Rights group accuses Bangladesh Police of 'extortions' of Rohingya

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh : An elite Bangladesh police unit is engaged in the rampant extortion, harassment and wrongful arrests of Rohingya refugees that it has been tasked with protecting, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. Almost one million members of the stateless minority fled Myanmar after a military crackdown that is now the subject of a UN genocide investigation.

Refugees and humanitarian workers told the New York-based watchdog that safety had deteriorated after the unit took over camp security in 2020, with some Rohingya telling the Cox's Bazar camps that the police had left Rohingya refugees at the hands of the very forces that are supposed to protect them, according to HRW Asia researcher Shayna Bauchner.

The rights group said it had spoken to dozens of Rohingya refugees living in the sprawling and overcrowded camp network in the country's south-east, documenting at least 16 cases of serious abuse by APBn officers.

The report said that families were often forced to sell gold jewellery or borrow money to free unjustly detained relatives when police demanded hefty bribes of refugees under threat of arrest.

Bauchner called for authorities to investigate the claims and hold responsible officers to account.

Battalion commander Syed Harunor Rashid said that the report was questionable Criminals are telling false facts, and Human Rights Watch is reporting them. He told AFP that this is like giving comfort to criminals. He said that the unit would investigate if it receives specific complaints. Police acknowledge that violence has spiked in the camps, which are used as staging posts for regional drug traffickers.

At least 20 people, including top community leaders, were murdered last year by armed groups as part of a turf war in the settlements.

Several Rohingya refugees told the AFP that police abuses were rampant A few days ago, I was returning to camp with my brother's medical report from a hospital. APBn officers stopped me at the checkpoint, interrogated me and slapped me, said Ali Jaker, 20.

Jaker said they stole the equivalent of US $50 dollars from him.

They took my mobile phone. He said that they threatened to take action against me if I shared the story with anyone.

During my son's marriage, I had to pay 3,000 taka US $30. If we didn't pay them, the police would file a drug smuggling case against my son, she added.

One Rohingya civic leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP refugees were forced to pay police to travel between camps or to gain entry into camps late at night.

If anyone protests against these abuses, he is arrested, they added.