Myanmar’s BGP asks Rohingyas at Tombru to leave no-man’s land

Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar today asked Rohingya people who were staying on the no-man's land along the Tombru border point in Banbarban district since the refugee influx, to leave the area.

The BGP using loudspeakers has been telling the Rohingya people to leave the border area and enter Bangladesh, our Cox's Bazar correspondent reports quoting Mohammad Arif Hossain, a local community leader of the Rohingya people staying at the border.

Read More: Stranded in no man's land

Since 8:00am, in the loudspeaker announcements BGP is saying that residing in the no-man's land is illegal, the Rohingya people who are staying there should leave, Arif said.

Deputy Commander of Cox's Bazar BGB 34-Battalion Major Iqbal Ahmed also confirmed the matter.

Jahir Ahmad, principal of Ghumdum Government Primary School, said he himself heard these announcements by the Myanmar BGP.

"The BGP is terming the Rohingya people living in the no-man's land as Bengalis which is highly objectionable," said Jahir Ahmad.

Nearly 700,000 people, mostly Rohingya women and children, have fled violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar and taken shelter in Bangladesh since August 2017.

According to AFP, around 6,000 Rohingya have been living on a thin strip of land between the two countries since fleeing Myanmar.