Arakan News Agency
The Bangladeshi Coast Guard, in cooperation with the Navy, rescued 25 people, including Rohingya, from a human trafficking den in a remote hilly area near Jumma Para in Baharchara, under Teknaf, on Monday evening, November 3, 2025.
Lieutenant Commander Syam Haq, spokesperson for the Coast Guard, said in a press statement on Tuesday morning that the operation, which took place between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., also resulted in the arrest of two suspected human traffickers.
He explained that the operation was carried out based on intelligence obtained from previously detained traffickers, noting that the victims had been held with the intention of being smuggled by sea to Malaysia illegally.
During the initial investigation, the victims stated that organized trafficking networks had been luring Bangladeshi citizens and Rohingya from various areas, including Teknaf, through false promises of lucrative jobs and low-cost travel opportunities. They added that the traffickers planned to transport them from the Marine Drive coast and had been torturing them to extort ransom money from their families.
He confirmed that legal procedures against the suspects are underway, stressing that the Coast Guard will continue intensive operations to combat human trafficking in Bangladesh’s coastal regions.
In October, Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) rescued 24 Rohingya, including women and children, from the clutches of human traffickers in the remote hills of Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar.
The Bangladeshi Coast Guard also rescued more than 40 people, including Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi citizens, from a human trafficking operation in Teknaf. Additionally, Bangladeshi security forces rescued 29 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, from an illegal smuggling attempt along the Marine Drive beach in Cox’s Bazar.
Bangladesh currently hosts around 1.3 million Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps, which the United Nations classifies as the largest refugee settlement in the world. The refugees have been living under harsh humanitarian conditions since fleeing Myanmar in 2017, following a “genocidal campaign” waged by the Myanmar military against them. Their displacement to Bangladesh has reignited since the outbreak of fighting in Arakan State between the Myanmar army and the Buddhist Arakan Army militias in November 2023.
