India’s Border Security Force (BSF) last week pushed five Rohingya nationals, registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the country, into Bangladesh, where they were later detained by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
All five detainees belong to the same family and had been living in the Matia transit camp in Assam, India, according to a press release issued by the BGB on Thursday.
The BGB said members of the 22 BGB Battalion detained the family around 6am on May 7 in the Notunhat Bazar area near the Bhawalkuri border of Char Bhurungamari union in Kurigram.
The detainees are Mohammad Ullah, 44, his wife Romana Begum, 35, and their children—Tahmina Akter, 20, Redwan, 15, and Tasmina Akter, 13. The family hails from the Kwangdong area of Buthidaung in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
BGB officials recovered five UNHCR registration cards issued from New Delhi from their possession.
During primary interrogation, the family said they fled Myanmar for India two years ago and took shelter in the Matia transit camp.
They said some unidentified individuals recently picked them up in a vehicle.
After a long journey, the abductors blindfolded and dropped them off at an unknown location, instructing them to walk forward without asking questions, they claimed.
After walking all night, they reached the Bangladesh border early in the morning, where the BGB detained them.
Subedar Ayub Hossain, commander of the Sonahat Alpha Company, said the BGB remains alert in the border areas to ensure security amid such incidents.
The family has been handed over to the Kurigram battalion headquarters for further interrogation under secured custody.
The family also claimed that the Indian border force, the Border Security Force (BSF), had forcibly pushed them into Bangladesh.
The BGB said it is currently investigating the matter.
