DHAKA – Bangladesh is working to prevent a fresh influx of stateless and persecuted Rohingya refugees, its caretaker government has said, after thousands crossed the border from Myanmar in recent weeks.
Around one million Rohingya live in sprawling and squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most having fled Myanmar in 2017 during a military crackdown now the subject of a United Nations genocide court case.
Driving the latest exodus is an escalating conflict between Bangladesh’s junta-run neighbor and the rebel Arakan Army near their shared border, displacing many residents from Rohingya-majority Maungdaw township.
“We have information that around 8,000 Rohingya have entered Bangladesh,” interim foreign minister Touhid Hossain told reporters on Tuesday evening.
Hossain did not specify the time period in which the refugees had crossed over the border.
But he said a “serious cabinet discussion” would be held this week to work out “how to prevent” more arrivals.
“We are sorry to say this, but it’s beyond our capacity to give shelter to anyone else,” he added.
The situation in Myanmar has been further inflamed by the military’s forced recruitment of Rohingya to battle the rebel group, including reportedly more than 2,000 from Bangladeshi refugee camps.
That has led to alleged reprisal attacks by the Arakan Army against Rohingya civilians.
Watchdog Fortify Rights said in a report last month that its investigation found the Arakan Army had on August 5 launched a drone and mortar attack that killed more than 100 Rohingya men, women and children near the Bangladeshi border.
The Arakan Army has repeatedly denied responsibility for the bombardment.
Further complicating the security situation for Rohingya in Bangladesh was the ousting last month of autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India after a student-led uprising.
Hasina was replaced by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who is leading the country’s interim government and faces the challenge of bedding down democratic reforms ahead of expected elections.
