M.A. Qader-Our Correspondent in Bangladesh
Dhaka, 22 May (Asiantribune.com) In the wake of a fresh influx of Rohingya Muslims, Bangladesh has beefed up vigilance at its border with Myanmar, officials concerned said on Friday.
"We have increased vigilance at the border to prevent the influx of Rohingyas," Major Tanim Hossain, a Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border guards officer said yesterday.
Yet the flow of Myanmar refugees has been unabated, he said adding that the BDR had pushed back nearly 300 Rohingyas, who are new entrants in the past few days.
According to locals and media reports, about 1,000 Rohingya Muslims entered Bangladesh in just the past three days, alleging increased persecution by Myanmar's military junta.
"They forced us from our homes and threatened to treat us even worse if we go back," Syed Alam, who crossed the Naf river on the border in a small boat with five family members, told reporters at Cox’s Bazar.
Bangladeshi officials said some of the Rohingyas stated they feared torture as they supported the democracy movement of Aung San Suu Kyi, now on trial for allegedly harboring a U.S. citizen in her home while under house arrest.
Giasuddin Ahmed, the district administrator of Cox's Bazar, said he felt the Rohingyas might be trying to use the recent turmoil in Myanmar over Suu Kyi's trial as a pretext to leave.
More than 21,000 Rohingyas have been living in two Cox's Bazar camps, run by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, since early 1992, when some 250,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh.
They alleged persecution by the military in what was then Burma, but the UNHCR managed to send most of them back within a short time. The rest refused to return and the U.N. agency says they cannot force anyone to go back against their will.
Cox's Bazar sources said more than 200,000 Rohingyas live outside the camps, mixing with local Muslims who have an almost common language.
Muslims are a minority in Myanmar, where most of the population is Buddhist.
Bangladesh and Myanmar share a 320 km (200 mile) border, partly demarcated by the Naf, with frontier guards on both sides keeping an eye on illegal immigration.
Rohingya refugees have recently presented problems for several other countries in recent months, with reports of Thailand putting those who come by boat back to sea, and others reaching Malaysia and Indonesia and trying to work illegally.
-Asian Tribune-
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