DHAKA: Bangladesh has stepped up security at its border with Myanmar, with at least 18,000 Rohingya Muslims crossing over in recent months to escape rising violence in the state. Rakhine in western Myanmar, officials in Dhaka said.
The influx of refugees from Myanmar has increased as fighting escalates between the military of the dictatorship and the Arakan Army, a powerful ethnic militia that recruits from the Buddhist majority.
“Thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh and many are waiting to cross. The situation is serious,” said an official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The new arrivals add to the more than a million Rohingya refugees already living in overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar district after fleeing a military-led crackdown in Myanmar. in 2017. They have no hope of returning to Myanmar, where they do not have citizenship and others. fundamental rights.
The arrival is more than double the government's estimate earlier this month, even as Bangladesh has repeatedly said it cannot take in more Rohingya refugees because its resources have been exhausted. because.
“Border surveillance has been increased, but the 271km (168 miles) border with Myanmar is difficult to manage, especially without security partners on either side,” the official said. another in the government, who did not want to be named.
The official said many Rohingya have lost hope and are looking for ways to cross into Bangladesh.
The government has not yet made a decision on the registration of those who entered recently and are living in refugee camps, said the official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. this.
“If we decide to write them off, the floodgates could open, and that's something we can't understand,” he said. “But in the meantime, how long are we going to ignore this problem? That is the real question.”
Bangladesh's interim prime minister, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, has called for the immediate return of Rohingya to third countries as a permanent solution, but officials say the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the progress in resettlement is limited.
“About 2,000 people have entered the resettlement program starting in 2022 after a gap of 12 years,” he said, adding that the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland are among the countries that receive refugees.
