Arakan News Agency
A Rohingya man has been rescued after being kidnapped and held for ransom near the Balukhali refugee camps in Bangladesh, after fellow refugees were able to trace his location and intervene to free him, according to local sources.
The sources said, as reported by Maungdaw Daily News, that the victim, Moji Ullah, also known as Khalil Rahman, had recently fled Myanmar’s Arakan State and was living in a rented house in the Customs area near the Balukhali camps. He is registered with the United Nations under the Joint Assistance Card system at Rohingya Refugee Camp No. 16.
The man was abducted while traveling toward the camp area to secure materials to build his shelter. He was intercepted by a group of 10 to 12 men near a bridge and taken to a house where he was held captive.
Sources reported that the kidnappers beat and threatened him, demanding a ransom of 600,000 Bangladeshi taka from his family, which resulted in physical injuries and psychological suffering.
They added that other refugees later learned of the kidnapping, shared information among themselves, identified the location where he was being held, and rescued him before he suffered further harm.
In a related development, refugees in the area expressed concern over the increasing cases of kidnapping and extortion inside and around the camps, calling on Bangladeshi authorities to tighten security measures and take effective steps to protect Rohingya refugees.
During the current month of January, local residents rescued two Rohingya men after they were kidnapped and brutally tortured in a remote mountainous area in Ramu, Cox’s Bazar, where one suspect was arrested while others fled.
Bangladeshi police also announced the arrest of a man suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of three Rohingya youths after luring them from one of the camps with the promise of paid employment.
Bangladesh hosts more than one million Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps, which the United Nations classifies as the largest refugee camp in the world. Refugees there have been living in dire humanitarian conditions since fleeing Myanmar in 2017 following a campaign of “genocide” carried out by the Myanmar military against them. New waves of displacement to Bangladesh have also occurred since fighting broke out in Arakan State between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (a separatist group) in November 2023.
