md Al Amin, 24, from Hatia Upazila’s Jahajmara in Noakhali.
OC Gias said police acted on information about a group gathering several people in a betel nut garden in the tourism market area on Monday to smuggle them to Malaysia by sea. The four were nabbed and 12 others were rescued in a raid conducted there afterwards.
A case has been filed at the police station against those arrested, and steps are underway to hand over the rescued Rohingya to the camp management authorities, he said.
Many Rohingya refugees, predominantly women, are increasingly falling prey to traffickers. A recent UNHCR report indicates that nearly 4,500 Rohingya—66% of whom are women and children—embarked on perilous sea journeys to reach Malaysia or Indonesia in 2023. Tragically, 569 of these refugees are reported to have died or gone missing.
Over a million Rohingya live in overcrowded, deteriorating camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, after fleeing brutal violence and persecution in Myanmar in 2017—atrocities now under UN investigation for potential genocide.
Facing worsening conditions, many refugees are willing to risk the dangerous sea journey to escape the hunger, kidnappings, and violence plaguing the camps. Each refugee currently receives only $11 per month in rations from the United Nations World Food Programme, down from $12 due to funding shortages, leaving them increasingly food insecure. Despite appeals for $876 million in aid for 2023, the UN has received only $440 million, forcing further cuts that threaten nearly one million Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
The camps have become battlegrounds for rival insurgent groups, with rampant kidnappings and deteriorating security adding to the refugees' desperation.
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Police have rescued 12 Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar’s Teknaf Upazila during an attempted trafficking operation bound for Malaysia by sea.
Four individuals have been arrested in connection with the trafficking scheme.
Teknaf Police Station chief Muhammad Gias Uddin reported that the rescue operation occurred early Monday in the tourist market area of Lambari, located in Teknaf Sadar Union.
The rescued Rohingya include three women and nine teenage girls. They used to live at various camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf.
The suspects apprehended for their role in the trafficking are Nurul Amin, 25, and Nurul Afsar, 19, from Teknaf Sadar union’s Dakshin Lambari; Minhaj Uddin, 20, from Hnila union’s Jadimura; and Md Al Amin, 24, from Hatia Upazila’s Jahajmara in Noakhali.
OC Gias said police acted on information about a group gathering several people in a betel nut garden in the tourism market area on Monday to smuggle them to Malaysia by sea. The four were nabbed and 12 others were rescued in a raid conducted there afterwards.
A case has been filed at the police station against those arrested, and steps are underway to hand over the rescued Rohingya to the camp management authorities, he said.
Many Rohingya refugees, predominantly women, are increasingly falling prey to traffickers. A recent UNHCR report indicates that nearly 4,500 Rohingya—66% of whom are women and children—embarked on perilous sea journeys to reach Malaysia or Indonesia in 2023. Tragically, 569 of these refugees are reported to have died or gone missing.
Over a million Rohingya live in overcrowded, deteriorating camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, after fleeing brutal violence and persecution in Myanmar in 2017—atrocities now under UN investigation for potential genocide.
Facing worsening conditions, many refugees are willing to risk the dangerous sea journey to escape the hunger, kidnappings, and violence plaguing the camps. Each refugee currently receives only $11 per month in rations from the United Nations World Food Programme, down from $12 due to funding shortages, leaving them increasingly food insecure. Despite appeals for $876 million in aid for 2023, the UN has received only $440 million, forcing further cuts that threaten nearly one million Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
The camps have become battlegrounds for rival insurgent groups, with rampant kidnappings and deteriorating security adding to the refugees' desperation.
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