Bangladesh recovers over 30 bodies of refugees fleeing Myanmar

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh has recovered at least 31 bodies of refugees fleeing from Myanmar through the border river along southeastern Teknaf town amid escalating conflicts between military junta and rebel groups, according to officials and local media.

Md Shamsud Douza, additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in southeast Cox's Bazar district, confirmed the incident to Anadolu on Thursday, saying: "As we don’t have jurisdiction outside the refugee camps, we informed the Border Guard Bangladesh to rescue the people and retrieve bodies trapped during an attempt to cross the Bangladesh border.” He feared the number of those killed might be much more than reported.

At least 31 bodies have been recovered since Monday night. Thirteen women and 15 children were among the dead in the boat sinking incident, reported national newspaper Prothom Alo, citing Teknaf town official Md. Adnan Chowdhury as saying.

Two boats carrying the fleeing Rohingya capsized trying to cross the transboundary Naf River due to high waves and storms, said the official, adding that bodies of the missing people started floating on Tuesday.

One of the boat was carrying about 25 people while the other had 29 on board, the report said, quoting local people.

Conflicts in Maungdaw township of Myanmar's Rakhine state have been pushing Rohingya to southeastern Cox’s Bazar district where some 1.2 million Rohingya have been taking shelter since Aug. 2017 after fleeing a Myanmar military crackdown.

Mohammad Nur Hashem, a Rohingya Majhi or community leader in the Cox's Bazar Rohingya camp, told Anadolu that Rohingya have been trying to cross into Bangladesh by boats in the dark of night through several points along the Teknaf border as the conflict between the Arakan Army and the junta escalates.

He said over 1,200 people gathered along Myanmar-Bangladesh following the conflict while over 200 were killed in recent weeks in Rakhine state.​​​​​​​