136 Rohingya held while fleeing Ukhia camp

Ukhia Correspondent:

Dodging the eyes of the Ukhia camp administration, thousands of Rohingyas have been fleeing and spreading around the country every day, the Palangkhali Union Parishad chairman has said.

Police detained 136 Rohingya on Monday as they were trying to flee the camp in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhia upazila, police have said.

After the arrest, they were handed over to the Transit Camp through the Rohingya camp in-charge, said Sanjur Morshed, officer-in-charge of Ukhia Police Station.

There had been four army checkposts on the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf road until recently since August 2017. Seeing no army checkposts there now, thousands of Rohingyas are everyday fleeing the camp and spreading around the country, according to sources.

Crimes have also increased in the district with the stopping of the activities of the army checkposts, said Sarwar Alam Shahin, former president of Ukhia Press Club.

Palangkhali Union Parishad Chairman M Gafur Uddin Chowdhury said thousands of Rohingyas have been fleeing the camp and spreading around the country everyday since the activities of four army checkposts stopped on the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf road recently.

Besides, many Rohingya women and children are fleeing to Malaysia by sea, he said and called for introducing army checkposts on the road without delay.

Earlier on March 21, police detained 100 Rohingya as they tried to go to Malaysia by sea via Cox’s Bazar’s Sonadia Island. Four days later on March 25, 54 Rohingya women and children were detained from the Baharchhara coast of Teknaf, who were also bound for fleeing to Malaysia.