Rohingya Refugee Camps in Bangladesh Have Become Safe Havens for Drug Mafia and Terrorists
New Age Islam Special
Correspondent
11 October
2020
Rohingya
refugees in Bangladesh refugee camp
Photo
coutesy Aljazeera
----
The violent
clashes between two groups of drug traffickers and Rohingya insurgents leading
to the death of at least 8 people in the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox Bazar is
yet another reminder that if the Rohingya refugee crisis is not solved soon, it
will pose social and political threats not only to Bangladesh but also for more
than 7 lakh Rohingya Muslims taking shelter in these camps for the last three
years.
According
to the inmates of the camp, the Munna gang (headed by drug baron Munna ) and
the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) clashed for dominance in the camps.
The hapless Rohingya youth have been the targets of drug mafia, the Bangladesh
terrorist organisation JMB and the Myanmar based Rohingya militant organisation
ARSA. It was the ARSA, a militant organisation of Myanmar that had attacked the
Myanmar's security forces in 2017 killing more than 30 security men giving the
Myanmar army the excuse for the biggest crack down on Rohingya Muslims forcing
7.5 lakh Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. The riots that followed killed
more than 24000 Rohingya Muslims.
ARSA
leader Ataulla Abu Ammar Jununi flanked by militants of his group
Photo
courtesy Aljazeera
----
The ARSA
has now penetrated into the Rohingya refugee camps of Bangladesh and recruits Rohingya
and Bangladeshi Muslims from Bangladesh Myanmar borders to fight against the
Myanmar forces. The ARSA has been declared a terrorist organisation by Myanmar
and Malaysia. Its founding leader Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi was born in Karachi
and brought up in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Therefore,
an ISI-ARSA link cannot be ruled out. A recent report says that the terrorist
organisation of Bangladesh JMB trained 40 Rohingyas to use them for terror
activities. Recently a Rohingya youth was arrested with USD 5 million worth of
drug pills.
Rohingya
refugees
Photo
courtesy Amnesty International
-----
Interestingly,
the Bangladesh government denies the presence of ARSA operatives in the camps
but the inmates of the refugee camps testified to their presence after the
Thursday clashes.
The ARSA is
probably active in the camps under the guise of Rohingya Solidarity
Organisation. During the attacks on Thursday, a member of Bangladesh security
force was killed by the 'robbers' who looted 11 arms and 650 bullets from the security
forces posted inside the refugee camp.
The robbery
seems to be the work of ARSA or Rohingya Solidarity Organisation as they are
badly in need of modern weapons. Rohingya militant organisations are,
therefore, harming the cause of the Rohingya refugees as the government of
Bangladesh is getting increasingly wary of the growing terrorist and criminal
activities in the camps.
The poor
policing and surveillance in the refugee camps in Bangladesh can be blamed for
the rampant drug trafficking and the presence and growth of militant
organisations in these camps.
Though the
Bangladesh government's Ansar Force has its camp in the Cox Bazar Refugee Camp
and an in-charge is appointed there to administer the affairs of the camp,
foreign militants and drug mafia openly operate in these camps. Often there are
arson, abductions and turf war between these groups. This cannot happen without
the connivance of the camp in charge or the security personnel stationed there
though the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh claims that it is not possible for
terrorist organisations in Bangladesh because of high alertness and effective
preventive measures by security forces in line with 'zero tolerance policy' of the
Bangladesh government. The recent clashes and robbery at the police camp in Cox
Bazar belies their claim.
In the name
of nabbing drug traffickers, the Bangladesh police and security forces often
conduct extrajudicial killings of Rohingyas in the camps. According to reports,
Since 2018 more than 100 suspected Rohingya drug peddlers were killed by
Bangladesh police.The common Rohingyas suffer due to this lawlessness prevalent
in the camps. On the one hand, they are forced by the drug mafia and militant
groups to be involved in illegal and criminal activities and on the other they
are killed and harassed by the police and security forces. Often they have to
be shifted to other camps after incidents of gunfights, abductions and arson by
warring groups.
The
Rohingya refugees, therefore, have been living in virtual hell while the
governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar accuse each other of non-co-operation and
making hollow promises while the world community remains a silent spectator to
the plight of Rohingyas. The government of Myanmar cracked down on the entire
Rohingya community in response to a militant attack by a poorly equipped
militant organisation like ARSA instead of cracking down on the militant
organisation.
The UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights termed the treatment by the Myanmar government of
the Rohingyas as a text book example of ethnic cleansing. Since 2018, the
Bangladesh and Myanmar government have tried to arrange repatriation of the
Rohingyas to Myanmar but not a single Rohingya agreed to return for the fear of
another round of persecution in the absence of any assurance of safety and
security by the Myanmar government. Amnesty International has rightly said that
if the situation is not controlled, there may be further violence in the camps.
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