COX’S BAZAR, BANGLADESH (Reuters) – Mohamed Ismail said his family of four was killed by gunmen in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh between April and October last year. As he recalls his September night, he said he met much the same fate. Masked men kidnapped him, cut off part of his left arm and leg, and threw him into a canal.
“I was repeatedly asked why I gave my personal information to the police,” Ismail told Reuters at the Kutupalong refugee camp, sitting on a plastic mat and covering his left leg with white bandages and cloth. Told. “I kept telling them I didn’t know anything about them and didn’t give them any information.”
About 730,000 Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority who have been in Myanmar for centuries, have been denied citizenship in the Buddhist-majority country since 1982, and in 2017 fled to Bangladesh to escape military repression. Nearly a million people, including former migrants, live near the border in tens of thousands of huts made of bamboo and thin plastic sheets.
Rising crime in refugee camps has fueled long-standing problems such as lack of education and job opportunities, and the bleak prospects of returning to military-controlled Myanmar, so more and more Rohingya are now at risk. After a long voyage, they are leaving Bangladesh for countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
Crime such as murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery, human trafficking and drug dealing recorded in the camps has surged in recent years, according to data shared exclusively with Reuters by the Bangladesh Police. Murders will rise to 31 in 2022, the highest in at least five years.
Dil Mohammed, a Rohingya community leader in the camps, said: “The series of killings of Rohingya men in the camps is a reflection of fears that extremist groups have come to power and the failure of local authorities to curb an increase in violence. It caused concern,” he said.
“This is one of the main reasons for the surge in Rohingya embarking on dangerous voyages.”
Police declined to comment on questions about Ismail or problems at the camp, other than the data shared.
Some 348 Rohingya are believed to have died at sea in 2022, according to data from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, and a boat carrying 180 may have sunk late last year. One of the worst years since. According to UNHCR, 3,545 Rohingya crossed the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea to Southeast Asian countries, or attempted to cross, up from about 700 in 2021.
“Better to die at sea”
Ismail, 23, said the mob had killed him and his relatives ( He said he believed he targeted people between the ages of 26 and 40. The group has fought Myanmar security forces, and some Rohingya say they often forcibly recruit fighters in camps in Bangladesh.
In letters to UNHCR in November and this month seen by Reuters, Ismail said he witnessed the murder of two of his cousins on 27 October.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the death of Ismail’s relatives, but his testimony was corroborated by his brother Mohammed Arif Ullah, 18.
About a dozen Rohingya men inside the camp, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, are ARSA militants whose goal is to fight and restore Rohingya rights and freedoms in their ancestral homeland. have been involved in criminal activities in the camps, including human trafficking and drug trafficking.
An ARSA spokesperson did not respond to questions sent by Reuters by email and on Twitter about the fate of Ismail and his family, alleged involvement in human trafficking and attempts to recruit fighters in the camp. The group said on his Twitter account in December that its activities were limited to Myanmar.
“In most cases, when crimes or incidents occur in the camps, innocent Rohingya refugees from the camps are labeled as members of ARSA and extrajudicially arrested by the authorities.”
UNHCR acknowledged concerns over crime in refugee camps and said it had increased its presence to ensure refugees received protection and assistance.
“Some of the serious protection cases reported to UNHCR include kidnappings, disappearances, intimidation and physical attacks by armed groups and criminal gangs involved in illegal activities,” said Regina, UNHCR’s communications officer in Bangladesh. said de la Portilla.
Reuters was unable to independently obtain evidence of drug trafficking by ARSA, but previous Reuters reports described how refugees were desperately drawn into the trade.
Reports of violent crimes in overcrowded refugee settlements are adding to the pressure on densely populated Bangladesh.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s Refugee Aid and Repatriation Commissioner based in Cox’s Bazar, said the government has tried to crack down on crime, including through separate police battalions stationed in the camps, but “we If we carry out the operation, criminals will simply flee across the border.”
“To me, the ARSA are thugs, thugs, desperate people, now dependent on drug peddling and extortion.”They have no country, no society, no one recognizes them. So they are involved in crime and life is meaningless to them.”
Human Rights Watch this month, in a report based on interviews with more than 40 refugees, found that armed police battalions of the Bangladesh Police, which took over security of the camps in 2020, threatened Rohingya refugees with extortion, arbitrariness, and violence. He said he was being arrested and harassed. The battalion did not respond to an email requesting comment.
Rahman said returning the Rohingya to Myanmar was the “only solution” to their problem. But Myanmar’s military junta, which came to power in a coup two years ago, has shown little signs of regaining them.
Ismail, who lives with his parents, wife and brother, says his life is in danger and understands why some Rohingya are fleeing Bangladesh.
“I would rather die at sea than be killed by terrorists or die in fear every day,” he said.
No desire for repatriation
Crime in camps and the number of Rohingya arrested in Bangladesh last year were 16 times higher than 2017 levels, a significant increase even after accounting for the influx of refugees, according to police data. Police arrested 2,531 Rohingyas last year and registered 1,220 cases. This is up from his 1,628 arrests and 666 in 2021.
Nearly 90% of last year’s cases and similar proportions of arrests involved murder, illegal use of weapons, drug dealing, robbery, rape, kidnapping, attacks on police and human trafficking. Reuters was unable to determine how many of these have resulted in convictions.
The 31 Rohingya killings increased from a record high of 27 in 2021. The related arrests have reached his 290, up from his 97 the year before. Drug-related cases and arrests also surged.
Khair Ullah, a senior Burmese language lecturer at the NGO’s Development Research and Action Group, said about 90 percent of refugees were frustrated by the lack of education and employment, adding to concerns about crime. .
“They are worried about their future. They cannot support their aging parents,” said Ullah, a 25-year-old Rohingya who lives in the camp. “What if they have children? Her one big problem now is that there is no hope of coming back from here, so they are leaving the camp illegally.”
terrible choice
Reuters spoke with several refugees who have returned to camps in Bangladesh after abandoning their journey to Malaysia via Myanmar out of fear.
Enayet Ullah, 20, who is not related to Khair Ullah, arrived in Bangladesh with his family in 2017. In December, he said he saw the bodies of two Rohingya men killed in the area of the camp where he lives.
“I was heartbroken when I saw their bodies,” he said. “I thought I might die at this rate, so I decided to leave the camp and go to Malaysia.”
Ullah, who took a boat from Teknaf in Bangladesh with nine others on the night of Dec. 13, said they arrived in the Myanmar town of Sittwe the next day. He arranged for traffickers to take him to Malaysia for Tk 450,000 (about $4,300).
“More Rohingya were to join us, and then a bigger ship was to set sail for Malaysia,” said Ullah. “They were waiting for the green light to start sailing. But my gut feeling was that the journey was not safe.”
He sobered up and asked the traffickers to send him back to Bangladesh for Tk 100,000.
After spending more than five years in the camp, Ullah laments that his homeland feels farther away than ever.
“There is no education, no jobs, the situation will only get worse over time,” he said.
Those who reach Malaysia, home to about 100,000 Rohingya, often face similar dire situations. Considered illegal immigrants, many are unemployed and complain of police harassment. In addition, the worsening political situation in Myanmar after the coup has dashed hopes of immediate repatriation.
Mohamed Aziz, 21, said he stopped sailing to Southeast Asia after seeing photos of boats used by traffickers and felt they were too small. He said he had to pay Tk 80,000 for a round trip from Bangladesh to the coast of Myanmar.
“People are risking their lives on sea journeys because there is no future here and criminal activity is on the rise,” Aziz said. “But please don’t take this dangerous route. You may die at sea.”
($1 = 104.2300 Taka)
Reported by Ruma Paul of Cox’s Bazar, Sudipto Ganguly of Mumbai and Krishna N. Das of New Delhi.Editing by David Crowshaw
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