Unrest likely if Rohingyas not sent back to Myanmar

NEWS DESK

Unrest may occur in Cox’s Bazar if the Rohingyas are not repatriated soon, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Friday.

“A hub of international terrorists may be created here. There may be an influx of arms. Many things can happen. And we already see some signs of them,” he told journalists while visiting a Rohingya camp in Ukhiya of Cox’s Bazar in the morning.

The minister said some people who are fighting inside Myanmar can be seen in Rohingya camps.

“The biggest fear is that drugs have been coming in from Myanmar for a long time although our country does not produce any drugs. Some people in the camps here have got involved in drugs,” said Asaduzzaman.

He said the government is trying to identify those involved in such criminal activities, and actions are being taken against them.

On the last day of his two-day visit to the Rohingya camps, the home minister yesterday held several meetings with different stakeholders of the Rohingya camp issues. He visited camp-19 in Ukhiya around 11:00am and held a meeting with members of Armed Police Battalion (APBn).

Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, Additional IGP Anwar Hossain, APBn chief Salim Mohammad Jahangir, and Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mizanur Rahman accompanied the home minister during his visit to the camps.

After a law and order meeting on the Rohingya camps on Thursday night, the home minister told reporters at Cox’s Bazar Circuit House that no one from Myanmar will be allowed to enter Bangladesh.

He said the government aims to secure the country’s border with Myanmar and ensure safety at the Rohingya camps by preventing terrorist activities.

Asaduzzaman directed police and the APBn to stop the violence in Rohingya camps.