September 11, 2019
Bangladesh has begun reclaiming lands occupied by the refugees.
Fourteen Rohingya men, who fled from refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, were detained from Chattogram’s Lohagara Upazila early Today.
Md Syful Islam, officer-in-charge of Lohagara Police Station, said they detained the men during a drive in the upazila.
The Rohingyas fled the camps in Ukhiya upazila and came to Lohagara. They used to work as day labourers, the policeman said.
It is unclear when they escaped from the camps.
Bangladesh is currently hosting more than 1.2 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar camps. Most of them fled their homeland in Myanmar’s Rakhine State after the military launched a brutal offensive targeting the mainly-Muslim ethnic minority.
The refugees and rights groups accused Myanmar army and their local collaborators of murder, rape, torture, arson and loot. Myanmar denies the charges.
Although Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation deal, there has been no apparent progress. Two voluntary repatriation attempts had to be halted as the Rohingyas did not show interest to go back to their homeland.