Murders leave Rohingya camps gripped by fear

COX’S BAZAR: A spate of bloody killings is fuelling unease in the Rohingya camps on the BangladeshMyanmar border, where overstretched police are struggling to protect nearly a million traumatised refugees from violent gangs.

Just 1,000 police officers guard the labyrinthine shanties that make up the giant camps and authorities want to more than double the force in the wake of the murders.

Three respected community leaders are among those slain in what police suspect is a power struggle between Rohingya gangs in the refugee slums in camps around Cox’s Bazar.

One, Arifullah, was stabbed 25 times on a busy road in June and left in a pool of blood. The other two were killed in their shacks just days apart by masked assailants.

Police in the crime-ridden Cox’s Bazar district are investigating 21 refugee murders, many in recent months, which they blame on score-settling and turf wars.

Many in Kutupalong, the world’s biggest refugee camp, and others nearby, say the unchecked violence leaves Rohingya families at the mercy of criminals.

“When the gangs come into the camps, people call the police.

“But they only arrive after the criminals are gone,” said 16-yearold Runa Akter, whose father disappeared in July with a relative who was later found dead. — AFP

— AFP Un-bear-able: Veterinarians from animal conservation group Four Paws inspecting the health of a sedated bear during a rescue operation from a bear bile extraction facility in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam.