THOUSANDS OF ROHINGYA CONTINUE TO CROSS INTO BANGLADESH DAILY
13 Malaysian reps get first-hand look at Rohingya refugees’ plight
THOUSANDS of Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar continue to cross the Naf River here on a daily basis since Aug 25 following escalating tensions in their home state of Rakhine, visiting Malaysian members of parliament (MPs) were told at a briefing here on Friday.
Reports on the ground estimate that Rohingya refugee arrivals have reached 621,000, with at least 5,500 having arrived between Nov 12 and 18.
The MPs, who are in the coastal town for an official visit to a refugee camp here, dubbed the world’s largest, were told that attempts to cross the river that flows into the Bay of Bengal are not always successful, with scores being swept away and drowned.
Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisations (Mapim) vice-president Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman said: “While negotiations between the Bangladeshi and Myanmar governments are ongoing, thousands of Rohingya, many of whom are women and children, continue to flee to seek refuge here. They walk for days, some from far places like Rathidong, taking more than two weeks to reach the other side of the Naf River before they can cross.
“These are people who had to leave their homes that had been burnt to the ground. From information we gathered from those who recently arrived, the burning of houses occurs every day.”
The joint briefing by officials from the National Security Council (NSC) and representatives of Malaysian humanitarian organisations who are assisting the refugees was conducted on Friday evening upon the arrival of 13 MPs here, led by Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.
They are scheduled to visit the Balukhali refugee camp before witnessing the progress of work to set up a Malaysian field hospital not far from the camp.
Tarmizi said the crossing of the Naf River had become riskier after the Myanmar government banned small boat owners from taking refugees across the river, forcing victims to build their own makeshift rafts.
The rafts were usually made of empty water bottles tied together, but many took a chance with their lives by tying a rope onto bigger bottles and trying to drift across the river, which is up to 2km wide at its mouth.
“Before the situation escalated, crossing the Naf River only cost between RM2 and RM3 per person. But when the surge of refugees began, sampan owners took advantage of the situation by increasing the fees by up to hundreds of ringgit.
“This forced the refugees to sell whatever they had, including their livestock, to pay for the cost to cross the river.
“But, the current situation is much worse with the ban by the Myanmar government,” Tarmizi said after the briefing.
During the session, the MPs delivered cash assistance they collected, amounting to RM26,000, to Mapim and Mercy Malaysia.
In his speech, Kiandee said the donation was in addition to the 25 tonnes of food contributed by Malaysian companies, which would arrive soon to be distributed to the refugees by the nongovernmental organisations, as well as cash donations from the Malaysian public.
It was reported that the MPs, together with delegates from the NSC, National Disaster Management Agency, Transport Ministry and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, would be visiting Cox’s Bazar for two days for a first-hand look at the condition of the Rohingya refugees.
Other MPs in the group were Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi (BN-Sri Gading), Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang (BN-Kanowit), Datuk Raime Unggi (BN-Tenom), Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (Pas-Rantau Panjang) and Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar (PKR-Tumpat).