Bangladesh
Rohingyas 115 Rohingyas rescued from Sonadia island, hundreds still hiding
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, March 22: A group of Rohingyas was found being trafficked to Malaysia in Sonadia Char area of Maheshkhali.
After receiving the news around 4:30 pm on Monday, the police launched an operation to rescue the Rohingyas. As many as 115 people including men and women were rescued till 5 pm. Hundreds more Rohingyas were hiding in Sonadia zhou forest. Several police teams were on the rescue operation. The operation was led by Maheshkhali police sub-inspector Al Amin. However, he could not be reached for comment.
Gias Uddin, a local environmentalist who assisted in the operation, said a large wooden boat carrying Rohingyas anchored in the Sonadia char area and dropped them off. Seeing this, the locals informed the police. Upon receiving the news, a team of Maheshkhali police went to the spot and started the operation.
Upon hearing the news of the raid, many Rohingyas tried to hide in the locality. As many as 115 people, including 51 women and 15 children, were detained during the operation till 5 pm. However, more than a hundred Rohingyas are still hiding.
The detained Rohingyas said that a week ago, brokers took them to a big boat for trafficking to Malaysia. Without taking them to Malaysia due to lack of opportunity, the boat escaped by dropping them off at Sonadia Char.
Cox's Bazar District Police's Additional SP Rafiqul Islam said that members of the brokers' racket brought Rohingya citizens out of various Rohingya refugee camps in Ukhia saying they would be sent to Malaysia by sea.
They were rescued by conducting a search operation in the Sonadia area on the basis of secret information. The rescued Rohingyas are said to be residents of various Rohingya refugee camps in Ukhia.
