Usir Pelarian, Bangladesh Juga Bunuh Pelarian Rohingya

Pengawal pantai dan sempadan Bangladesh telah diarahkan untuk mengusir pelarian Rohingya yang melarikan diri ke negara itu. Ini bermakna mereka menyerahkan pelarian itu untuk disembelih oleh pengganas agama Buddha di Burma. Tidak diketahui apa nasib 300 pelarian yang diusir kembali ke Myanmar  itu.

Tindakan Bangladesh ini tidak berperikemanusiaan dan layak dikecam oleh masyarakat antarabangsa.

TEKNAF, Bangladesh: Pengawal sempadan Banglades mengusir lapan bot yang membawa lebih 300 umat Islam Rohingya kebanyakannnya wanita dan kanak-kanak yang melarikan diri dari keganasan penganut Buddha di Burma, menurut seorang petugas sempadan.  Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) dan pasukan peronda pantai yang telah diarahkan menyekat kemasukan pelarian, memintas bot di Sungai Naf yang memisahkan dua negara tersebut, menurut Mejar Shafiqur Rahman jurucakap BGB. 

Seterusnya dalam bahasa Inggeris :

"There were more than 300 Rohingya in the boats which are coming from the Myanmar city of Akyab (Sittwe). They were carrying mainly Rohingya women and children, many of whom were crying and looked extremely anxious," he told AFP. 

"All eight boats have been pushed back to Myanmar territory," he added.

Akyab is the former name of Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar's western Rakhine state where sectarian violence flared last week, leaving at least 17 people dead and prompting the authorities to declare a state of emergency. 

An AFP photographer at Teknaf in Bangladesh, near the border with Myanmar, saw smoke billowing from houses believed to be burnt in villages during the sectarian violence. BGB men handed out water and food to the Rohingyas on the boats before they were turned back, Rahman told AFP. 

Security has been stepped up along Bangladesh's 200-kilometre (125-mile) border with Myanmar to stem the influx of Rohingya refugees.  "We have been asked not to allow any illegal entry of Rohingya in Bangladesh. The authorities are concerned that their could be large-scale Rohingya entry from Myanmar," coastguard officer Badruddoza, who uses one name, told AFP. 

Reinforcements have been sent to intensify patrols on the Naf river and the islands close to the Myanmar border. "We have also enhanced vigilance during night time," he added. Bangladeshi officials estimate that a total of 300,000 Rohingya people live in the country, with only about a tenth of them in two official refugee camps in southern Cox's Bazaar. 

Two injured Rohingya, including one who was hit by a bullet, entered Bangladesh illegally Saturday and were arrested, Rahman said. Rohingya are a stateless people described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities. 

The Myanmar government considers the Rohingya to be foreigners, while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants from Muslim-majority Bangladesh and view them with hostility.