Dhaka, Oct 20: These are the journeys of survival under the most hostile conditions, unimaginable to 'normal' mortals.
The Rohingyas, who have fled Myanmar and managed to enter Bangladesh, consider themselves to be "lucky", in spite of all the odds, as many like them could not reach their destination (refugee camps in Bangladesh) as either they are dead while escaping violence and persecution in their homeland, many breathed their last in the middle of their journey or several others are still "stranded".
Amid all these stories of death and survival, result of massive Rohingya exodus, unfolding in the border areas joining Myanmar to Bangladesh, the recent incident of 10,000 Rohingyas stranded in an area between these two countries for several days caught the attention of international aid agencies.
Finally, on Thursday authorities allowed them to enter Bangladesh. Initially, the officials of Bangladesh refused to allow the entry of at least 10,000 refugees from Myanmar because of lack of space in refugee camps.
Already Bangladesh is giving shelter to more than 582,000 Rohingyas in refugee camps in Cox's Bazar since violence erupted in the Rakhine State of Myanmar on August 25, which forced the members of the minority Muslim community to leave their homeland.
Recently, the Inter-Sector Coordination Group of the United States (US) had warned that between 10,000-15,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority were stranded in no-man's land but Dhaka temporarily refused to allow them to enter, citing lack of space in the makeshift camps in the area, Efe reported.
"We found there were around 10,000 people on the border. We started relocating them inside since 9.45 am on Thursday," said Major Iqbal Ahmed, commander of the Border Guard Bangladesh in Ukhia.
"When this group of people came we had requested the officials to find a place where they could be taken. They have now worked out it," he said.
Relief and Refugee Repatriate Commissioner of Bangladesh Abul Kalam said the group would be initially taken to a temporary shelter and later moved to a makeshift camp.
According to Kalam, many of the 10,000 Rohingyas had to walk for days to reach the border and hence would need to undergo medical check-ups.
Recently, a video footage captured by a drone, showcased how thousands of Rohingya Muslims are fleeing large-scale violence and persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh to save their lives.
OneIndia News
