Dated: Tuesday, May 27, 2004
Teknaf, May 27: Recently, Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) destroyed about 100 huts of unofficial Rohingya refugees at Teknaf, who have been living among the Bengali villages, according to our source.
On 20th May 2004, at about 12:00 pm, a team of BDR from Teknaf Battalion conducted an operation along the Teknaf border area and destroyed about 100 huts of Rohingya refugees and seized 500 pieces of fishing nets from them, he further added.
These refugees came into Bangladesh for a long time to escape political persecution of ruling military junta. They catch fishes in the Naf River, at the coast of Bay of Bengal and work as daily employee in the area to earn their livelihoods for their survival.
When asked a refugee said, “ Now, we have no shelters and earning sources as our fishing nets were seized by BDR. And also our huts were partly destroyed by the cyclonic storm of 19th May 2004, which mainly attacks Akyab (Burma) and Saint Martin (Bangladesh). ”
Many times, Nasak (Burma border security forces) and BDR held flag meetings along the border to halt the flight of Rohingyas into Bangladesh and to build a better relationship between two neighboring countries.
Another refugee said, “BDR starts operation on us instead of humanitarian aids.”
Besides, about 20,000 Rohingya refugees have been living in two refugee camps of Bangladesh in sub-human condition, under a hidden threat of forced repatriation. While another 7,000 are living at a makeshift camp of Teknaf without any helps from any quarters. In their poor condition, their children are dying of diarrhea and malaria attacks, while many are fighting for their lives. ##
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