Rohingyas who took shelter at the Tambru no-man’s land near Gumdhum on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border are finding that they are no safer there than in Myanmar proper.
According to local sources, the Rohingyas in no-man’s land are in constant fear of being killed or injured by shooting and shelling by the Myanmar military from across the border. Around 5,000 people from 600 or 700 families living in the Tambru no-man’s land have begun fleeing in various directions as panic spreads among them.
Rupla Dhar, a teacher of North Gumdhum Government Primary School, said the violence across the border was not only terrifying for Rohingyas in no-man’s land, but also for Bangladeshis who live near the border.
Erfanul Haque, a cousin of teenager Iqbal who was killed by shelling on Friday night, said: “We no longer feel safe to live there.”
Borhan Aziz, senior vice president of Gumdhum Union Chhatra League, said many Rohingyas were trying to enter Bangladesh following the escalation in violence.
Bandarban Deputy Commissioner Yasmin Parveen Tibrizi said the government was giving utmost importance to the safety of the people.
“We have alerted the law enforcement agencies as also the local chairman and members to instruct the public to stay safe,” she added.
At least one person died and six other people, including a Rohingya child, sustained critical injuries in firing and mortar shelling from across the Myanmar border in Gumdhum of Bandarban on Friday.
The mortar shells landed in no man’s land injuring three Rohingya people in the evening. One of them, Md Iqbal, 17, later succumbed to his injuries.
Earlier in the day, a Bangladeshi youth was injured in a landmine explosion along the Headmanpara border area at Tumbru. The injured has been identified as 22-year-old Athwaing Tangchangya. He lost one of his legs in the explosion.