Tag: BANGLADESH

At least 12 dead, scores missing in Rohingya capsize: officials

  COX’s BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) – At least 12 people died and scores were missing Monday after a boat packed with Rohingya refugees — many of them children — capsized, the latest tragedy to strike those fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Coast guard and border guard officials said the boat was overloaded with about 100 people when it sank late Sunday in the mouth of the Naf river that separates Myanmar from Bangladesh. Border […]

Bangladeshi boy dies at 17 after being hit by cricket ball

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — A Bangladeshi teenager died in hospital in Dhaka after he was hit by a ball while umpiring a cricket match, police said on Saturday. Rafiqul Islam, 17, was declared dead at Dhaka Medical College Hospital late Friday after being rushed there in critical condition following the incident at Balur Math ground in Bangladesh’s capital. “A group of youths were playing cricket in the field and the boy was the umpire. He […]

Rohingya fleeing Myanmar say army redoubling push to clear villages

  SHAH PORIR DWIP, Bangladesh (AFP) — Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh amid a fresh exodus from strife-torn Myanmar have described whole villages being emptied and thousands marching to the border as security forces redouble efforts to drive the remaining Muslims from their homes. More than 500,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled ethnic bloodshed in Myanmar in the past month and numbers are again swelling, with Bangladesh reporting 4-5,000 civilians now crossing the border each day after a brief […]

15 dead in Rohingya boat sinking as UN chief tells Myanmar to end ‘nightmare’

by Sam Jahan with Philippe Rater at the United Nations Agence France Presse COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — At least 15 people drowned and scores are feared missing after a boat carrying Rohingya families capsized off Bangladesh Thursday, as United Nations chief Antonio Guterres exhorted Myanmar’s rulers to end the refugees’ “nightmare.” Witnesses and survivors said the vessel overturned just meters from the coast in rough waters, after it was lashed by torrential rain and […]

UN plans food aid for up to 700,000 Rohingya

   COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — The United Nations has drawn up a contingency plan to feed up to 700,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar after some 480,000 fled to Bangladesh over the past month and arrivals continue. A senior official from the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) told AFP they were now prepared to provide massive food and other emergency aid if the influx continues in coming weeks. “All the UN agencies together have now set a […]

Mud and misery for refugees as Bangladesh tent city grows

by Claire Cozens Agence France-Presse KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh (AFP) – Two hours’ walk from the nearest road, with no toilets or clean water and little proper shelter— the vast area of scrubland Bangladesh has set aside for more than 400,000 Rohingya refugees is a miserable place to call home. Over the last week, Bangladesh authorities have cleared hundreds of thousands of newly-arrived refugees from roadsides and private land near the border with Myanmar where they had set up camp, […]

Bangladesh says Rohingya influx grinds to a halt

by Sam Jahan in Cox’s Bazar and Shafiqul Alam in Dhaka</strong> Agence France Presse COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — The flood of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh has come to a virtual halt, Dhaka officials said Saturday, almost a month after violence erupted in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and sent nearly 430,000 people fleeing across the border. Officials gave no reason for the dramatically reduced numbers. But Rohingya Muslim leaders said it could be because villages located near […]

Rohingya crisis sparks fear among Bangladeshi Buddhists

by Claire Cozens Agence France-Presse RAMU, Bangladesh (AFP) – As thousands of Rohingya flee ethnic violence in Myanmar, Bangladesh’s small Buddhist community fears the crisis could spark a violent backlash from their Muslim neighbours. Many Bangladeshis are angry over the treatment in Buddhist-majority Myanmar of the Rohingya, a persecuted stateless minority who they see as Muslim brethren. The anger is particularly acute in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar near the border with Myanmar, where many people have […]

Rain and evictions add to Rohingya misery

by Dominique Faget and Redwan Ahmed Agence France Presse UKHIA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Heavy monsoon rain heaped new misery Sunday on hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohinyga stuck in makeshift camps in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in Myanmar, as authorities started a drive to force them to a new site. With food and water shortages already making life tough, torrential rain brought back swamp-like conditions to many parts of the border town of Cox’s Bazar […]

Empty villages, Rohingya on the run: Who is left in Myanmar’s Rakhine?

  YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — A military campaign to wipe out Rohingya insurgents has rained violence down on Myanmar’s Rakhine state, sending nearly 390,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees fleeing for sanctuary in Bangladesh. Around 30,000 Rakhine Buddhists and Hindus have also been displaced, as ethnic and religious hatreds carve through the western state. Access to the epicentre of unrest — the northern wedge of Rakhine — has been blocked by the government as the crisis unfolds. […]

UN council calls for ‘immediate steps’ to end Myanmar violence

by Carole Landry Agence France-Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) – The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday broke its weeks-long silence on the crisis in Myanmar and called for an end to the violence as UN chief Antonio Guterres said the military campaign amounted to the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims. Following a closed-door meeting, the 15-member council including China, a supporter of Myanmar’s former ruling junta, expressed concern about excessive force during security […]

Rohingya refugee crisis continues in Bangladesh

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) — Rohingya refugees continued to arrive in Bangladesh from Myanmar on Sunday (September 10) putting more pressure on the relief effort to keep them fed and sheltered. Nearly 300,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh and 30,000 non-Muslim civilians have been displaced inside Myanmar after the military launched a counter-offensive following attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents on 30 police posts and an army base on August 25. The […]