Rohingyas bribe even to leave Rakhine: IOM
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT
The violence against Rohingyas in Rakhine State of Myanmar continues forcing more people to cross into Bangladesh, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the UN migration agency. The Rohingyas had to pay bribe even to be allowed to leave Rakhine for Coxs Bazar, it said. This week, Rohingya refugees were still arriving in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh the New Year bringing no end to the reports of violence and fears, which forced them to flee their homes in Myanmar, said an IOM media statement yesterday.
A major upsurge of violence in Northern Rakhine State in late August, 2017 forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. Over 2,400 refugees are estimated to have arrived in Bangladesh during December 2017, with more people continuing to arrive each day as 2018 begins.
While the number of daily arrivals has dropped significantly since the height of the influx, many of those now reaching Bangladesh say they faced additional challenges, which delayed their escape.
We couldnt leave before now because our village was surrounded. A month ago my two sons were slaughtered. They went out fishing and they were killed, said 50-year-old Ahmed, who was one of the first to arrive in Bangladesh in 2018 along with his two daughters, aged 20 and 18, and his 15-year-old son.
He said that the family had endured weeks of fear in their village in Rathedaung, Rakhine, unable to leave their house even to collect firewood. Ahmed said that they had to pay a bribe of 150,000 kyat (USD $112) to the neighbours, who had been threatening them, to be allowed to leave.
On arrival at the Balukhali settlement in Coxs Bazar, Ahmed and his remaining family received medical check-ups and shelter kits of ropes, tarpaulins and basic household goods to enable them to create a place to live in the sprawling camps where 655,000
other refugees have sought safety since August, last year.
I feel safe here, said Ahmeds 18-year-old daughter Raysuana, who said her mother had died years ago and her father had worked hard to bring up his family alone as a widower.
It will be peaceful here. No one chasing or torturing us. No fear of death. I witnessed my daughter tortured and my sons slaughtered. I will never go back. Id rather die here, said Ahmed.
The houses on both sides of ours [in Buthidaung, Rakhine] were burned. Only my house was left, said one of the new arrivals, Asama Begum, 35. Her husband died before the violence, leaving her with a new baby and a son now 15 years old. She said the teenager was attacked a few months earlier leaving him with a badly cut leg, which became infected and swollen, rendering him unable to escape when others fled their village.
I stayed because my son was sick. We were really scared to be alone in the house, but tried just to find the mental strength to stay. But then [people] started burning down the [remaining] empty houses around ours and we could not stay any longer, said Asama.
She said she paid someone to carry her son to safety. After moving from one country to another, at least, we are getting this shelter. It is so peaceful here. We werent even allowed to stand freely in our own country, so getting this means a lot, she said as she stood looking out at the shelter she was about to move into.
It will be peaceful here. No one chasing or torturing us. No fear of death. I witnessed my daughter tortured and my sons slaughtered. I will never go back. Id rather die here, said Ahmed.
