329 Muslim families flee to Bangladesh in 2006

Narinjara News
12/19/2006

329 Muslim families from north Arakan state fled to neighboring Bangladesh in 2006, marking a greater exodus than 2005, said a report from the Maungdaw immigration department.

In the report, the Burmese immigration department wrote that among the families, 275 families are from Maungdaw Township, 51 families from Buthidaung Township and 3 families from Rathidaung Township. All of these townships are located in northern Arakan, close to Bangladesh.

In Maungdaw Township, among 275 families, 3509 are male and 1737 are female. In Buthidaung Township, among the 51 families, 521 are males and 304 are females. In the Rathidaung, 48 are males and 26 are families.

A clerk from the immigration department in Buthidaung-Maungdaw district said that this report aims to detail the number of Muslim people in northern Arakan who flee to Bangladesh and is intended for the Western Command and high authorities.

Furthermore, the clerk said that the report indicates that 46885 Muslim families returned back to Burma from refugee camps in Bangladesh between 1992 and 2006 under the UNHCR repatriation program.

Among them, 24147 families returned to Maungdaw Township, 18969 families returned to Buthidaung Township, 3223 families returned to Rathidaung Township, 105 families returned to Akyab, 27 families returned to Pauktaw and 5 families from both Minbya and Kyauktaw townships returned.

Among the 24147 families in Maungdaw, 31900 are males and 63838 are females. In Buthidaung, among 18969 families, there are 45457 are males and 46973 are females. In Rathidaung Township among the 3223 families, 7662 are females and 8087 are females. In Akyab, among the 105 families, 1159 are males and 1203 are females.

The clerk, who does not want to disclose his name due to security issues, said that it was an official report on Burmese Muslim people who fled to Bangladesh and who returned to Burma from Bangladesh. The clerk indicated that he does not know how many Muslim people fled to Bangladesh in 2004 and 2005.

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