More than a million Rohingya from Myanmar live in over 30 refugee camps in Bangladesh. Some want to try their luck in Malaysia and take enormous risks.
After a failed attempt to escape to Malaysia, the Bangladeshi coast guard arrested more than 300 Rohingya Muslims. Most of them are women and children who landed on Wednesday evening in the south of Cox’s Bazar district, said Rana sole from the coast guard.
The refugees had returned to the South Asian country after their ship was denied access to Malaysian waters. The Rohingya had already set out more than two months ago. Local administrator Saiful Islam said that at least 28 people had died on the trip.
More than a million Rohingya live in over 30 refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar district. A good 700,000 of them had fled military violence from neighboring Myanmar to Bangladesh within a short time two years ago. Members of the Muslim minority have been discriminated against in their home country for decades. UN investigators speak of a “continuing genocide”.
A week ago, Bangladesh had sealed off Cox’s Bazar in the fight against the coronavirus. Since then, entering and leaving the district has been prohibited.
