Bangladeshi Police Detain 24 Rohingyas who Tried to Escape

Bhasan Char, MINA – Bangladeshi police detained more than 24 Rohingya refugees who were about to flee from Bhasan Char island, Bay of Bengal.

“We detained 24 Rohingya refugees who were trying to escape from Bhasan Char to Chattogram via Sandip area. After the main interrogation, we handed the refugees over to the local refugee officials to send them back to the camps,” said Md. Shahidul Islam, the head of the Noakhali District Police, was quoted as quoted by Anadolu Agency on Saturday.

He said living on a remote island was difficult. Refugees often flee the island to meet their family members and relatives living in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp.

According to official records, about 300 refugees tried to flee Bhasan Char, while about 500 to 600 Rohingya managed to escape.

Earlier this week, police arrested 35 Rohingya refugees trying to flee the island, which lies 50 kilometers (31 miles) off Bangladesh’s southwest coast and nearly 193 kilometers (120 miles) south of the capital Dhaka.

The Bangladeshi government built 1,400 large cluster houses with concrete blocks and 120 terraced cyclone shelters on the island. Each cluster house consists of 16 rooms.

Bangladesh has relocated some 20,000 Rohingya refugees to the remote island despite opposition from UN agencies, human rights groups and the refugees themselves.

Bangladesh hosts about 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in refugee camps in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar who fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State due to the Myanmar military’s brutal crackdown in August 2017. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)