Arakan News Agency
Bangladeshi security forces successfully rescued 29 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, on Tuesday from an illegal trafficking attempt along Marine Drive Beach. Three suspected members of the trafficking network were arrested, and legal actions have been initiated against them under Bangladesh’s anti-human trafficking laws.
According to police reports, the traffickers had planned to transport the victims by boat to an undisclosed foreign destination. Acting swiftly on intelligence information, a joint security team intercepted the group before their departure.
The rescued refugees have been placed under protective custody, where they are receiving medical care, food, and temporary shelter. Social welfare agencies have also been notified to provide psychological and social support to the survivors.
Law enforcement authorities have intensified surveillance across the coastal areas of Cox’s Bazar to prevent further exploitation of stateless refugees, who remain highly vulnerable to trafficking and abuse.
Officials urged refugees and local communities to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activities or trafficking attempts to prevent further human suffering.
Bangladesh currently hosts approximately 1.3 million Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps — recognized by the United Nations as the largest refugee settlement in the world. The refugees have been living under difficult humanitarian conditions since fleeing Myanmar in 2017, following a campaign of “genocide” carried out by the Myanmar military. Renewed waves of displacement to Bangladesh have continued since fighting reignited in Arakan State between the Myanmar army and Arakanese Buddhist militias (the Arakan Army) in November 2023.
