Myanmar Rohingya continue to flood across Bangladesh border, some drowning in river crossing

Record ID: 77704

  • Title: Myanmar Rohingya continue to flood across Bangladesh border, some drowning in river crossing
  • Date: 23rd November 2016
  • Summary: TEKNAF, COX'S BAZAR DISTRICT, CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH (NOVEMBER 22, 2016) (REUTERS) THREE BORDER GUARD BANGLADESH (BGB) SOLDIERS STANDING AND WATCHING OVER NAF RIVER, WHICH MARKS THE BORDER BETWEEN BANGLADESH AND MYANMAR BGB SOLDIER LOOKING AROUND, WALKING ON RIVER BANK AS BOAT PASSES VARIOUS OF BGB SOLDIER LOOKING ON BGB SOLDIER STANDING ON WATCHTOWER ON THE BANK OF THE NAF RIVER GROUP OF ROHINGYA REFUGEES FROM MYANMAR WHO ARRIVED IN BANGLADESH THE DAY BEFORE (NOVEMBER 21, 2016) STANDING IN FOREST YOUNG BOY LOOKING AROUND WOMAN WEARING BURQA LOOKING ON ELDERLY MAN CRYING, WIPING HIS EYES YOUNG BOY LOOKING OUT FROM BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE (SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) ELDERLY ROHINGYA MAN FROM MYANMAR, SIRAJUL ISLAM, SAYING: "I don't know where my wife and children are. I somehow was able to cross the border to save my life, so if there is peace again in our country, I hope to go back." MAN LOOKING ON AS HE CARRIES CHILD GROUP OF ROHINGYA REFUGEES FROM MYANMAR STANDING IN FOREST BGB SOLDIER CHECKING VEHICLE AS PEOPLE STAND BY CHILDREN ON SIDE STREET IN TEKNAF UPAZILA (UPAZILA IS A BANGLADESH TERM FOR A SUB-UNIT OF A DISTRICT) FOUR MEMBERS OF A ROHINGYA FAMILY FROM MYANMAR WHO ARRIVED IN BANGLADESH THAT MORNING AND TOOK REFUGE AT A RELATIVE'S HOUSE IN TEKNAF UPAZILA ROHINGYA WOMAN WHOSE CHILD DROWNED WHILE CROSSING THE NAF RIVER FROM MYANMAR TO BANGLADESH CRYING, LOOKING ON VARIOUS OF ROHINGYA MAN WHOSE THREE CHILDREN DROWNED WHILE CROSSING THE NAF RIVER LEANING AGAINST WALL AND CRYING (SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) ROHINGYA MAN WHOSE THREE CHILDREN DROWNED WHILE CROSSING THE NAF RIVER FROM MYANMAR TO BANGLADESH, HUMAYUN KABIR, SAYING: "There were a group of people from our village who crossed the river by boat to come to here, but suddenly the boat sank in the river. Many could swim and come to the bank. Seven people are missing including my three children." EXTERIOR OF ENTRANCE TO U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) OFFICE IN COX'S BAZAR WOMAN OPENING DOOR LEADING TO UNHCR OFFICE, UNHCR LOGO ON DOOR HEAD OF UNHCR'S SUB OFFICE IN COX'S BAZAR, JOHN MCKISSICK, SITTING AT HIS DESK AND LISTENING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)'S SUB OFFICE IN COX'S BAZAR, JOHN MCKISSICK, SAYING: "So it's up to the government of Bangladesh to put pressure on the government of Myanmar to return the situation to normal so that these Rohingyas who have arrived recently can go back in safety and with dignity. But for now, the only thing that can be done is to assist them and protect them." UNHCR SIGN ON DESK (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)'S SUB OFFICE IN COX'S BAZAR, JOHN MCKISSICK, SAYING: "We're not saying forever, because even the Rohingyas who are newly arriving here say themselves, when there is peace back home, they want to go home, they want to find out what happened to their houses, they want to find out what happened to their loved ones who they've been separated from, so they don't want to stay here for a long time." PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET IN REFUGEE CAMP IN TEKNAF ROHINGYA GIRLS AND WOMEN FROM MYANMAR WHO ARRIVED IN BANGLADESH EARLIER IN THE DAY COMING OUT OF A SHELTER IN THE REFUGEE CAMP GIRLS LOOKING ON (SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) YOUNG ROHINGYA GIRL FROM MYANMAR, SHAWKAT ARA, SAYING: "The military took away my father and uncles. I don't know what happened to them, or if they are alive or not, and as I saw they were tortured to save me from them, I reached this house this morning by crossing the river by boat. When there is peace in our country, I will go back and I will try to find out about my father and uncles and if I can get them or not, and if there is peace, I will go to our home there." REFUGEE CAMP IN TEKNAF ROHINGYA REFUGEES FROM MYANMAR GATHERED AROUND BABY BEING HELD UP ELDERLY MAN AND WOMAN LOOKING ON ELDERLY MAN LOOKING ON
  • Embargoed: 8th December 2016 10:01
  • Keywords: Bangladesh Myanmar Rohingya fleeing border violence Cox's Bazar river drowning Rakhine Suu Kyi refugee
  • Location: TEKNAF, COX'S BAZAR DISTRICT, CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH
  • City: TEKNAF, COX'S BAZAR DISTRICT, CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH
  • Country: Bangladesh
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00159NZCCL
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar are continuing to cross the border into Bangladesh, attempting to escape escalating violence that has killed at least 86 people and displaced some 30,000 from northwest Myanmar.
    Armed border guards on Tuesday (November 22) patrolled the Bangladeshi side of the River Naf, looking out for anyone attempting to make an illegal crossing.
    Those who have managed to cross over the past few days have tried to find shelter in refugee camps or the homes of local residents.
    Sirajul Islam, who arrived on Monday (November 21) and found shelter at an unregistered camp in Teknaf, said he did not know what had happened to his family.
    "I don't know where my wife and children are. I somehow was able to cross the border to save my life," Islam told Reuters Television.
    Other Rohingya refugees said they had lost family members, including children, during the dangerous river crossing.
    "There were a group of people from our village who crossed the river by boat to come here, but suddenly the boat sank in the river. Many could swim and come to the bank. Seven people are missing including my three children," said Humayun Kabir, who arrived on Tuesday.
    The bloodshed in Myanmar is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western state of Rakhine in 2012, and is posing the biggest test yet for the eight-month-old administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
    Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on October 9 that killed nine police officers.
    Myanmar's military and the government have rejected allegations by residents and rights groups that soldiers have raped Rohingya women, burnt houses and killed civilians during the military operation in Rakhine.
    Aid workers from United Nations agencies have not given specific numbers of Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar, but they have expressed concern about a sudden influx of people.
    John McKissick, head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Cox's Bazar, praised Bangladeshi villagers who gave food and shelter to the refugees in recent week but added the government should do its part too.
    "So it's up to the government of Bangladesh to put pressure on the government of Myanmar to return the situation to normal so that these Rohingyas who have arrived recently can go back in safety and with dignity," McKissik said. "But for now, the only thing that can be done is to assist them and protect them."
    Shawkat Ara, a young girl in a refugee camp in Teknaf, said she hoped to return to Myanmar one day to find her missing relatives.
    "When there is peace in our country, I will go back and I will try to find out about my father and uncles," she said.
    Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya, viewed as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh by many of the country's majority Buddhists, are denied citizenship and face severe restrictions on their travel.
    The UN has estimated up to 30,000 people have been displaced and thousands more affected by the fighting in the mainly Muslim northern Rakhine, where the Myanmar military says it is battling Islamist Rohingya insurgents.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register