Dhaka, Feb 11 – Trafficking of Rohingya people from the camps of Cox’s Bazar to different countries including Malaysia by sea route is not letting up. Sources said a group of touts are active to smuggle the Rohingya people from the crowded camps to Malaysia by the rough sea route of the Bay of Bengal, which sometimes leads to the loss of lives.
These elements always tempt the Rohingyas to carry them to Malaysia for a better life but the Rohingyas have to pay a huge amount of money to these middlemen before embarking the adventure.
Though better life allures the Rohingyas compared to the camp life without any hopes and aspirations, the Rohingyas take the risk of their lives to make voyages to Malaysia or other countries by fishing trawlers.
Law enforcers said it is quite difficult for them to have strict surveillance over the movement of the Rohingyas living inside the camps as the law enforcers are limited and the area is inaccessible.
They said they are trying their best to check the movement of the Rohingyas.
In the last one month, law enforcers stopped some 200 Rohingyas who were trying to go to Malaysia by sea route.
President of the Community police, Cox’s Bazar Tofayel Ahmed told journalists, “A group of people is active in trafficking Rohingyas to foreign countries in exchange of hefty amounts of money.”
He said, “As the Rohingyas are leading a vulnerable life in the camps, it has become easier for them to allure the refugees for better lives with jobs. The Rohingyas have their relatives in different countries including Malaysia. So they sometimes take money from such relatives.”
“Rohingyas are risking their lives while embarking on these uncertain journeys by sea route as worn out trawlers are used for the purpose,” he added.
Additional police super Iqbal Hossain said, “It is not at all possible to keep an eye on this huge population. The Rohingyas are evading the eyes of the law enforcers to leave the camps.”
“However, the administration is doing its best to have an eye on them. The surveillance would be increased in future so that no Rohingya can leave the camps,” he added.
The fleeing of the Rohingyas in connivance of the traffickers is nothing new. On many occasions, the agents remain out of the reach of the law enforcers as they adopt various means to avoid arrests.
Sources said the Rohingyas who are staying in the crowded camps try to sneak off the camps.
In April 2019, Bangladesh police prevented some 115 Rohingya people from being smuggled to Malaysia by using fishing boats. However, no suspected traffickers was detained at the time, law enforcers said.
The law enforcers stopped a group from the Kutupalong camp near Bangladesh’s border with Myanmar as they headed to boats in the Bay of Bengal to leave squalid camps for Malaysia.
Media reports said the Rohingyas risk their lives to make a voyage to Malaysia or Thailand by boat or trawlers when the Bay of Bengal remain calm before the advent of monsoon at the end of March.
Sources said the long stay of Rohingyas in the cramped camps frustrate them as they cannot see the ray of a better life and better future for their children.
About 740,000 Rohingya minorities fled to Bangladesh in August 2017 after being persecuted by the Myanmar military in Rakhine State.
These huge chunks of Rohingya have joined with another 300,000 Rohingyas who had already been living in the overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar following previous violence on several occasions.
The trawler capsize in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday was the result of another attempt to smuggle the Rohingyas to Malaysia.
Bangladesh Coast Guard sources said the Rohingyas were going to Malaysia with the collaboration of two agents who have been arrested from the trawler. – Staff Reporter
