AFP :
Bangladesh has tightened security along its western border with India amid concern that hundreds of Rohingya Muslim refugees could be pushed into its territory, officials said on Sunday.
Patrols have been stepped up along the frontier with India’s West Bengal state, where border guards say they have been ordered in recent weeks to steer Rohingya into Bangladesh, reports AFP.
Tariqul Hakim, an area commander of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), said Rohingya could be seen gathering opposite the Putkhali frontier post in the Jessore district that divides the two countries by a narrow river.
“We have stepped up surveillance and patrols so that no Rohingya can be pushed into our territory,” Lieutenant Colonel Hakim told AFP.
There are 40,000 Rohingya in India, but the Indian government wants them deported, telling a top court last month they pose a security threat.
In September, India’s home ministry submitted a report to the top court linking the Rohingya with terrorist organizations. The report indicated “linkages of some of the unauthorized Rohingya immigrants with Pakistan-based terror organizations and similar organizations operating in other countries.”
Lieutenant Colonel Hakim said Rohingya communities inside India could be trying to reunite with their families in southeast Bangladesh, where more than half a million Rohingya refugees have arrived since August from Myanmar.
An estimated 536,000 refugees have crossed since August 25, fleeing violence in western Myanmar described by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing.
An Indian border guard in West Bengal told AFP that patrols had previously turned over all Rohingya intercepted at the frontier to local police.
“But now our directions are very clear, and that is to push all Rohingya into Bangladesh,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“We are trying to accomplish our task with active local support”.
A Bangladesh border guard official, Abdul Hossain, said villages along the frontier were on high alert, with newly-arrived refugees saying they had been encouraged by Indian guards to cross the border.
“We’ve been patrolling the border day and night to prevent their entry. Local villagers have also joined us in the patrols,” he said.
Local council member Nazrul Islam said more than a dozen Rohingya who crossed at a southwestern part of the frontier on Friday reported Indian guards opening a section of barbed wire to allow them to pass easily.
Bangladesh has tightened security along its western border with India amid concern that hundreds of Rohingya Muslim refugees could be pushed into its territory, officials said on Sunday.
Patrols have been stepped up along the frontier with India’s West Bengal state, where border guards say they have been ordered in recent weeks to steer Rohingya into Bangladesh, reports AFP.
Tariqul Hakim, an area commander of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), said Rohingya could be seen gathering opposite the Putkhali frontier post in the Jessore district that divides the two countries by a narrow river.
“We have stepped up surveillance and patrols so that no Rohingya can be pushed into our territory,” Lieutenant Colonel Hakim told AFP.
There are 40,000 Rohingya in India, but the Indian government wants them deported, telling a top court last month they pose a security threat.
In September, India’s home ministry submitted a report to the top court linking the Rohingya with terrorist organizations. The report indicated “linkages of some of the unauthorized Rohingya immigrants with Pakistan-based terror organizations and similar organizations operating in other countries.”
Lieutenant Colonel Hakim said Rohingya communities inside India could be trying to reunite with their families in southeast Bangladesh, where more than half a million Rohingya refugees have arrived since August from Myanmar.
An estimated 536,000 refugees have crossed since August 25, fleeing violence in western Myanmar described by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing.
An Indian border guard in West Bengal told AFP that patrols had previously turned over all Rohingya intercepted at the frontier to local police.
“But now our directions are very clear, and that is to push all Rohingya into Bangladesh,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“We are trying to accomplish our task with active local support”.
A Bangladesh border guard official, Abdul Hossain, said villages along the frontier were on high alert, with newly-arrived refugees saying they had been encouraged by Indian guards to cross the border.
“We’ve been patrolling the border day and night to prevent their entry. Local villagers have also joined us in the patrols,” he said.
Local council member Nazrul Islam said more than a dozen Rohingya who crossed at a southwestern part of the frontier on Friday reported Indian guards opening a section of barbed wire to allow them to pass easily.
