14 more family members of Mohib Ullah going to Canada

NEWS DESK

Fourteen more family members of slain Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah are reportedly being relocated to Canada from Bangladesh.

The family members left Kutupalong transit point in Ukhiya of Cox’s Bazar for Dhaka on Sunday morning, according to multiple sources.

Earlier, 11 members of his family, including Mohib Ullah’s wife and children, left Bangladesh for Canada on March 31.

Wishing anonymity, a high-ranking official said that the 14 members, including Mohib Ullah’s mother and brother’s family, left camp for Dhaka after completing all the procedures in the camp. They will start their journey to Canada from Dhaka.

The officials of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and police were present when they left the camp, he said.

Md Faruk Ahmed, assistant superintendent of APBn-8 police, said that the 14 family members of Mohib Ullah were taken to Dhaka through UNHCR.

“However, I have no idea where they would be taken,” he added.

Md Ziabul Haque, a Rohingya refugee of Ukhiya transit point, said that the family members have been taken to Dhaka through strict security. From there, they are supposed to be taken to Canada.

Mohib Ullah, chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), was shot dead at Lambashia camp No 1 in Ukhiya by unidentified assailants on September 29 last year.

After the killing, his family members requested safety and security through immediate relocation to a third country as they had been receiving death threats.

Nur Khan Liton, secretary general of the executive committee of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), said that for the second time, a group of Mohib Ullah’s family was scheduled to leave for Canada very soon. His family informed me about that a few days ago.

Md Yasin, a Rohingya leader of ARSPH of the camp, said that the family members of Mohib Ullah, including his mother and two brothers, have been taken from the camp.

“We have heard that they will be taken to Canada,” he said.

However, being contacted, no statement was received from UNHCR.

Earlier, at least a dozen activists sought protection from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, as well as Bangladesh authorities since Mohib Ullah’s killing due to renewed threats from armed groups and other risks of violence.

Formerly a teacher in Myanmar, the fallen Rohingya leader was popularly known as Master Mohib Ullah among the Rohingyas.

He arrived in Bangladesh during the 2016-17 Rohingya exodus from Myanmar. He chaired the ARSPH, which has been facilitating the documentation of human rights abuses faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar in 2016 and 2017.

A staunch advocate of the Rohingyas’ right to return to Myanmar with dignity, safety and security, Mohib had been receiving death threats for some time, according to his family.

Mohib Ullah, who became prominent after organizing a huge rally on August 25, 2019 to mark the second anniversary of the latest Rohingya exodus, used to be unofficially recognized by the West as a rightful representative of the forcibly-displaced Myanmar nationals from Rakhine.

The same year, he was invited to the White House to speak to the UN Human Rights Council.