Bangladesh stops Rohingya protesters marching border
Police in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka yesterday stopped thousands of Muslims from marching to the border with Myanmar to protest at a crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority in that country.
The military campaign in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine has sent 27,000 Rohingya fleeing into Bangladesh, with survivors recounting horrific stories of mass murder, gang rape and torture at the hands of troops.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long discriminated against the stateless Rohingya and the recent crisis has galvanized protests in Muslim countries around the region.
Thousands of Muslims belonging to the Islami Andolan Bangladesh party gathered in front of Dhaka's Baitul Mukarram national mosque, chanting slogans and carrying placards denouncing Myanmar's Nobel laureate and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Local police chief Rafiqul Islam told AFP that at least 6,000 people had arrived for the march towards the southeastern border.
"But it came to a halt as we mutually discussed the march would hamper public life," he said. Party officials however accused the police of "forcefully" stopping and arresting them. "They (police) stopped our activists and randomly arrested many of us. We strongly condemn such actions of the administration," party spokesman Atiqur Rahman said.
In the past two months Bangladesh has stepped up patrols and border guards have prevented hundreds of boats packed with Rohingya refugees from entering the country.
The Bangladesh government has come under pressure from Muslim groups and the opposition to open its border to the fleeing Rohingya.
Myanmar nationalists have since taken to referring to the Rohingya - which the United Nations calls one of the most persecuted people in the world - as Bengali, which suggests they are not Myanmar nationals but interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh.
Rohingyas face fundamental rights abuses. Myanmar's nationality law, approved in 1982, denies Rohingya citizenship. According to the law, foreigners cannot become naturalized citizens of Myanmar unless they can prove a close familial connection to the country.
Rohingyas are not recognized among the 134 official ethnicities in Myanmar because authorities see them as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. They are subjected to forced labor, have no land rights and are heavily restricted by the government. They have no permission to leave the camps built for them, have no source of income and have to rely on the World Food Program to survive.
The Rohingyas are a Muslim ethnic group living mainly in Myanmar. Rohingyas are thought to be descended from Muslim traders who settled there more than 1,000 years ago. As of 2016, approximately 1.3 million Rohingyas live in Myanmar, and about 300,000 to 500,000 live in Bangladesh.
The military campaign in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine has sent 27,000 Rohingya fleeing into Bangladesh, with survivors recounting horrific stories of mass murder, gang rape and torture at the hands of troops.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long discriminated against the stateless Rohingya and the recent crisis has galvanized protests in Muslim countries around the region.
Thousands of Muslims belonging to the Islami Andolan Bangladesh party gathered in front of Dhaka's Baitul Mukarram national mosque, chanting slogans and carrying placards denouncing Myanmar's Nobel laureate and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Local police chief Rafiqul Islam told AFP that at least 6,000 people had arrived for the march towards the southeastern border.
"But it came to a halt as we mutually discussed the march would hamper public life," he said. Party officials however accused the police of "forcefully" stopping and arresting them. "They (police) stopped our activists and randomly arrested many of us. We strongly condemn such actions of the administration," party spokesman Atiqur Rahman said.
In the past two months Bangladesh has stepped up patrols and border guards have prevented hundreds of boats packed with Rohingya refugees from entering the country.
The Bangladesh government has come under pressure from Muslim groups and the opposition to open its border to the fleeing Rohingya.
Myanmar nationalists have since taken to referring to the Rohingya - which the United Nations calls one of the most persecuted people in the world - as Bengali, which suggests they are not Myanmar nationals but interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh.
Rohingyas face fundamental rights abuses. Myanmar's nationality law, approved in 1982, denies Rohingya citizenship. According to the law, foreigners cannot become naturalized citizens of Myanmar unless they can prove a close familial connection to the country.
Rohingyas are not recognized among the 134 official ethnicities in Myanmar because authorities see them as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. They are subjected to forced labor, have no land rights and are heavily restricted by the government. They have no permission to leave the camps built for them, have no source of income and have to rely on the World Food Program to survive.
The Rohingyas are a Muslim ethnic group living mainly in Myanmar. Rohingyas are thought to be descended from Muslim traders who settled there more than 1,000 years ago. As of 2016, approximately 1.3 million Rohingyas live in Myanmar, and about 300,000 to 500,000 live in Bangladesh.