74 Rohingyas held in Chittagong after fleeing Cox’s Bazar camps

Published at 08:03 am August 24th, 2021

Police present the detainees before media in Boalkhali upazila of Chittagong on Tuesday, August 24, 2021 Dhaka Tribune

Since hiding, they’ve been working as day-labourers at local farmlands, says police-officer

Seventy-four Rohingyas have been detained in Chittagong’s Boalkhali upazila on Tuesday after fleeing from the camps in Cox’s Bazar.

After conducting a raid, the members of law-enforcement agencies held them from the Kalandar Shah Mazar area under Ahlakaraldenga union of the upazila at around 5:30am, said OC Abdul Karim of the Boalkhali police station.

A case will be started against them, when they will be produced in court, added the local police chief.

“These Rohingyas fled from their camps in Cox's Bazar and moved into rented houses in Boalkhali. Since then, they’ve been working as day labourers at local farmlands,” said Sub-Inspector Sumon Kanti Dey.

On June 26, police similarly arrested 31 Rohingyas from the hilly regions of the same union.

Since August 2017, Bangladesh has been sheltering over 1.1 million Rohingyas, who fled from the Rakhine state to escape the brutality of security forces and pro-government militias in Myanmar.