Fresh 18,000 Rohingyas intruded into Bangladesh: IOM

Cox's Bazar Correspondent: Nearly 18,000 Rohingya Muslims have intruded into Bangladesh in the last week to escape the worst violence in the north of Myanmar's Rakhine state, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

Sanjukta Sahany, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) office in Bangladesh's southeastern district of Cox's Bazar, told a press conference on Wednesday noon.

“Nearly 18,000 Rohingya Muslims have intruded into Bangladesh in the last week to escape the fresh violence in the north of Myanmar's Rakhine state. It is not the data based on a survey but influx of Rohingyas,” Sahany said.

Sahany said it was difficult to estimate the number of people stranded in the no man's land at the border between the neighbours, but added there were hundreds of Rohingyas stuck there.

The Rohingya people who are trying to encroach into Bangladesh to save their life are being given help and treatment, she said.

Rohingya insurgents carried out a series of coordinated attacks on security forces in the north of Myanmar's Rakhine state on Friday (August 25) and ensuing clashes triggered the exodus, while the government evacuated thousands of Rakhine Buddhists.

risingbd/Dhaka/Aug 30, 2017/Sujauddin Rubel/Amirul