Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumer Association (BMPCA) President Mohiuddin Ahmed has alleged that the Rohingya people, sheltered at different camps in Cox’s Bazar, are organizing themselves using telecommunication network illegally.
The BMPCA chief said this in a press release on August 31.
Mohiuddin said: “It has been two years since around 700,000 Rohingyas fled into Bangladesh escaping atrocity and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The government gave them shelter in Cox’s Bazar on humanitarian ground.
“However, some dishonest people in Teknaf upazila sold SIM cards to Rohingyas at a cost of Tk500-1,000 at the beginning. We had staged human chain protesting the incident, and urged the government to take quick steps in stopping such illegal sale of SIM cards to Rohingyas,” he said.
“On August 25, hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas gathered, and held a rally marking the two years of their exodus from Rakhine. However, the Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said later that the government has no clue about the rally.”
“In the past two-three days, we have seen that a Rohingya leader, during television interviews, and while talking to newsmen, showing video clips from his mobile phone,” he said.
Mohiuddin continued: “From our own sources, we came to know that Rohingyas are not only contacting each other through calls but also using 3G and 4G services. It very concerning as the mobile network is elongated on the other side of the border.”
The BMPCA chief urged the government to take steps in this regard as Rohingyas can gather in massive numbers again using internet group chat services.
