Patrol and drives at Rohingya camps should be intensified

Editorial Desk

EditorialProthom Alo illustration

The law enforcement recently rescued four schoolchildren abducted by Rohingya terrorists. While this is good news, the ongoing criminal activities around the Rohingya camps cannot but worry us. There are some 14 terrorist groups in the Rohingya refugee camps, which control the yaba trade and criminal activities inside the camps. These Rohingya criminals have various secret hideouts outside the camp.

In 1991, there were a total of 4 refugee camps for the Rohingyas from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, two each in Kutupalong of Ukhiya and Hnila of Teknaf upazila. But after 25 August 2017, the number of Rohingyas who took shelter in eight more camps in Teknaf and 24 camps in Ukhiya rose to 1.1 million. Murder, rape, abduction and torture are on the rise in these camps. The Rohingyas, who work in various hotels and resorts and shops, have links with these criminal groups who are involved in various offences including disappearances, kidnappings and drug trafficking.

Ibrahim and Jahangir, two Rohingyas working at a local resort, handed over the four abducted students to the terrorists. The four school students got acquainted with those two through their job in the hotels. One of the abducted students said the Rohingya criminals have several hideouts in the hills outside the Rohingya camps. The abductees were kept in different hideouts so that the police could not trace them. Last November too, Rohingya criminals abducted a businessman and demanded a large ransom. However, he was rescued later.

Police said five Rohingya criminals involved in the abduction, have been arrested. The Armed Police Battalion (APBn) is in charge of maintaining law and order in the Rohingya camps. It has a total of 2,200 to 2,300 members posted around the camps divided into three battalions while the number of Rohingyas in these camps is 1.1 million. Apart from this, many Rohingya refugees have merged with the local community. Many of the Rohingyas are involved in the yaba, arms and gold smuggling, which cannot be prevented with such a small number of APBn members. Besides, local influential people are also involved in the illegal yaba business. They collect yaba from these Rohingyas and distribute it all over the country.

The matter more worrying is, there are several active criminal groups in the Rohingya refugee camps. There are allegations that these terrorist groups were involved in the killing of Rohingya leader Muhibullah. Within one month of Muhibullah’s murder, as many as six Rohingya criminals have been killed in gunfights.

In order to curb criminal activities in the Rohingya refugee camps, including murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking, more APBN members need to be deployed there. The activities of all criminal groups inside the camp must be strictly suppressed. The patrols and drives of the law enforcement agencies should be increased as well as all the secret hideouts of Rohingya criminals must be evicted. Those who are helping Rohingya criminals and drug dealers from outside should also be brought to book.