Special Correspondent :
Some 5,000 Rohingya Muslims have reportedly been stranded at border points fleeing from a fresh military crackdown in Rakhine State to Bangladesh.
They had been halted at the border with Bangladesh, officials said.
“About 1,000 Rohingya arrived at the Naf river separating Myanmar and Bangladesh and got stranded there,” Mohammad Ali Hossain, Deputy Commissioner of Cox’s Bazar district told media on Saturday.
He added, “Thousands more remained stranded at border points. They were trying to enter, but no one will be allowed.”
Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar on Saturday opened fired on a group of stranded Rohingya at the Zero Points of Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
The incident took place at the Thumbru border point of Nikhanchori in Bandarban, said Lt Col Manjurul Ahsan Khan, Commander of 34 Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Battalion.
“We have lodged strong protest against their action,” he added.
Bangladeshi border security forces on Saturday morning sent back over 70 Rohingyas to Myanmar after intercepting them on Naf River.
In the last few days, they have sent back more than 500 Rohingya Muslims who tried to sneak into Bangladesh through various border points.
BGB and Coast have already stepped up patrols to try to stem the tide of refugees crossing the border amid fresh violence in Rakhine, the home to more than a million Rohingya, a Muslim minority group of Myanmar’s Buddhist majority.
At least 100 people including dozens of security forces were killed on Friday as fresh fighting has erupted in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
The violence has forced the Rohingya Muslims to cross into Bangladesh from Myanmar for safe shelter.
A similar violence erupted in last October when Myanmar authorities launched a “bloody crackdown” on Rohingya Muslims in a so called ethnic cleansing prompting the minority community to cross into Bangladesh en mass fleeing from their lands. Many of those interviewed by media told horrific stories of gang rape, torture and murder at the hands of Myanmar security forces.
Myanmar authorities denied allegations of abuse but banned foreign journalists and independent investigators from accessing the area.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry on Saturday summoned Myanmar envoy in Dhaka and lodged a strong protest over the recent happenings, including the fresh entry of Myanmar nationals into Bangladesh.
Bangladesh reportedly lodged a strong protest also for tagging a word ‘Bengali’ with the recent attack in Rakhine State and encouraging fresh entry of Myanmar nationals into Bangladesh, a Diplomatic source said.
It also expressed concerns over a renewed crisis as more Rohingyas, fleeing persecution, were crossing into Bangladesh.
