The government is going to arrange multi-tiered security measures to deal with Rohingyas sheltered in 11 camps located at Teknaf and Ukhiya upazilas of Cox’s Bazaar district. With a view to enhancing capacities of the law enforcement agencies, the measures include formation of two special battalions from the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) and erection of barbed wire-fence surrounding all the Rohingya camps.
Besides, a temporary court, three police stations and several police investigation centres will be set up while several observation towers and CCTV cameras will be installed in and around the camp areas, the sources added. According to sources, the move comes in the face of rising criminal activities by Rohingyas sheltered in 11 refugee camps located in the areas.
Sources in Police Headquarters said, a proposal for the formation of two battalions of the APBn has already been submitted to the Directorate of Public Administration. As per the proposal, each of the two battalions will comprise around 800 personnel. On condition of anonymity, an official of the home ministry said that the process to form the new battalions is taking time as the Rohingya people are not permanent residents of the country and a procedure for their repatriation is ongoing.
According to reports from different agencies, a section of Rohingya people sheltered in different camps, is getting involved in various criminal acts including killing, rape, theft, abduction, extortion, human trafficking and drug peddling increasingly, while others are trying to flee from the camps. Reports say that at least 43 Rohingya people were killed due to internal feuds, and they also killed several Bangladeshis, including a leader of Bangladesh Jubo League in Teknaf, in the last two years.
On the other hand, at least 32 Rohingyas, allegedly involved in various crimes, were killed in different shootouts with police and RAB. Around 500 cases were filed with different local police stations against them for various criminal acts. Not only that, according to sources, in the last 23 months, around 59,000 Rohingyas were arrested from different places of the country after they had fled the Rohingya camps while punitive measures have been taken against 515 people for their involvement in human trafficking.
At present, there is only one police personnel for 1,353 Rohingyas. Under the circumstances, personnel from different law enforcement agencies are facing difficulties in dealing with the large number of Rohingyas and their criminal acts. Officials concerned said, the moves taken by the government will enhance the capacity of the law enforces as well as stop Rohingyas from fleeing from the camps. Around 11 lakh Rohingyas are in different camps after a crackdown on them by the Myanmar authorities in the Rakhine state.
