Bangladeshi border guards ‘burning boats’ to thwart Rohingya refugees
BANGLADESHI border guards are setting fire to boats used to carry Rohingya refugees in an effort to stop the influx of people fleeing from Burma, human rights groups have warned.
Boat owners in southeast Bangladesh have made significant profits by picking up refugees and ferrying them across the border to safety, but Bangladeshi security forces are now trying to deter the practice by torching boats.
From the beach at Shahpuri, on the border with Burma, also known as Myanmar, The Daily Telegraph saw several fires burning and later saw the charred remains of wooden hulls strewn across the beach. “Local people told me boatmen caught dropping Rohingya people here are having their boats burned as a punishment and warning. It’s deemed necessary as border control,” said Ashiqur Rahman, from Odhikar, a Bangladeshi human rights group.
Bangladesh has been unwilling to officially open its borders to fleeing Rohingya people, but during the visit of Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, to the border camps last week, she announced that the nation would accept arrivals. Despite this, border guards at Shahpuri said they were under instruction not to let refugees into the country. For people fleeing ongoing violence in Burma, the price of the crossing is negotiable. Arrivals reported paying up to 60,000 Myanmar kyat (£33) per person.
After helping his family disembark from a wooden boat, Mohamed Eliyas, a Rohingya refugee, pointed back across the water to Burma. “Our village burned today, everything has gone to ashes,” he said, sobbing.
The family had fled two days earlier. Their village of Nolboniya had been taken over by Burmese soldiers in early September who threatened villagers and fired warning shots in the air.
After many sleepless nights, the family ran away. Looking back, they saw their village in flames.
“We didn’t want to come here,” said Mohamed’s sister, Amina. “Here we have nothing, nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat. Why bring my children here if I had any other option?”
Meanwhile, efforts to get relief aid into Rakhine state were hampered by a mob attack on a ship carrying supplies and the crash of a Red Cross truck, that killed nine people and injured 10.