Amid mounting global pressure, a 17-member Myanmar delegation yesterday started verifying the identities of the Rohingya refugees in Teknaf, as the first group of Myanmar’s displaced people is expected to be repatriated in a few months.
Amid the armed conflicts along the border over the last two months, gang members living in the no-man’s-land entered Bangladesh and engaged in criminal activities, including murders, at the refugee camps, police and locals said.
Panic grips the locals in bordering areas of Cox’s Bazar’s Whaikhyang and Bandarban’s Tambru, as heavy gunfire and intermittent shelling on the Myanmar side have been heard again after a pause of 10 days.
As firing and mortar shelling in Myanmar were now heard from Ukhiya border of Cox’s Bazar yesterday, the local authorities warned the boat owners of not carrying Rohingyas amid fear of their fresh entry.
Amid incessant gunfire and mortar shelling in Myanmar close to the Bangladesh border, the local administration is planning to evacuate around 300 families in Ghumdhum union of Bandarban’s Naikhongchhari upazila.
Five years ago, they were the first to welcome with open arms the thousands of Rohingyas fleeing persecution in Myanmar, setting an example of how compassionate our society is here in Bangladesh.
For Shamsul Ahmed, life in the Rohingya refugee camp is now much better than it was five years ago, but his heart longs for home.
His popularity among Rohingya community and stance against all kinds of crimes and irregularities inside the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar triggered the grisly murder of Mohib Ullah, said the charge sheet submitted after an eight-month investigation.
Police today pressed charges against 29 Rohingyas in a case filed over the grisly murder of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah.
Defying the government’s directives, a large number of tourists regularly visit Chera Dwip, the southernmost island of Bangladesh.
About four months before his assasination, Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah’s organisation took an initiative to form repatriation committees in every refugee camp to facilitate the return of the refugees.
Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah came home in Lambashia camp in Ukhia after his Esha prayers on Wednesday night. His wife, Nasima, asked him whether he wanted to eat something.
Life in Lambashia Rohingya camp in Ukhia appeared normal. People roaming here and there. Grocers busy with customers. Kids playing on the street. Youths gossiping and watching videos on their smartphones.
Fear, frustration, and anger gripped refugees in Cox’s Bazar as the identity of the gunmen and their motive behind killing Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah remain unknown.
Chancing upon tourists horseback riding along the beaches of Cox’s Bazar would have been a common sight during the bustling tourist season. But not anymore.
A second whale carcass washed ashore at Himchhari beach of Cox’s Bazar yesterday.
Fleeing a crackdown by the Myanmar military, 35-year-old Chubera Begum, along with her four children, arrived in Ukhiya from Rakhine State in August, 2017. She then found shelter in a tent at Balukhali camp, the largest refugee camp in the world.
The family of Lakingme Chakma finally received her body yesterday, 25 days after her mysterious death, and buried her in Ramu upazila of Cox’s Bazar.
The government yesterday began transferring Rohingyas to Bhasan Char from the congested camps in Ukhia and Teknaf where about a million of them have been living.
With suspended officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station Pradeep Kumar Das now behind bars over the killing of retired army major Sinha, stories are unearthed about the unwritten law of the upazila town: you pay, you live.
Rohingya leaders, who went on a “go-and-visit” to Bhashan Char housing project, said they were happy with the facilities there and that those were far better than their current living conditions in Teknaf and Ukhiya camps.
Nestled between hills on one side and the sea on the other, Marishbunia village in Teknaf’s Baharchhara union is pure beauty. Babbling brooks, mossy arched bridges and hibiscus shrubs in full bloom -- this was the last location where Maj (retd) Sinha Rashed Md Khan was filming before he was killed in police firing on July 31.
Witnesses in a narcotic case, filed against Stamford University student Shipra Debnath, claimed they were forced to sign on blank papers.
Two special police battalions, formed to ensure security of Rohingyas, have finally taken over the responsibility to ensure law and order inside the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
At least 30 top drug dealers, who have been in police’s “safe house” for the last seven months, are set to surrender in Cox’s Bazar today.
With one police jeep in front and another behind, three buses carried 96 arms makers and dealers along with robbers to Kalarmarchhara Union Parishad ground in Maheshkhali so that they surrender before Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan.
Three microbuses with tinted windows and no number plates entered the Cox’s Bazar Police Lines, escorted by four police vans on November 8.
The failure of the second attempt to begin repatriating the Rohingyas has once again exposed Myanmar’s lack of sincerity, experts said. Rohingyas say Myanmar has not taken into consideration any of their core demands -- guarantee of citizenship, recognition as an
The second attempt to start repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar today may turn out to be futile, as hardly any refugees seem to be willing to go back.
The much-awaited Rohingya repatriation is set to begin on Thursday, around 10 months after the first attempt failed as the refugees didn’t choose to go back.
Police are making preparations for a second surrender programme of yaba godfathers and dealers in Cox’s Bazar.
As law enforcers are looking into the properties of 102 yaba godfathers and dealers who have surrendered, their families and paid agents are trying to sell off the assets fearing those would be confiscated.
The critical biodiversity areas in Cox’s Bazar -- Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary, Himchhari National Park and Inani National Park -- face a grave risk of peril due to high level of human interventions following the Rohingya influx, according to two recent studies.
The surrender of 102 drug lords on February 16 now seems merely an eyewash as the yaba empire in Teknaf remains mostly intact with some of their family members and paid agents taking care of the illegal trade.
From political leaders to businessmen, fish traders to poultry farm owners and brickfield workers to tailors -- the professions of 102 yaba godfathers and dealers who surrendered to police on February 16 are as varied as their age.
A new strategy of yaba smuggling, involving fresh routes and hundi traders, has been at work since the surrender of 102 godfathers and dealers in Cox's Bazar in February.
The type of light guns put on display during the recent surrender of 102 narcos in Teknaf is easily available in Moheshkhali island, where illegal makeshift factories manufacture such firearms.
Despite the surrender of 102 top narcos in Teknaf, yaba smuggling continues under the supervision of some listed godfathers and hundi traders who recently launched credit sales of the pink pills.
With one police jeep in front and another behind, four buses brought 102 yaba godfathers and dealers to Teknaf Model Primary School from Cox's Bazar Police Lines around 9:00am yesterday.
For the first time in the country, around 100 yaba godfathers and dealers will surrender today at a formal programme in Teknaf, the entry point for the deadly drug from Myanmar.
One would be mesmerised by the duplex mansions by the 13km road between Teknaf Zero Point and Shah Porir Island. Most of the mansions are in the middle of farmland, forest or just beside the road.
With law enforcers locking up listed drug dealers and smugglers, new groups are filling their shoes adopting generous marketing strategies, including sales on credit. They are also using new routes to smuggle in yaba from Myanmar.
Nahiyan often springs up from bed at midnight and starts looking for her father Akramul Haque, the slain ward councillor of Teknaf municipality. The 12-year-old scurries to her father's bed and breaks down.
Take a trip down the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf highway, and you cannot miss the eye-catching duplex building by the main road near Leda station.
A two-storey training centre inside the secure compound of Cox's Bazar Police Lines is now the “safe home” for 63 alleged yaba godfathers and dealers in the district. At least 24 of them are on the government list of 73 top drug dealers in the country, said a top police official in Cox's Bazar.
Rohingyas living both in Rakhine and Cox's Bazar are in great risk of trafficking and exploitation as they seek a safe and better life after the brutal military crackdown last year, say law enforcers and aid agencies.
Exhausted Rohingyas walking with loads of firewood on their heads used to be a common sight around the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, raising concerns about the long-term impact on the forest.
In a rare move, Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar camps yesterday began a three-day strike protesting what they say is the forcible issuing of 'smart cards' which exclude the word 'Rohingya'.
The humanitarian operations for the Rohingyas should be more transparent and cost effective as their repatriation may take longer than expected and the funding is inadequate.
The first batch of Rohingyas is all set to be sent back to Myanmar today amid reports that many of the refugees listed for return are hiding in fear of forcible repatriation.
The tourist city of Cox's Bazar is all set to host its second-ever international football tournament as the two semifinals of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup will be held today and tomorrow at the Birshreshtha Ruhul Amin Stadium.
The government and the UNHCR have been implementing a fresh programme to collect information on Rohingya refugees as per Myanmar's requirement for their repatriation.
The mansions of Nazirpara and Moulvipara, two remote villages in the coastal upazila of Teknaf, would fascinate anyone with their architectural beauty.
Myanmar will take back the around 7,000 Rohingyas, who have been staying in the no man's land adjacent to the Bangladeshi village of Konapara in Bandarban since they fled their homes in Rakhine following atrocities that began late August last year.
The 450 Hindus who would be taken back by Myanmar in the first batch on January 22 know little about their repatriation, and officials concerned here are also in the dark.
World Food Programme will provide rice, pulse, oil and other daily necessities to Rohingyas well into next year.
Selina Begum, 22, started walking from Rohingya settlements in Thyankhali camp to collect some relief goods with her two-year-old daughter yesterday.
Continued influx of Rohingyas, unplanned settlement of refugees and haphazard development activities by many organisations make