Bangladesh steps up border surveillance as 1000’s of Rohingya flee Myanmar

Rohingya refugees wait outdoors an support distribution centre at a refugee camp in Ukhia on September 10, 2024. | Picture credit score: AFP

Bangladesh has stepped up surveillance on its border with Myanmar, with no less than 18,000 Rohingya Muslims crossing in current months to flee escalating violence in western Rakhine state, officers in Dhaka mentioned.

The inflow of refugees from Myanmar has elevated as combating intensifies between junta troops and the Arakan Military, the highly effective ethnic militia that recruits from the Buddhist majority.

“1000’s of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh and lots of are ready to cross. The state of affairs is dire,” mentioned a overseas ministry official, who requested to not be named as a result of he was not authorised to talk to the media.

The brand new arrivals be a part of greater than 1,000,000 Rohingya refugees already dwelling in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar district after fleeing a army crackdown in Myanmar in 2017. They’ve little hope of returning to Myanmar, the place they’re largely denied citizenship and different primary rights.

Arrivals have been greater than double what the federal government estimated earlier this month, regardless that Bangladesh has repeatedly mentioned it can’t settle for extra Rohingya refugees as a result of sources are already stretched.

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“Border surveillance has been elevated, however managing our 271-kilometer (168-mile) border with Myanmar is a problem, particularly with no safety counterpart on the opposite aspect,” mentioned one other authorities official, talking on situation of anonymity.

The official mentioned many Rohingya had been determined and had been discovering methods to cross into Bangladesh.

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The federal government has not but determined whether or not it’ll register current entrants dwelling in refugee camps, the overseas ministry official mentioned.

“If we determine to register them, it may open the floodgates, and that’s one thing we can’t afford,” he mentioned. “However on the similar time, how lengthy can we ignore this problem? That’s the actual query.”

Bangladesh’s interim authorities chief, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, has referred to as for speedy resettlement of the Rohingya to a 3rd nation as a long-term answer, however the overseas ministry official mentioned progress on resettlement has been restricted.

“Round 2,000 folks have been accepted into the resettlement programme because it resumed in 2022 after a niche of 12 years,” he mentioned, including that the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Eire had been among the many international locations internet hosting refugees.