Rohingyas use plastic rafts to cross into Bangladesh to escape violence Myanmar hits back at UN’s rights concern
Shah Porir Dwip, Bangla, Nov. 8 : Dozens of Rohingya refugees floated into Bangladesh on Wednesday on a raft fashioned from plastic jerrycans, as the persecuted Muslim minority continue to flee violence in Myanmar in droves, officials said.
Bangladesh border guards spotted the makeshift raft overloaded with more than 50 passengers as it drifted toward the coastal village of Shah Porir Dwip village.
Local border guard commander S.M. Ariful Islam said that 52 refugees tied plastic jerrycans together to float across the Naf River separating the two countries. He added that those fleeing ethnic violence in Myanmar were still desperate enough to make the dangerous crossing, with other daring escapes recorded in recent days.
At least 16 Rohingya refugees were found floating across the same river in a plastic drum sawn in half, local police said.
“A lot of them arrived on rafts made from plastic jerrycans,” local community policeman said. Abdul Jabbar told AFP on Tuesday. Yangon, Nov. 8: Myanmar on Wednesday hit back at a UN Security Council statement critical of its handling of the Rohingya refugee crisis, saying it could “seriously harm” efforts to repatriate the Muslim minority from Bangladesh.
On Monday the top UN body called on Myanmar to rein in military operations that have pushed more than 600,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh since late August, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis. The statement expressed “grave concern” over rights violations.