Now, Rohingyas from India make a beeline for Bangladesh
Staff Reporter, Dhaka
Rohingya refugees from neighbouring India have been entering Bangladesh daily since the beginning of this year, Abul Kalam, the refugees, relief and repatriation commissioner (RRRC), said yesterday. As of now, the number has crossed well over 1,300. And more are coming every day, he said while talking to The Independent.
The deportation of seven Rohingya Muslims last October has left refugees across Indian cities worried. The seven Rohingyas, who were lodged in an Assam jail since 2012 for illegally entering India, were handed over to the Myanmarese government after Indias supreme court rejected a plea to stop the government from deporting them. The forced deportation has made the Rohingya refugees in India to cross the border and enter Bangladesh.
Kalam said that the refugees are kept in a transit camp in Ukhia. This camp is run by the United National High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR). The camp provides food, shelter and protection to these refugees, he added.
When asked about the Bangladesh governments plan for these refugees, the RRRC commissioner said: We have given
shelter to over a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. So, I can assure you that we will not throw them out.
He, however, mentioned that the government might talk with the Indian authorities about this influx. This is not up to me. Rather its a decision that has to be taken at the highest level, he said.
Meanwhile, the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) yesterday restricted as many as 31 Rohingya refugees from crossing the border at Kajiatoli in Brahmanbaria.
Officials of the BGBs 15th battalion said Indias Border Security Force (BSF) personnel had tried to push these 31 people through the border. But as their identity could not be confirmed, they were not allowed to enter Bangladesh, the officials added.
