Internal feud over illegal drug smuggling, especially Yaba, and other criminal activities has left over 40 Rohingyas dead in the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar in last two years. A report submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office recently calls for serious actions to curb crime in the Rohingya camps where it said the trend of criminal activities have been increasing at an alarming rate.
The report mentions that drug smuggling has taken serious turn and already 46 people have been killed in gun fights or other means. It also said extortion, human trafficking, prostitution, robbery are other common crimes committed in the camps.
The report expresses concerns that Yaba smuggling emerged in the camps for a long time giving rise to gangs who control and distribute the illegal drugs to destinations across the country. It pointed out that the Rohingyas have been engaged in serious confrontations with locals over supremacy of drug smuggling and often killed those who opposed them.
“Sale of drugs increases as night falls,” said an anonymous trader adding, “We have a network of people who regularly carry the drugs to destinations outside the district.”
The report also says that the law enforcing agencies have so far briefly detained 55,186 Rohingyas, who fled the camps, from different areas in the district and sent them back to the camps. Recently, police also apprehended over 4,000 Rohingyas refugees from different districts across the country for their alleged involvement in crimes.
It recommends restricting any income generation activities of Rohingyas as such practice frequently leads to violence. The government has already suspend the broadband internet services at camp areas and withdraw all the illegal SIM cards from Rohingyas camps in phases.
